Deadbeat dad and all around douchebag Joe Walsh kicks up the boorishness another notch:
WALSH: Understand something about John McCain. His political advisers, day after day, had to take him and almost throw him against a wall and hit him against the head and say, “Senator, you have to let people know you served! You have to talk about what you did!” He didn’t want to do it, wouldn’t do it. Day after day they had to convince him. Finally, he talked a little bit about it, but it was very uncomfortable for him. That’s what’s so noble about our heroes. Now I’m running against a woman who, my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. That’s why we’re so indebted and in awe of what they’ve done.
First things first. That Joe Walsh, another wingnut warmongering chickenhawk, would even dare to criticize double amputee Tammy Duckworth’s service, is enough to wish the motherfucker would go hunting with Dick Cheney.
Now let’s unpack the rest of this nonsense. The notion that McCain refused to talk about his service is simply absurd. It’s all he ever talked about, to the point that I had to make a new tag for this website. The theme of his campaign was… “COUNTRY FIRST,” which was a direct reference to his service and time as a POW. Here’s a link to McCain’s introduction video at the Republican convention in 2008. For demonstration purposes, here is a screenshot of the opening frame:
The open words were “Some know him as a warrior, a soldier…”
These sociopaths will just lie about anything. It doesn’t even have to be something that happened decades ago, but something that happened last week. They just don’t care, and shamelessly spew nonsense.
Comrade Javamanphil
The misogyny is strong in this one.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
You really gotta go outta your way to be a frontrunner for the Republican @sshole of the Day, and this guy seems to have it down to an art form.
But why get all ad-hominem dickish against your opponent when they’re a war vet who lost limbs for their country? Because it works.
gene108
I agree, she’s no hero.
A hero doesn’t get legs blown off.
Heroes defeat the bad guy and don’t just lie around in a ditch waiting for true heroes to rescue them, so they don’t bleed to death.
/snark
General Stuck
Nobody could crash a perfectly good airplane like John McCain. Though he was a hero for surviving captivity and torture. To come back home and become one of the biggest flaming assholes that ever lived. Joe Walsh needs a new guitar.
Butch
I can’t play the videos of Walsh making these statements. Can someone tell me how the crowd reacted?
FlipYrWhig
It was like they had to torture the guy before he finally broke down and talked!
JPL
Emily’s List and Vote Vets have sent out emails already.
Wonder if Palin thinks Walsh is a real American?
Jeffro
Tammy Duckworth ActBlue page, plz?
Calouste
Back in the day, there was a contest on the Great Orange Satan to describe John McCain in three words. My submission of “Noun verb POW” was rather well received and thought to be fairly accurate.
Soonergrunt
You beat me to posting about this, John.
Look, I don’t expect that a Veteran’s service should be the be-all/end-all of whether or not to vote for him/her for political office (GWBush is a Veteran (more or less) and he never showed any indication that he learned anything from his service), but wow. That’s really something.
Rick Massimo
I always thought it was planned as a reference to the fact that he had picked Lieberman as a running mate, and when he wasn’t allowed to do that the party was all “Ah screw it; we already printed the signs.”
So they went with it, with all its creepy implications. Pause for a moment to imagine the reaction that would ensue if a Democrat suggested that to vote Democratic is to put one’s country first, with the obvious implication that to vote Republican is to do otherwise. I think I popped an eardrum just imagining the jet-engine-level howling.
kansi
Ducking child support.
Screaming at a woman in a bar about deregulation.
“My GOD! That’s all she talks about!”
Yeah, this guy has some major problems with how he treats women.
JPL
@Butch: Mediaite.com has the video. The video that I saw focused on him when he said the comments. Now when he was talking about McCain, there were a few audience shots, but to say the audience was deadpan would be over stating their emotions.
CaptainHaddock
@Butch:
My money would be on wild applause from the crowd, gentle chuckling from the press.
The Moar You Know
Awww, sounds like someone didn’t serve and is getting his ass beat to boot. BY A WOMAN.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer deadbeat dad. Sometimes, justice happens.
MD Rackham
Well, yes, but VAGINA!
