A fashion magazine cover featuring actress Jane Fonda — still reviled by many Vietnam War veterans as "Hanoi Jane" for her 1972 visit to North Vietnam — triggered a heated debate on
Newsmax TV Friday about her legacy and whether she should ever be forgiven for her disrespect to the U.S. military.
During the contentious "Newsmax Prime" discussion, hosted by J.D. Hayworth, conservative columnist Larry Elder and left-leaning Brad Bannon of Bannon Communications Research also battled over the Bush administration's responsibility for the Iraq war that began in 2003.
Bannon insisted veterans should forgive and forget the North Vietnam visit by Fonda, who was prominently featured on the cover of
W magazine as the nation celebrates Memorial Day, but Elder would have none of it.
"She has admitted this was a mistake, and I can understand how they feel because I felt the same way when George Bush was president and Dick Cheney was vice president," Bannon said.
"It drove me crazy to see them every Memorial Day at the Arlington national monument, and here are two guys who did everything they could to avoid going to Vietnam and were successful in not going to Vietnam, but yet they every year honored our fallen soldiers."
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Elder fumed that the comparison was "incredibly unfair."
"George W. Bush did serve, Dick Cheney took deferment," Elder countered. "Jane Fonda went over, consorted with the enemy at the height of the war. I have two brothers, my older brother and younger brother, who were Vietnam-era vets. It pissed [them] off, it pissed me off."
Bannon, however, pressed the point, declaring that "at least Jane Fonda admitted she made a mistake. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney never admitted they made a mistake."
Elder agreed that Fonda should be forgiven for her conduct, noting that she has "repeatedly" apologized, but insisted the visit was still a "mistake" — and blasted Bannon for dragging Bush and Cheney into the discussion.
"Don't tell me it wasn't a mistake and don't tell me it wasn't a grave error that she ought to be responsible for for the rest of her life," Elder scolded, adding indignantly: "Bringing up Dick Cheney, it's so incredibly unfair. Why is Dick Cheney such a hateful person to you? Please tell me that? Tell me that."
"Because he sent 4,500 brave young Americans to their deaths by lying about the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," Bannon shot back.
But Elder firmly defended Cheney, saying "George W. Bush was the one who made the decision, my friend."
Hayworth also noted to Bannon that there's a "difference between misinterpreting intelligence and lying."
But Bannon insisted that "Cheney didn't misinterpret intelligence, he made it up. There was no evidence at all of weapons of mass destruction," eliciting an angry retort from Elder.
"Give me one specific example where Dick Cheney 'made it up?'" he asked Bannon. "One example, please?"
"Oh, he made up the whole thing about [weapons of mass destruction], there weren't any," Bannon answered.
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