For the past several years, whenever there have been bills for improving the lot of our soldiers, past and present, it has been Democrats that proposed them and supported them. They have not been as successful as we would like, because Republicans have been just as committed to blocking them and throwing our soldiers and veterans under the bus. Ironically, Republicans then blame Democrats for the results of their own obstruction, and people who have not been watching such bills develop often believe the Republican lies. Here is one example, albeit an extreme one, of the respect veterans receive from Republicans.
Republican Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois is under fire this Fourth of July for complaining that his Democratic challenger, a veteran who lost her legs in Iraq, talks too much about her military service.
Tammy Duckworth, a Black Hawk pilot, was awarded the Purple Heart after her helicopter was hit by an RPG in 2004. She lost her legs and some use of her right arm in the explosion.
At a town hall meeting on Sunday, Walsh complained that he is “running against a woman who, I mean my God, [military service] is all she talks about.”
The first-term congressman also suggested that Duckworth is not a “true hero,” while comparing her unfavorably to Arizona Sen. John McCain.
“Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about,” he added, according to a video of his comments posted on ThinkProgress… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Daily News>
The video referenced is included in the coverage of this story, the best I have seen, by Lawrence O’Donnell.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Do you really want to vote for a crazy person? Perhaps the question could have been better put as, “Do you really want to vote for a crazy party?” The InsaniTEA of Walsh aside, Republican support for the troops lasts only as long as they are available as cannon-fodder.
7 Responses to “Republican Respect for a Veteran”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Hearing this crap from Walsh just adds 'another nail to his coffin'. He has not served in the armed forces nor has he been up close and personal with an oncoming RPG rocket. He has never seen the horrors of war except in the calmness of his own livingroom. And to boot, let us not forget that he was until recently, a deadbeat dad. Interesting how his website mentions a wife and 5 kids — are they still together? Not if he's paying mandatory child support.
My father and stepfather both fought in WWII and neither of them would talk about their experiences. But that had nothing to do with being a hero or not. It had to do with not having to relive the horrors of war out loud. It was bad enough in the silence of their own thoughts. That doesn't make them any different than those that do talk about their service (assuming it is the truth) because everybody reacts differently. But as Lawrence says, McCain has freely talked about his military past and to a great extent, even in advertising. So how can 'crazy Joe' stand by his statement that McCain had to be dragged kicking and screaming to talk about his service?
The Vietnam War changed a lot of things that have carried forward to current times. Probably the biggest is the news coverage. I remember pictures of Dan Rather actually out on patrol in Vietnam covering the war. When you sit down to dinner with the TV news blaring away, you now get to look at the horrors of war for dessert, and I think it has desensitised people.
When veterans return, they are faced with a desensitised nation, often medical rehabilitation, unemployment, families that have changed and grown, and bills to pay. Ask yourself why there are so many homeless veterans today in the US. Nations ask their soldiers to put their lives on hold and fight a war, ask their families to put the normalacy of their lives on hold. And so they go and some come back others don't. Somebody has to advocate for those soldiers. That is what Tammy Duckworth has done in telling her story, and in her various positions with the VA.
Tammy Duckworth is an American hero! And I would suggest that if you want someone who is passionate and cares for people, Tammy Duckworth is who you want in Congress!
Joe Walsh is your typical deadbeat Republican/Teabagger politician that needs to hit the unemployment line in November and can't hold a candle to Tammy Duckworth.
Vote Democratic 2012!!!!! Vote Obama/Biden 2012!!!!!
Lynn, I fully agree. Our troops were not the ones who started wars. We must remain sensitive to their needs.
5 kids! I had no idea this a**hat was neglecting 5 children. Why don't the courts pick him up and jail him like they do to other deadbeat dads? His connections in Washington?
"Do you really want to vote for a crazy person? Perhaps the question could have been better put as, “Do you really want to vote for a crazy party?” The InsaniTEA of Walsh aside, Republican support for the troops lasts only as long as they are available as cannon-fodder."
Thank you Lawrence O’Donnell.
Richard, all but the first sentence of that was me.
Lawrence O'Donnell said it all! Yet, people keep voting for these crazies!
That's why we mist not allow them to hide the facts!