David in NY
@gene108: “she’s no hero”
That “snark,” as you call it, worked for Saxby Chambliss (Asshole-GA) in 2002 in his campaign against Max Cleland, who lost both his legs to a friendly grenade in Vietnam at the age of 25. Chambliss, as I recall, questioned both Cleland’s bravery and patriotism.
cathyx
Well, at least Joe Walsh also served in the military.
Wait, what?
Ruckus
When my dog crapped this morning, what he deposited was more useful than Joe Walsh. And smells better.
I’d call him an asshole but that’s a useful body part.
I’m at a loss for words to describe this…
Vodkamuppet
McCain was a legacy at Annapolis, graduated 2nd from last in his class (I believe, I know he was way down the list) and crashed 5 planes until finally getting captured. Then he betrayed his fellow countrymen to get out. Im not saying he exhibited any shame at exploiting his service record, but he sure as fuck should have.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
Who was the long-time Congressman (from GA I think?) and vet who had lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam? He got much the same treatment as being soft on terror in a series of Rovian ads (and, of course, lost his seat).
I forget his name, but the Bushies’ treatment of him back in the 2003-4 election season was a big part of what turned my opinion of the GOP from “Stupid” to “Evil”.
Mark S.
If anyone can find me one American adult with all of his or her faculties who doesn’t know that John McCain was a POW, I will donate $100 to the RNC.
fuzz
They only care about your service if you’re a Republican. John Kerry was actually mocked for his service, and Max Clelland lost his Senate race to a guy who never served partly because he wasn’t ‘strong enough on security issues.’ It’s insanity.
SiubhanDuinne
@Butch: Sat stony faced through most of it. There were a few self-conscious chuckles when he said “my god, that’s all she talks about” but on the whole pretty chilly I thought.
Raven
@General Stuck: And that allows them to do the “both sides do it”. I fought with people at FDL day and night that it was a dumb tact to challenge McCain’s service record. He was such a fucked up candidate in so many ways.
Jay C
Rhetorical question: Does this assclown even recognize the blatant contradictions he spouts in these BS rants? In the space of one goddam short paragraph he states:
1. John McCain didn’t talk about his military service while on the campaign trail, and that’s bad.
2. Tammy Duckworth does talk about her military service while on the campaign trail, and that’s bad.
IOKIYAR…..
David in NY
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: See above, Max Cleland.
David Hunt
@Ruckus: Since you’re going with a body part theme, I’d go with a classic: “Cancer on the Body Politic.”
Raven
@fuzz: And who got out of the draft because he hurt his knee playing football. I broke my leg in 18 places in Jr High and it didn’t keep my young ass from enlisting.
SatanicPanic
@FlipYrWhig: I lol’d.
The Moar You Know
@General Stuck: Not the same guy. The REAL Joe Walsh lives a couple of miles from me, I’ve met him a few times and he is a real nice stand up guy, who the only bad thing I could say about is that he has appalling taste in cars (a Hummer, and not a real one though he could easily afford it).
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: See Comment #2.
=o )
Phil Perspective
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: David in NY answered that at # 17.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
You cannot spell patriot with a D, but you can with an R. And that’s all that matters to these people.
Ruckus
@David Hunt:
Then let’s do the humane thing and cut it the fuck out, throw it away in the medical waste bin, burn it and move on.
Surreal American
Is it possible that William Joseph Walsh’s campaign is an experiement to see if a candidate can win re-election on pure trollishness in real life alone?
MikeJ
John McCain’s skill as a pilot helped us get the strong, unified, friendly Vietnam we have today.
Valdivia
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God:
Max Cleland I think. Yep they made it out to be his fault and that he killed others or something like that. These people are disgusting.
daveNYC
I guess real Herod aren’t all up in your face with their missing limb and stuff. Or something.
pragmatism
hey joe, could you let alan west know next time you see him? kthxbai.
60th Street
The first thing I thought of when I read Walsh’s dumb-assed contrast of Duckworth and McCain was, “when was the last time anyone saw Tammy Duckworth on Meet the Press?”
Is there any other politician who even comes close to having been on the Sunday shows more often than McCain? He’s all over the place precisely because of flaunting his military career and time as a POW so much the media crowned him General of the Universe.
He’s been fawned over by the media so much for being a vet, he’s a motherfucking Innernet Tradition.
Lawd!
