How Republicans Are Manipulating Soldiers' Children To Get the Military Vote

Bruce Cole - October 31, 2004

A little over three weeks ago, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz visited American military bases in Germany and, while there, delivered speeches to gatherings of Department of Defense officials and members of the Family Readiness groups. His visit coincided with the full onset of absentee voting by American military personnel, and the trip was paid for by US taxpayers; but handshakes, speeches and personal photographs weren't the only things he delivered.

He also brought with him a stack of DVDs, fresh from the White House assembly line, containing a short speech by Laura Bush, directed at school-age children of military parents. The DVDs were distributed to the attendees to the Wolfowitz soirees, which included Department of Defense school administrators, and they were subsequently shown to children by homeroom teachers and school counselors. I received a transcript of the speech from a concerned base resident who got my email address from a recent piece on the military that appeared on this site. Here's the transcript of Mrs. Bush's speech, in full (I have also obtained confirmation of this presentation from other sources in Germany):

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