One (Cincinnati) soldier's opinion of Schmidt

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051127/EDIT02/511270352

I'm a battalion surgeon and a field grade Army officer on my second tour to the Middle East combat zone. My days and nights are busy with the demanding tasks of providing medical care to Iraqi citizens and to U.S. and coalition troops. I have little time to get involved in political issues "back home."

<snip>

However, a recent local issue disturbed and shocked me so much I feel I must write.

On Nov. 18, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a retired Marine Colonel who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts during the Vietnam War, stood up on the floor of the House to say, from the heart, that the war in Iraq is a failure and that we should bring our troops home soon. Murtha is no dove. He was speaking from personal experience as a Marine, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a supporter of America's military mission.

Incredibly, our recently elected Rep. Jean Schmidt rose to call him, in effect, a "cut and run" coward.

Murtha has every right to speak out about this war. His own military service, his deep familiarity with and good judgment about military matters and his unswerving support of all branches of the military have earned him the confidence of battlefield commanders and the troops. He has made many trips to Iraq to see, firsthand, the realities of this war. He also has had the compassion and decency to visit Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington to see the troops maimed and shattered by the war.

<snip>

Schmidt's attack on him is a slap in the face to the deployed troops he has cared for so long and so well, and to all who have borne arms for this country.

[saltpoint]

1. I hope Cincinnati media circulate this soldier's comments --

-- far and wide in that Congressional district. Mean Jean is up again in 06 and it would be terrific to see the district go to a Democrat and if she loses in the bargain, so much the better.

Her remarks about Jack Murtha were just one more example of Republican shit-slinging.

[Erika]

2. For those of you in Ohio, please email this to Schmidt

Excellent article from one of our troops on active duty for a 2nd tour.

Schmidt was used to try to float a balloon by the WH as did Scott McClellan when he said Murtha joined the radical leftists. The propaganda didn't work this time.

[stevedeshazer]

11. Mean Jean takes one for Team Bush

You're right; it didn't work. Her career is over in Congress, I'll be really surprised if she is re-elected.

[amb123]

13. Diebold

As long as the voting machines in Ohio are made by Diebold, she WILL be re-elected. Demand a paper trail or Democracy dies.

[maxsolomon]

14. it won't even take diebold

that district - the east side of cincy & its burbs - would re-elect her in a heartbeat. she loves jesus more than any democrat.

[liam_laddie]

29. schmidt opponent?

I figure Bob McEwen will oppose her, and win. Anecdotal comments suggest that had he won the repuke primary last June, he would have polled higher than the witch. I haven't
heard of any Dems interested in the seat, yet. But with Taft now
at single-digit approval, maybe the repukes will reap the benefits
of being a corrupt-beyond-belief party/administration and suffer
widespread damage at the polls. Pray for it!

[hraka]

31. "Loves Jesus"?

I disagree. She loves her idea of Jesus, or Christianity or whatever suits her in the present - and the poll boxes. I am a Christian, Democrat, gay, 40+ woman, and Schmidt - and the rest of her hate mongering party - does NOT speak for my faith!
And as far as her attacking Murtha, let's see her get her scrawny ass to the front line and we'll see who cuts and runs.

[KTinOhio]

35. Don't be too sure...

I'd be surprised if OH-02 didn't elect a Republican, but Schmidt is already on thin ice, and it isn't even winter yet.

[oregonindy]

3. now we have to get Tokyo Rose Schmidt to resign

her actions are deplorable!!!

[Contrary1]

4. I think Rep. Schmidt is in the last throes of her political career

As usual, I strayed from the op's link, and found myself on the letters to the editor page.

"Rep. Jean Schmidt's explanation that she didn't know John Murtha was a Marine sounded even more appalling than her verbal assault against him in the House of Representatives ("Schmidt backtracks on Murtha," Nov. 23) Why did she not know? I learned he was a decorated Marine from CNN and The Enquirer.

Schmidt said, "I don't listen to the news in D.C. because it is not my news environment." What exactly is her "news environment"? Before lambasting Murtha, she obviously had not read the Washington Post or New York Times. The Enquirer's Page One story Nov. 18 included an account of Murtha's military record.

The people in Schmidt's district deserve a congresswoman who is better informed."

Maureen Gallardo
Hamilton

The next letter to the editor is titled "Schmidt returns us to McCarthy era"

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051127/EDIT0202/511270351/1022/EDIT02

[LynneSin]

8. But is there another Paul Hackett to run against her?

Maybe this guy will be back from Iraq and run against her. Hackett, I believe, is running for US Senate.

[GeneralEclectic]

21. Didn't know he was a Marine... ???

I wonder about her claim. She said "... Marines never do..." when addressing the comment to Murtha. If she hadn't known she was addressing someone who'd been in the Marines, wouldn't she have said "... our soldiers never do..." But she chose "Marine" out of all the alternatives she could have used. That can mean only one thing, and that is she knew that Murtha was a Marine and she's lying out her sleazy ass.