SiubhanDuinne
@Butch: They sat stony faced through most of it. There were a few self-conscious chuckles when he said “my god, that’s all she talks about” but on the whole pretty chilly I thought.
kc
@Jeffro:
Ditto that.
fuzz
@Raven:
If I was a Nam vet like you I would have to avoid thinking about all the Republicans and the ways that they got out of going because I might quite literally puke. Then to think of how shameless you have to be to get out of your generation’s war and then cheerlead for others’ wars. I just can’t imagine what a empty shell of a man you’d have to be.
SatanicPanic
@Jay C: I noticed that too, but what I understand is that he considers John a real hero and Tammy not a real hero. What qualifies him to make this distinction is anyone’s guess.
David in NY
https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/27386
Tammy D’s Act Blue page.
@kc: @Jeffro:
Raven
@Valdivia: Nah, wasn’t even his frag. It came of some cherry’s web belt and he hadn’t bent the pin back.
Cap'n Magic
The only reason why he’s running is to make the case to the voters that he actually stands a chance of paying back his child support by being elected, and to not elect him will make him even more of a deadbeat dad.
Also, too: why wasn’t his paycheck garnished for failure to pay child support?
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
Max Cleland! Thanks, all.
In Sam Nunn’s old seat, no less.
David in NY
@MikeJ:
Noted.
Valdivia
@Raven:
That’s what made it so outrageous. I remember the ads these assholes ran against him. Disgusting wasn’t the word.
Jado
And why wouldn’t they? It’s not like there are consequences. They spew this easily-debunked bullflop and the audience and press do NOTHING about it.
No consequences. So they don’t have to live by our rules anymore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKJZVxpZBbs
Napoleon
I am surprised that no one has mentioned George McGovern as a war hero that was smeared.
David in NY
@Jado:
Hell, they don’t even live by their rules anymore.
Alison
This guy wouldn’t know a true hero if one smacked him in the face.
Which I wish they would.
Christ, what an asshole.
The Ancient Randonneur
He’s preaching to the stupid as a mud fence Fox News crowd. They don’t care about patriotism. They care about keeping this country’s leadership white and male. I say put them on boats and ship them back to Europe.
MattR
@Jay C: @SatanicPanic: Walsh is going for the “real heroes don’t brag about their heroism” approach. In general, I agree with him. But politics is the obvious exception to that rule.
David in NY
@Napoleon: I don’t remember McGovern’s war record being questioned — plenty of other stuff, of course. But I don’t remember lots of stuff …
JPL
@NapoleoDn: He doesn’t count because he is a democrat..
JPL
@NapoleoDn: He doesn’t count because he is a democrat..
El Cid
Duckworth mentioning her military service and sacrifice wouldn’t be so awful if it didn’t of necessity emphasize that Joe Walsh’s not having done any of that means he lacks the ability to talk about his military service and sacrifice.
It’s bad to lose limbs in a war and all, but let’s not forget about the real victim here — Joe Walsh.
Why does Joe Walsh not get to be equal, and talk about his military service and sacrifice, just because he didn’t serve in the military or sacrifice?
Ruckus
Only slightly OT.
A friend(marine Vietnam vet) sent me a post about a chopper pilot awarded the medal of honor who passed away at 70 recently and one of the links was a list of the Vietnam medal of honor recipients. The number of people who threw themselves on grenades to save their compatriots was mind boggling.
Jeffro
@David in NY: Gracias!
scav
@The Ancient Randonneur: Socialist Europe? ! I think we’d be back to that garbage scow drama again as they sail from port to port, looking for a place daft enough to take them and yet up to their delicate sensibilities.
JPL
From the Maddow blog
Jay in Oregon
@John Cole at top:
I see you used the correct form of address.
NonyNony
@The Ancient Randonneur:
TO the Fox News crowd “patriotism” and “keeping this country’s leadership white and male” are the same damn thing.
What did Europe ever do to you?
David Hunt
@SatanicPanic:
I’d say it’s some combination of the “R” after his name on the ballot box and his Y chromosome.
D0n Camillo
@Jay in Oregon: It is his official title after all. He earned it fair and square.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
He’s basically pulling a KarlRove. So, what would be the best response from Duckworth? The rest of us get to call him an ass.
The Moar You Know
@El Cid: All he’s got to do is put a few days helping Mitt Romney campaign. Worked for Mitt and his kids, it’ll work for him.
Soonergrunt
@Ruckus: At least three of the less than 15 Medals of Honor from the recent conflicts are for that act.
Or for trying to throw the live grenade back at the enemy.
Baud
Same rule applies. If they’re complaining about it, we’re winning.
Ruckus
@Alison:
There might be a line like on “Airplane” when they smacked the panicked lady.
Raven
@Ruckus: Yea and the number that got pushed might be an eye opener as well.
JPL
Duckworth’s response
link nbcchicago
JPL
ugh.. triple post.. it appears that I can only delete one ..sorry
Done–SG
Bnut
What’s to brag about? I mean, it’s not like she set an aircraft carrier on fire.
scav
if Joe Walsh ever loses both legs it will be because his own digestive juices ate them away feet first because of where they’re usually to be found.
Mike E
So sorry for OT and redundancy but the FP Vote4Energy ad put me over the edge:
Override triple play keeps lawmakers on duty late into the night
The object of your outrage and seething anger should be focused on the Dem Rep high-5ing her Rep colleague after getting bought out for her vote (see the photo on the right side of Susi Hamilton) and not the poor fool who mistakenly voted AYE when she meant NAY.
NC, say hello to fracking and all the attending joys that tea party control brings to state government. I’m out.
GxB
@Ruckus: An Appendix? Emphasis on the “dix” part. I know it’s just a local election and I shouldn’t put too much into it, but I’ve watched this guy fairly closely, if he’s reelected this fall, I’m REALLY going to start fearing for this country.
Rafer Janders
@FlipYrWhig:
You win the Internets for the day.
gene108
@David in NY:
I think there was more going on than just attacking Cleland’s patriotism. I think the right-wing demonizing of the Democrats got a big boost from 9/11/01, when conservatives basically adopted a stance that either you are with us or you support terrorists.
I think a lot of people in the South bought into that across several states and the final nail in the coffin of Southern Democrats was nailed shut, after Democrats clinged to some life in statewide elections in the 1990’s.
The attack ads by Chambliss were bad, from what I’ve heard (haven’t bothered to look any up), but I think there was more going on in 2002 than just those ads beating Cleland.
2002 was a wave election for Republicans.
Someguy
Wait… John McCain served in the military? In war?
Fuck.
If I’d known that, I’d have voted for him. No wonder he lost. The guy is too modest.
Cluttered Mind
@fuzz: The thing that pissed me off so much about what they did to Kerry was that every single person who was actually there at the scene of Kerry’s heroics backed his version of events. The “real story” that the Republicans successfully sold to the public via the Swift Boat Veterans for “Truth” was entirely told by people who weren’t actually present to witness what really happened. And yet, somehow, people believed the lies and ignored the testimony of everyone who was actually there and saw what Kerry did and affirmed that he really was a hero.
Ruckus
@Soonergrunt:
Throw it back. That I get.
Fall on it. WOW. That is a hero.
I wasn’t in the shit so I have no idea what I might have done but I can not imagine myself doing that. I wonder how many that did ever imagined that.
Takes me back 39 years to the navy hospital with way too many wounded marines. Not a good memory.
japa21
I will have the great joy of casting a ballot for Duckworth in November. I doubt if Walsh will get 40% of the vote.
And, just for the record, she mentions her service as one aspect of her career, not as the whole thing. In fact, she tends to focus more on her time serving in DC with the VA and in Illinois working with veterans. Now, it is somewhat important, if one is working with veterans, to have been one oneself. Not necessary, but it does help.
JPL
The Chicago Tribune blog has a few interesting comments
I read that there was little reaction in the crowd, a few snorts or chuckles, mostly silent stares. He also demeans her service in gov’t (IL & National) working for Veterans Services or whatever they call the departments, trying to help other veterans – says she’s one of those “gov’t insiders”. Wonder what he is now that he’s been in Congress for a couple of years? I wish I lived in that district so I could vote for her.
Candidates for public office should talk freely about their experience. Walsh, for example, talks far too little about his experience as a dead-beat Dad.
Mark S.
Mitt Romney once fell on a fake grenade he threw in a crowded train station. Always the prankster.
JPL
@japa21: One of the comments from the trib site mentioned that he demeans all her experience.
Ruckus
@GxB:
That’s part of the problem. It really isn’t a local election anymore. None of them are. Assholes in congress affect us all no matter what state they are elected in.
japa21
@Cluttered Mind: The thing that pissed me off was how the Republicans acted at the convention with all those purple heart bandaids. How any member of the services could have voted for a Republican after that insult to everyone of them was beyond me.
Soonergrunt
@Ruckus: either one is impressive enough.
I know what I’d like to believe that I’d do in that situation, but I’m exceedingly glad that I never faced that choice myself.
David in NY
@gene108: 2002 wasn’t a wave, but it was considerably better than most mid-terms for the party in power.
What they really got Cleland on, believe it or not, was supporting unionization of the folks doing airport security. For this, they showed Cleland’s face morphing into that of Osama bin Laden.
This is from memory, but you could look it up, maybe.
ETA: Of course, you’re right, they rode Sept. 11 for all it was worth.
rikyrah
Cannot stand this mofo
AliceBlue
@Mark S.:
LOL. Well done, sir.
shortstop
Unbelievable. Every time I think Walsh can’t go lower, he digs another subbasement.
JPL
@David in NY: Cleland wasn’t prepared for the attack ads. Rather than getting mad and showing some emotion, he assumed he didn’t have to. His debate performance was weak.
celticdragonchick
Just called his reelection office at 847 466 8427 to show my disgust.
burnspbesq
OT:
Apparently it has come to light that Rick Santorum has the Grindr app on his smartphone.
No idea what to make of this.
Soonergrunt
@John Cole, top
The hell of it is that the Veterans of Foreign Wars endorsed non-Vet Peter Roskam over Tammy Duckworth in the 2006 election, because VFW National was very much (and still is to a lesser extent) in the control of the wingers.
It’s the primary reason I’m no longer a member of that organization, even as the local posts have little to do with that stuff.
GxB
@Ruckus: Well, that’s my thinking too, hence why I’m so worried. However, I can’t cast a vote in that race. I guess I’m saying the votes for Walsh are like a sociopathy barometer. While I can’t see Rmoney getting into the Whitehouse, I’ve got a horrible feeling that many downticket elections are going R this time round.
Bubblegum Tate
See, if I were Duckworth, I’d say something to the effect of, “Yeah, I talk about my service, and I know it’s frustrating for Joe Walsh that he doesn’t have a parallel experience that would bring him into that conversation. But that dynamic cuts both ways. For example, I don’t have parallel experience to Joe Walsh’s when it comes to being a deadbeat, so I can’t join him in that conversation.”
This is one of many, many reasons why I’m not in politics.
Soonergrunt
@Bubblegum Tate: While the candidate shouldn’t ever get into the slime pit, there’s no reason that a surrogate shouldn’t. In fact, that’s the whole point of surrogates in political campaigns.
Violet
@burnspbesq: Seriously?
Soonergrunt
@burnspbesq: That he’s a typical Republican Moral Scold?
Grindr is the high tech version of the wide stance, no?
tybee
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn:
and i’ve been voting against that cocksucker saxby ever since but it’s done me no good. georgia maroons keep reelecting the turd.
burnspbesq
@burnspbesq:
Appears that the Grindr-on-Santorum’s-phone story is a hoax perpretrated by a bunch of gay teens. Ok, guys, you got me. Sure sounds plausible enough.
Gin & Tonic
@burnspbesq: Hasn’t his demeanor been screaming “closet case” all these years? I wouldn’t be surprised in the least.
shortstop
@Soonergrunt: Exactly right. She should not say another word past the statement she’s released. Time for others to tear off Walsh’s arms and beat him to death with them while she talks only about issues.
Raven
@tybee: I talked to the former chair of the Dems in Georgia about Barrow Saturday. She said they all knew how he’d vote on Holder but that he is the only white congressman in the south and he votes with the dems 85% of the time.
David in NY
@burnspbesq: No problem — he though it was for ordering coffee: http://dailycurrant.com/2012/07/03/santorum-claims-thought-grindr-coffee-app/
ETA: Hoax not surprisingly given sources — but Ioved the coffee angle.
