I am not even going to touch the idiotic notion that Paul Hackett’s military service could ‘hurt’ his election chances, as it is just idiotic. I can’t think of a scenario in which military service might hurt someone’s election chances. At any rate, I did get interested enough to check out his website, where I found this:
The White House has been painting a rosy picture and people aren’t buying it anymore. We all know the outcome is uncertain and there is no exit date. But even now, too many conservatives just want to applaud whatever the administration does. And too many liberals who opposed the war want to see the president’s Iraq policy fail.
I was against the war. It was a misuse of our military that damaged our credibility throughout the world and squandered our political capital. Still, I volunteered to serve, and I have no regrets. But now we need to face the reality of the situation there. Our country has gone to war and every American must share in that responsibility.
The good news is we can successfully exit Iraq once the roughly 140,000 Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are adequately trained and skilled enough to defend their fledgling government.
The bad news is they are nowhere near the level of skill to accomplish that mission and are likely years away from that goal.
I know this from fighting alongside Iraqis, and training them. They are simply not ready to defend their country against the insurgents that threaten to destroy Iraq’s future.
No matter what your position on the war, if we pull out now the entire region will spiral into chaos and present our nation and military with a far more difficult challenge than we currently face. I don’t relish the prospect of my two sons going over there in twenty years. We need to get it right, and we need to do it now.
I don’t agree with his initial position on the war , but that is a pretty damned reasonable, and in my mind, accurate, assessment of the current situation. That kind of candor will almost insure his defeat
*** Update ***
Just saw him on Hardball, popping off repeatedly about ‘chickenhawks.’ Good campaign strategy when you are trying to win a safely conservative seat. Not.
At any rate, the usual supects will be all atwitter about this tomorrow.
jg
Sadly true.
ppGaz
Mr. Hackett’s position (with respect the current situation) is essentially the same as mine.
Even though I don’t think going in there was either warranted or wise, getting a stable outcome is extremely important.
I just have to hold on while the bunglers and potatoheads who got us into this try to get us out. This requires more patience than I can sometimes gather up.
I will, of course, let off my frustrations here on your blogsite. Thanks in advance.
Matt
Dude’s on Hardball right now.
WV.Hillbilly
Of course statements like this don’t help either.
Asked at one forum what he sees as the biggest threat to America, he replied: “The man living in the White House.”
jg
I’m starting to like this guy.
Andrei
I actually think he’ll win, given what I know of that political race.
Cynical as I may be, I’m still an optimist at heart.
Steve
I don’t think this guy fits very well with the Democratic Party, because he seems to actually realize that Bush is very unpopular and it’s OK to run against him, even in a “red” district. The people who are like “how dare you insult our President” were never going to vote for him anyway.
Running as “Bush lite” didn’t work for Tom Daschle and it wouldn’t work for this guy either. This is how politics should be – say what you believe and live or die by it at the polls.
Matt
Just saw him on Hardball, popping off repeatedly about ‘chicken hawks.’ Good campaign strategy when you are trying to win a safely conservative seat. Not.
True, but I’ll give him props for actually articulating his definition of chicken hawk, transforming it from cheap partisan rhetoric. He said something like like, “unnecessary and dangerous bravado” referencing statements like “bring it on” which is something I strongly agree with. It’s certainly understandable particularly when you and your friends are in the line of fire of the people being dared to bring it.
Overall I thought he did a really good job and (from what I’ve read/seen) he’s the kind of guy, on both sides of the aisle, that we need in Washington.
Mike S
I didn’t watch hardball, but I would guess that his anger at “chickenhawks” was in response to the recent bashing and belittling of his service. His opponents Cqamp manager was saying that he didn’t lead men and a Talk Radio host has been slamming him for at least a week, including the assinine claim that he volunteered just so he could run for office.
I’d like to drop the whole chickenhawk meme but I can understand where he’s coming from.
Matt
Mike S, duh, I wasn’t even thinking about that, but yeah, after the last few days, if anyone’s going to be sensitive to “chickenhawks” it’s this guy.
DougJ
Sorry, liberals, but serving in the military, has nothing to do with being patriot. Being a patriot means standing up for your leaders, not stabbing them in the back. I don’t care how many bullets Hackett took — and from what I’ve read he didn’t take or even see any — he’s still a left-wing agitator. The public will see right through his “war hero” routine the same way they saw through John Kerry’s.