[hraka]

32. Doesn't listen to the news? Sounds like someone else we know.

Remember, bush gets his info from others who read and capsulize everything for him.

[Straight Shooter]

5. I would write a letter to the editor and simply say:

Paul Hackett would never have disparaged a fellow officer.

[existentialist]

15. Not to Mention

That Paul Hackett had actual knowledge of the circumstances in Iraq.

[gratuitous]

6. The only thing I would quibble with . . .

Is the tacit assertion that only someone who has served, has deep familiarity with military matters and is unswervingly supportive of the military has "every right to speak out about this war." I never served, would never take up arms, and would like to be deeply unfamiliar with military matters (impossible in our culture). And I think I, too, have every right to speak out about this war.

And I'll back up my assertion with a funny little document from a couple hundred years ago called the Constitution of the United States.

[Auntie Bush]

7. Agreed.... I thought the same thing. n/t

[Toots]

10. No I think what they are saying is experience counts......

If you needed your bathroom rebuilt and two people were telling you how to go about it, one was an experienced contractor and the other a softball coach. You decide whom to listen to. Experience counts and this Administration has proved that time and time again.....

[gratuitous]

12. I understand the writer was establishing Murtha's bona fides

But the formulation of his point was such that it could easily be argued that criticizing the administration's prosecution of the war is reserved only to folks like Murtha. Using your bathroom analogy, when the tub falls through the rotted floor joists, it doesn't take a contractor to tell you that you've got a problem, and only a lunatic would deny that there is a problem. Enter Jean Schmidt, I guess.

[Boomer]

17. Schmidt wasn't criticizing a policy....

...she was attacking a person.

And although I see your point, the impression I received from the letter was that it was her lack of KNOWLEDGE about military matters that made her unqualified to speak, not her lack of direct experience.

>> Schmidt is the most inexperienced member of the House, uninformed on military matters in general and this war in particular, and lacks any credibility to comment on matters of war and peace.

It is incomprehensible to me that she could launch this mean-spirited attack on a man of proven valor and prudence. Her only qualification seems to be a backing of the administration's political spin of the day.<<

[MADem]

33. I agree with your take on it

I think everyone has a right to speak, but a chickenhawk who tells ME that military service is not fraught with real danger and sacrifice is talking out his or her ass, and given my military service, I can call him out on it. And won't hesitate to so do!!

[Boomer]

18. I believe a close read refutes your concern

He states that it's her lack of Congressional experience and general knowledge that makes her unqualified to speak, not her lack of direct experience in military matters. It is lack of knowledge that undermines her credibility, not her lack of service.

>> Schmidt is the most inexperienced member of the House, uninformed on military matters in general and this war in particular, and lacks any credibility to comment on matters of war and peace.

It is incomprehensible to me that she could launch this mean-spirited attack on a man of proven valor and prudence. Her only qualification seems to be a backing of the administration's political spin of the day. <<

[grannylib]

27. Well said, my sentiments exactly.

[hraka]

34. HEAR HEAR!!

[Toots]

9. Gotta kow when to "hold em and when to fold em"

I would love to play poker with these people. They continue to throw good after bad and try to justify it in the most convoluted fashion. The thought process of I have so much money in the pot I can't fold em now.... Lose every time.....

[lfairban]

25. I call them sticky or stringy.

They are more often referred to as "call stations". Often, very profitable.

[sonias]

16. Thank you Maj. David Grundy!

What a brave soldier he is. Not only is he serving his country unlike the chicken-hawks that normally start wars, he has the guts to speak up in his local paper.

Thanks for the link RamboLiberal!

Sonia

[Number9Dream]

19. A salute & thanks to Maj. David Grundy

I hope the courageous Maj. Grundy doesn't find himself transfered to a bomb disposal unit due to his speaking up.

[PapaJoe]

20. Uh Oh, you are next.

Do not think you can defend Murtha without consequences. Your military career is threatened, now. Now THAT is a brave Hero!

[Joey Liberal]

22. Maj. Grundy is a true Hero n.t

[dennisnyc]

23. Will he run against her? eom

[AX10]

24. Jean's going to have one short political career.

[grannylib]

26. I have not been so disgusted in MONTHS as I was by her comments

How dare she. The nerve of all these asshat chickenhawk pro-death war-loving bastards, to try to demonize those who disagree with them, PARTICULARLY those who HAVE served in uniform, just burns my fuckin' toast, man...

[jwirr]

28. This letter makes me proud to have Murpha as a Dem. When

soldiers think this much of this man then he is beyond the arrows of the pugs.

[ticapnews]

30. Why does Major Grundy hate America?

:sarcasm: