By Coulter's reasoning the folks who died in the World Trade Center attacks are just blips on the actuarial timeline, just the way it goes, Sorry Charlie. After all, had they known they wouldn't have gone to work that day.

The "friendly fire" casualties in wartime probably wouldn't be entitled to Purple Hearts. They weren't killed or wounded by a real enemy.

The family of the AF pilot who was killed ejecting from his plane after a flameout should take it up with GE and the seat manufacturer. After all, he/she wasn't actually "fighting".

And on and on.

It seems to me Cleland was over there, in harms way so to speak, and came to harm in the line of duty.

Don't know what more Coulter would want from a person. He was at least present, and presumably answered Roll Call. (I suspect that if GWB were scratched landing his obsolete F-102 he would have been a "hero" in her eyes.)

How many folks have been around live grenades in a foreign land while wearing the uniform of their country?

People saw him, talked with him, pretty much every day, I suspect. Her diatribe sure seems to be a way to try to justify GWBs seamy service to his country by denigrating those who really did it.

Arf