Sojourner
Absolutely and completely wrong. Being a patriot is expecting the best from your leaders and hounding them when they fail to meet that standard. A patriot loves his/her country more than those who lead it.
DougJ
“A patriot loves his/her country more than those who lead it.”
When you’re at war, you must love your leader in order to love your country. End of story.
Doug
I love DougJ!
stickler
Wow. This is a statment from an American citizen?
When you’re at war, you must love your leader in order to love your country. End of story.
That’s called a “cult of personality.” It is an insult to the traditions of a free Republic and is both stupid and cowardly. If the Leader has screwed up, he should get blamed.
Here’s a sentiment more in keeping with our history:
“My country, right or wrong. If right, to be kept right. If wrong, to be put right.”
(From Carl Schurz, 1848 refugee from Germany, who served the Union as a General during the Civil War.)
W.B. Reeves
Not in the United States of America. This has never been the case in any of the wars we have fought. Such a notion is completely contrary both to U.S. tradition and law. However, it would have been right at home in Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Russia.
Rather sad actually. I don’t think you even realize that you’re a totalitarian.
DougJ
I’ll admit that a critical press has its place during times of peace BUT WE’RE AT WAR. Criticizing the president gives comfort to the insurgency. And that’s just plain wrong.
norbizness
If DougJ didn’t exist, we’d have to invent and then laugh at him.
Otto Man
Yes. All Hail Dear Leader, the Glorious Son of the Motherland.
I can only assume you felt this exact same way during the Clinton presidency, right?
Nah, if we invented him, sane Republicans would complain that we’d made them all look stupid.
Otto Man
So the press should just take a knee until we’ve accomplished our clearly stated goals in the Global War on Terror Global Struggle Against Violent Extemism™ I guess. As soon as the president of Violent Extremism surrenders to us, everything can go back to normal?
We had a free and inquiring press in every other war, and I seem to recall that we managed to do just fine.
ppGaz
Without doubt, the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen posted in here.
Great googly moogly.
Fuck the leaders. Being a patriot means standing up for your country, even when the “leaders” are telling you you’re wrong.
W.B. Reeves
This, of course, is an attempt to dodge away from your earlier endorsement of Fuhrer worship. Perhaps you possess some vestigal sense of shame. In any case you are still out of luck. The Constitution has never been suspended during wartime in the entire history of the U.S. As long as the Constitution is the supreme law of the land it is you who are “just plain wrong.” FYI, the GOP never stinted on criticism of FDR, Truman or Johnson anymore than the Dems did on Nixon or Bush. I suggest you learn something about the history of your country before spouting off about patriotism.
DougJ
“I can only assume you felt this exact same way during the Clinton presidency, right?”
Were we at war then? No.
But we should have been, since Al Qaeda was at war with us. But Bill was too busy with Monica to have time for that.
Otto Man
“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official.” ~Theodore Roosevelt
Otto Man
Wow. You not only have zero knowledge of this country’s history, you can’t even remember the recent past. Does the word Bosnia ring a bell?
DougJ
“Does the word Bosnia ring a bell?”
It was more a “Wag the Dog” boondoggle to distract the country from Monicagate.
ppGaz
There you go, Doug. When you hit bottom, you can always pull out your Clinton material.
Take yourself off the grill, old buddy. You’re done.
Otto Man
Right, right. Slobodan Milosevic was a paid Democratic operative, planted there for when Clinton would need him.
ppGaz is right: When you’re reduced to sputtering about Bill Clinton’s penis, sorry, you’ve lost the debate.
demimondian
You know, I hate to recommend any strategy from dKos, but one thing that they do right is deal with trolls effectively. You don’t feed them, of course — but they’re good lefties, and they teach them to feed themselves.
So, DougJ, you should keep in mind that when fishing for bass with a spoon, it’s particularly important to keep your line taught. That way, you can set the hook (or, better, hooks) solidly before trying to play the fish in. If you do that, you’ll be able to get him into your boat easily.
