Arizona Senator John McCain’s political nemesis for the Republican nomination J.D. Hayworth is coming under some criticism in some quarters because he said the United States never declared war on Nazi Germany. Here’s a good summary of the latest political controversy:
Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), who is challenging Sen. John McCain in the Republican primary, said that the United States did not formally declare war on Germany in World War II — at least, that’s how it went in his history.
While speaking last week to a local GOP organization in Phoenix, Hayworth was asked by an attendee about America’s failure to formally declare war in our modern conflicts. Hayworth defended the modern-day authorizations for the use of military force. “But I would also point out, that if we want to be sticklers, the war that Dwight Eisenhower led in Europe against the Third Reich was never declared by the United States Congress,” said Hayworth. “Recall, the Congress passed a war resolution against Japan. Germany declared war on us two days later. We never formally declared war on Hitler’s Germany, and yet we fought the war.”
So now he’s coming under fire and will likely become a punchline for late night comedians.
To help ease Mr. Hayworth’s pain, here’s a warning. Scrap any plans to also make the following similar assertions:
*Franklin D Roosevelt jogged each day when he was President.
*George Washington and Abraham Lincoln met once at the White House for lunch.
*Abraham Lincoln gave “My American Cousin” a standing ovation at the end of the play at Ford’s Theater.
*Ronald Reagan met Nancy Reagan on eharmony.com
*Dwight Eisenhower was a member of Hair Club for Men.
*Gerald Ford’s father invented the car.
*The Vietnam War was a war fought between Mexico and the United States in 1776.
*Hail to the Chief was written about the head of a tribe who got caught in an ice storm in New Jersey.
We’ve also come up with the PERFECT CAMPAIGN song for him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF6JMotbHYM
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.