GxB
@burnspbesq: I really don’t doubt it, in fact it would explain a lot but – Links, man links…
Edit: Awww damn! Still think the guy has a live boy or dead girl in his past somewhere…
Triassic Sands
Maybe McCain didn’t want to talk about his service because he realized it would come out that he’d crashed twenty-five aircraft as a Navy pilot.(Yeah, yeah,I know,it wasn’t 25 planes, but he did crash a bunch of planes, which is more accurate than most Wingnut campaign claims about Democrats, and the difference between 25 and three or four just isn’t significant enough to warrant correction — at least not according to the rules the Wingers play by — rules that change whenever it’s convenient.)
shortstop
The Santorum-Grindr thing was a parody at The Daily Currant.
Chris
You know, the irony here is that the only people who actually shit on McCain for his war record were the people running the George W. Bush campaign. Around the same time they were prancing around the Deep South waving a picture of his daughter calling her an “illegitimate black child.”
And then McCain went right on and hired those same people in 2008, just to make it clear that no, he really had no integrity at all.
Raven
@Triassic Sands: He talked about it all the time. WTF-K?>
Soonergrunt
@David in NY: After reading that, I’m virtually certain that he knew precisely what that app is. Who the hell downloads an app and then never fires it up?
shortstop
@David in NY: Parody site.
Baud
@Soonergrunt:
I don’t, but I’m a repressed homosexual, so maybe not the best example.
Ben Cisco
Thanks for posting this John. Deadbeat Dad & Chickenhawk Douche Rep. Joe Walsh deserved no less.
shortstop
@Soonergrunt: I have a couple I haven’t gotten around to firing up. None in the unused category involve sex, though. Please.
Soonergrunt
@Baud: I still believe the story, I don’t care where it came from. It has, to quote Steven Colbert, ‘truthiness.’
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
@gene108:
Yeah, I recall some phenominally sphincteresque asshole who was pissed off about Pat Tillman, I think it was, saying some bullshit about how people who get killed or wounded in war are losers because they didn’t stay alive or whole long enough to do the job right, and maybe we shouldn’t be honoring these losers so much. I don’t know who it was, but it was astounding, as whoever it was almost surely never stuck his wretched neck out for the country.
shortstop
@Soonergrunt: All we really know for sure now is that Santorum finds his numerous male sex partners without the use of the popular app Grindr.*
*joke for the snark-impaired
Ronzoni Rigatoni
@Vodkamuppet: Oh, f’chrissakes. A badly-injured John McCain was tortured for years into issuing a statement by the NVN. And it took awhile before he was at the end of his possible endurance. What is forgotten is that he was offered release as the son of an Admiral, and he turned it down. I am no fan of any Gooper, and I certainly never voted for one in my short-lived life, and I have no particular love for Mr. McCain (who I think these days is a total idiot), but let us stick to the facts, folx.
tommyspoon
@Belafon (formerly anonevent): “Bless his heart.”
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
@Bubblegum Tate:
I don’t know; I bet there aree an awful lot of voters who’d be cheered to hear somebody running for Congress say something like that about their opponent. It isn’t civil, but today, “civil” means “true” if the truth makes Republicans look bad.
JCJ
@Comrade Javamanphil:
Misogyny with a sprinkle of racism I would say.
Villago Delenda Est
@Chris:
Well, yes.
McCain sold his integrity because his ambition demanded it. He palled around with the same sort of people who had him tortured while he was a POW.
He should have been the moral conscience of the GOP on torture, and his ambition vetoed that.
For that, I loathe the man.
Scamp Dog
@Triassic Sands: It was only five planes, but that’s enough to make him an enemy ace.
rea
Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. That’s why we’re so indebted and in awe of what they’ve done.
Anybody can get their legs blown off–a true hero is someone who keeps her mouth shut! Yeah, that’s why we honor them!
Mnemosyne
Joe Walsh insulting veterans while running for office in a district with a large naval base?
Nope, no way that could go wrong.
(Actually, I couldn’t quite tell if Great Lakes is actually in his district or if it’s one district over. Still, not a great move.)