Marc
Let me get this straight: In order to distract the country from “Monicagate” (1997-1998), Bill Clinton somehow traveled back in time and intervened in Bosnia (1995-1996)? Gotcha.
Nikki
With a spoon?
DougJ
demimondian, thanks for the advice, but (1) I do not consider myself a troll and (2) I don’t understand your post at all. What does it mean to fish for bass with a spoon?
Or are you yourself trolling and I have been taken in?
I’m puzzled.
ppGaz
You’re either a con artist, or the dumbest sumbitch around, Dougie.
A spoon is a lure, ya lunkhead.
Spoon Lures
As for not considering yourself a troll ….. you’re killin me here. You’re killin me.
Kimmitt
If we pull out in two years, the same thing will happen, except that more of our kids will be dead. If we pull out in twenty years, then we won’t have to go back in twenty years, I suppose.
There is no way to unscrew this pooch.
demimondian
DougJ — you may not consider yourself a troll, but I do. You’re advocating fascism, pure and simple – and I have a very hard time believing any modern American or European advocating that with a straight face. If you don’t realize that, then you need to take very seriously the criticisms people have been directing at you.
As to fishing for bass with a spoon…a spoon is a kind of lure, made of metal and shaped (vaguely) like the bowl of a spoon. When pulled through the water on a line, the lure flashes and jumps somewhat like a small fish, and therefore draws the attention of larger, predatory fish.
Jeff Maier
I canvassed for Hackett last weekend. I live in Cincinnati (OH-1) and I was impressed with folk’s responses — most were willing to listen and actually seemed informed to some degree. That said, this is a very tough district to win. It’s a blend of upper suburb sweeping rapidly through a thin exburb and into real hill country rural. Bush carried the district handily (25-30%) and it ain’t traditional Democratic country.
Hackett has a couple of pluses: the military service, strong family and a libertarian streak and the fact that Schmidt is uninspiring and a tainted Republican machine politician. His disadvantage is simply the nature of the district and some intemperate comments — namely the chickenhawk and Bush-bashing. This is GW country. Should Hackett win or even be close, it should be a wake up call to Republicans running in 2006. The RNC evidently understands this and has dumped some serious last minute money into a large negative ad buy.
DougJ
“When pulled through the water on a line, the lure flashes and jumps somewhat like a small fish, and therefore draws the attention of larger, predatory fish.”
So my posts are supposed to get the attention of larger, predatory posters?
DougJ
If the people at Air America spew confusing metaphors like the one about spoon lures, I can see why its ratings aren’t very good.
Matt
This is what we get for letting the schools go to shit, isn’t it?
Mike S
Had anyone given any thought to just ignoring Dougj?
Sojourner
Who is DougJ?
ppGaz
I see it, but I just don’t believe it.
Clever
Wonderful way to paint yourself into a corner.
“Global Struggle Against Violent Extemism” seems to be your leader’s new talking point, downgraded from “War on Terror.”
So can we be critical during a “Global Struggle”, since at least semantically its not a war?
-BACK TO TOPIC-
Hackett has been described as [I’m not sure but he might have even been describing himself, can’t find article offhand] as “Libertarian Democrat”, which coupled with the fact that his opponent has been embroiled in a couple of scandals of late and who has had some terrible talking points [“the ball is going to attack” being my favorite], gives him more than a fighting chance. Some people might be tired of holding their noses as they vote, [I know I am. POTUS 2004 was like voting between a rotting corpse and a sewage plant.] and Hackett could be taken as a breath of fresh air.
ppGaz
I think that Doug himself has. An unconfirmed report states that his mother has, also.
Sojourner
DougJ has to be Stormy’s twin, gay brother. That would explain their equally delusional views of the world.
ET
I can’t speak to Hackett’s ability to win but he is drawing in more money and has provided a closer race than I think anyone thought which is a good thing. I hope he does win – I think he would be a positive force on the Hill.
The Quiet Storm
PLEASE do NOT feed the DougJ Troll. He must have been banned from fuckedcompany.com and found a new home here.
Larry
“Being a patriot means standing up for your leaders.”
Heil!
Mr. Hilter
Ya, DougJ is correct. True patriots would never question ze
Fuh…I mean ze President. Those who do question become ze answer to ze final solution!
Heil!