There He Goes Again. Stamford Advocate Finds More Blumenthal War Fantasy.

The Stamford Advocate strolled through its archives and found another land mine planted by Sergeant Richard Blumenthal of the 1st Fantasist Division.  The Advocate reported Wednesday that on November 2, 2008, Blumenthal declared at the Stamford Veterans Day parade, “I wore the uniform in Vietnam and many came back to all kinds of disrespect. Whatever we think of war, we owe the men and women of the armed forces our unconditional support.”

The Blumenthal press operation is the busiest and most eagle-eyed in Connecticut politics.  They are thought to read everything written about Blumenthal. They are not reticent to call to point out what they believe are mistakes or omissions in a story.  In addition, Blumenthal is a rapacious consumer of news about himself.  Stamford is the city he represented in the legislature.  He now lives in a gated community in the neighboring town of Greenwich.  It is very hard to conceive that Blumenthal or someone in his office did not read the Stamford Advocate quote.  If Blumenthal believed he had been misquoted 18 months ago, he would have asked for a correction at that time.  The honor he declaimed about so passionately on Tuesday would have demanded it.  It appears he did not.

Blumenthal might have read the story the next day while his driver chauffeured him to work.  Sergeant Blumenthal would have been incensed by the outrageous distortion of his words.

Another possibility is that his press staff saw it and they too were under the impression that he had served in Vietnam. That belief would have come from only one person, Blumenthal.

Blumenthal or someone associated with him must have seen that story, maybe even a member of his family if they Blumenthals get the Advocate at home.  However high the wall of veterans Blumenthal jerryrigs to obscure this bitter harvest, no one thought the state’s chief civil law enforcement officer for 20 years had “misplaced” his words that solemn day in Stamford.