Chickenhawks Stoop to New Level

There's a special election coming up in Ohio's second congressional district, a Republican stronghold. The Democratic challenger has the GOP worried, so they've decided to "bury him." (very long post)

Paul Hackett is the Democrat's candidate in an August 2 special election to replace the former congressman who recently became President Bush’s trade representative. Hackett is a Marine reservist who returned from Iraq in March.

Hackett says he disagreed with the war in Iraq, calling it “a diversion from the real war on terror.” Still, he volunteered for service and had to get an age waiver to be readmitted. Hackett says he went to Iraq because “I saw Americans were over there dying, and I felt that I had an obligation to go help.”

Hackett’s GOP opponent, former state Representative Jean Schmidt, has been snared in a scandal. On July 8, The Columbus Dispatch reported that Schmidt improperly failed to disclose that a biotech lobbyist treated her last fall to a lavish dinner and skybox seats at a Cincinnati Bengals game.

The corrupt Ohio Republicans are giving Hackett the Swift Boat treatment. Hackett has been running a television ad which begins with an excerpt from Dubya's June 28th speech at Ft. Bragg in which he says "there is no higher calling than service in our armed forces." Hackett's voice comes on saying "I agreed with that, and that's what led me to serve and fight with my Marine's in Iraq. Watch the ad here.

An advisor to Jean Schmidt's campaign, Eric Minamyer, has questioned Hackett's claim in that TV commercial that he "fought" with Marines in Iraq. Minamyer says Hackett may be overstating his service, that Hackett may be exaggerating. Minamyer questions whether Hackett actually saw combat, or commanded any troops. Evidently, stating in a TV commercial that you "fight with my Marine's" means you're claiming you commanded troops in combat. You know, like being shot at and stuff. It's no longer enough to volunteer for military duty, go to the war zone where there are very few, if any, "safe" locations. That's not being patriotic enough, at least for the GOP.

But Hackett didn’t just volunteer to go to Iraq, he volunteered to go to Fallujah. And he did see combat. And he did command troops.

In an interview aired on Cincinnati TV station WKRC, Hackett stated that he was in command of a convoy on October 21, 2004 that was attacked by two IEDs (impovised explosive devices). He shows a picture of the convoy marines taken after the attack. Um, doesn't that count as combat?

DavidNYC at DailyKos reminds us:

ELEVEN members of various civil affairs units have given their lives serving overseas in the Iraqi theater. One was just 19 years old. With his words, Eric Minamyer shamefully denigrates the sacrifices all these civil affairs soldiers and marines made.

The entire COUNTRY is a warzone. These civil affairs men and women put themselves at risk just by going over there - IEDs do not discriminate, nor do insurgents, nor does disease.

Whether you drove a truck down the airport road to Baghdad or led the Iraqi equivalent of the charge over Bunker Hill, as far as I'm concerned, you've faced combat. This is fourth generation war, not chessmen at Agincourt. Paul Hackett and his men faced violent death every day. Hell, he served in Fallujah. Would you like to visit Fallujah? Just asking.

But Minamyer's questions were just the beginning. Scott Sloan, a conservaitve radio host on WLW 700 AM in Cincinnati, went off on a rant about the "real" level Hackett's patriotism, claiming Hackett was using his service for "political purposes." Several Republicans have called into talk radio saying things like, "Paul wasn't really a Marine Corps Major in Iraq."

A Cincinnati television reporter asked Hackett if "this was all a plan on your part. To go to Iraq and come back with this great story while running for congress."

A few days ago, an Amry Private First Class was burried in Fairfield, Ohio. Within 24 hours, a number of flags were burned and tossed into a pile infront of his mother and father-in law's home. Scott Sloan attempted to tie Hackett to the flag burning incident, saying that it was "people like Paul Hackett" that allow things like this to happen.

This is the gratitude Hackett gets for fighting Dubya's war. It clearly displays the contempt NeoCons have for those who do put on the uniform and risk their lives in a war based on lies.

Hackett's opponent thinks the way to support the troops is to "stand with the president." Hackett has told her to buzz off:

Schmidt commends Hackett for his service, but believes Hackett should "stand with the president" by "supporting the Iraqi war effort and our troops that are over there," her campaign manager Joe Braun said. (Through Braun, Schmidt declined to speak with Salon.) When asked to answer that charge, Hackett is blunt: "The only way I know how to support the troops is by going over there." He doesn't hesitate to criticize Schmidt's support of the war: "All the chicken hawks back here who said, 'Oh, Iraq is talking bad about us. They're going to threaten us' -- look, if you really believe that, you leave your wife and three kids and go sign up for the Army or Marines and go over there and fight. Otherwise, shut your mouth."

She has also stated that she believes serving here in the U.S. in political office is more important than serving in the military:

NOVOTNY: His opponent, Republican frontrunner Jean Schmidt, a former state representative who is not convinced that time served in battle can compare to experience at home.

JEAN SCHMIDT, OHIO REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Everything’s local. Of course, it’s more important here. The issues that the people have are more important to those individuals than anything outside of that region.

The RNC has gotten into the "swift boat" attack, demanding Hackett cease and desist running his "deceptive" ad:

Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett called on the Democratic candidate in Ohio’s 2nd Congressional District special election to immediately remove a misleading television ad that falsely implies the endorsement of President Bush.

“Just a few weeks ago, Paul Hackett was calling President Bush the biggest threat to America,” Bennett said. “Now he’s trying to pull a fast one on the voters by linking himself to the President and exploiting the President’s popularity in the 2nd District. This ad is a blatant attempt to dupe voters into thinking Paul Hackett is a Republican endorsed by President Bush.”

A letter from Republican National Committee Chief Legal Counsel Tom Josefiak was hand-delivered to the Hackett for Congress campaign late Wednesday evening, asking the campaign to immediately cease and desist airing the ad which features a video and audio clip of President Bush.

Watch the ad here and decide if you think it is deceptive.

And just when I thought the Chickenhawks couldn't stoop any lower, they prove me wrong. Paul Hackett says he'd put his life on the line for Bush. In response, the NRCC "decided to bury him."

What prompted the committee's entry into the Schmidt-Hackett race was a comment made by Hackett in a USA Today article published Thursday. Hackett, talking about his service as a marine in Iraq, is quoted as saying, "I've said I don't like the son-of-a-b--- that lives in the White House. But I'd put my life on the line for him."

Because Hackett said that, Forti said, "we decided to bury him."

I've never served in the military. I do not agree with Dubya's war. I doubt I agree with all of Paul Hackett's beliefs. But I respect and admire any person willing to voluntarily put on the uniform and go to a war zone. I have special admiration for one who does so even when he believes the war is wrong. I cannot believe any decent, patriotic, rational American could feel otherwise.

American can do better than George W. Bush and company.