President Accepts Purple Heart for Verbal Attacks

When I first read this story about a Texas Vietnam veteran who gave his Purple Heart to George W Bush, I thought it must be a joke. After all, how could anyone equate the wounds sustained by military members while at war to "the verbal attacks, both foreign and domestic, the commander in chief has withstood during his time in office?" Best I can tell, however, the story is legit:

Thomas said he drew up a citation and he and his wife signed it before dropping it and the medal off with Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, to forward to President Bush.

"Congressman Carter called me last week and said the President was very moved by it, and would like us to present it in person," Thomas said.

It doesn't bother me that Mr. Thomas decided to give the President the Purple Heart. As he points out in the article, he earned the award, and it's nobody's business but his what he decides to do with it. What does bother me is the fact that Bush not only accepted it... but invited Thomas and his wife to present it to him in the Oval Office.

The fact that the President accepted the Purple Heart for the emotional wounds he sustained from verbal attacks on him in office is disgusting. It is an insult to the tens of thousands of men and women who have been killed or injured while serving in Iraq.

This is all around the same time of Laura Bush's comments on the Today Show about the Iraq war. When asked about Americans who are suffering as a result of the war, the First lady responded, "Believe me, no one suffers more than their president and I do."