ETA: Great Lakes is in the 10th District. Still, not a smart move by Walsh.
gene108
@David in NY:
The party in power gained seats in 2002 for the first time ind decades. I’d call that a wave. Maybe not 2008 or 2010 or 1994 Congress flipping wave, but a wave nonetheless.
Anyway, I think the state of mind of the country is different then it was in 2002 and Illinois isn’t Georgia.
In Georgia comparing a Democratic elected official to a prominent national Democrat would probably help a Republican.
Good luck bashing Tammy Duckworth by comparing her to Obama, in Illinois.
In short, I don’t think this sort of attack will resonate with voters, like the Swiftboat stuff did in 2004 and the Cleland-Osama-morph did in 2002.
Gregory
Of course they lie. They’ve worked the refs of the so-called “liberal media” so much they know they an lie with confidence that even the most blatant falsehood will, at worst, be met with a tepid “he said, she said” demurral.
Feh.
Napoleon
@Scamp Dog:
Personally I like Reverse Ace much better.
catclub
@Scamp Dog: five planes, plus the ones that burned up on the aircraft carrier.
twenty five might be closer than you expected.
SiubhanDuinne
@Raven:
I still don’t have much respect for Barrow in general. Even in Georgia Blue Dog territory, there should be a better Dem candidate out there. (Of course I’m over here in District 7, represented by Rob Woodall, so what do I know?)
How is Jane? Haven’t seen her since, I think, shortly after the 2010 midterms.
Soonergrunt
@catclub: That wasn’t his fault, strictly speaking.
Hill Dweller
This asshole got elected thanks to a toxic cocktail of historically bad economic conditions and voter ignorance.
The electorate is still ignorant, and the economy is starting to deteriorate again.
Thankfully, Walsh is a big-mouthed imbecile, so his reelection isn’t a slam dunk. But some of his fellow wingnuts are sure to be rewarded for attempting to destroy the economy during the last two years.
Chris
@Ronzoni Rigatoni:
I endorse this. McCain’s political career revolts me at a level too deep for words, but I’m not going to diss his POW record on account of ceding to torture. I sure as hell doubt if I would’ve done any better.
@Villago Delenda Est:
I endorse this too. It’s why I’m so disgusted by his political career. The assortment of draft dodgers and fake warriors in the GOP – Reagan, Bush, Cheney, Romney – are easy to hate, but as a POW and victim of their brand of politicking, McCain should’ve known better. Worst, it seems that he did know better, and chose to put ambition before principles.
different-church-lady
ABL, YOU’RE THE WORST BLOGGER EVER AND… oh, wait, what?
Napoleon
@Soonergrunt:
Really? I thought the cause was not entirely clear but that his plane was right at the center of where the accident occured and that there was more then a strong probability that McCain was responsible.
Jay
Congressman Walsh is a blowdried bitch.
There. That felt good.
Raven
@Ronzoni Rigatoni: You hit it on the head. There are plenty of negatives about him and this bullshit, especially bu anyone who never stepped across the line and raised their hand, is fucking stupid.
Ash Can
IIRC, Joe Walsh was essentially gerrymandered into what is now a predominantly Democratic district. I’m no fan of either political party getting to redraw voting districts, but in this case it seems to be giving a very good candidate a leg up on someone that at this point has all the popularity of dog shit. I think that, come November, Tammy’s going to beat his scaly ass like the entire percussion section during a performance of Carmina Burana.
soonergrunt
@Napoleon: While he was present for the incident, and in fact barely escaped with his life, he was only a bystander. From the Wikipedia article on the incident:
LCDR White was McCain’s wingman, and both of them were “spotted” or positioned to be rolled to the catapults.
By many accounts, McCain was a less than ideal officer and pilot, but he was not responsible for the Forrestal incident.
g-rant
Well, I for one am not buying his new album.
Raven
@soonergrunt: You can’t talk to these douche bags. They think they see an issue and they are like Cole’s jack russell.
yappy little motherfuckers piss me off
Ruckus
@soonergrunt:
Thanks
This was my recall as well. He may be an ass but he is not responsible for everything wrong around him.
A lot of the problem was the navy itself. Procedures not followed or implemented such that they were very ineffective. The firefighting was a major fuck up in that most men did not go through firefighting school. Shortly after that everyone went through. That was an eyeopener but one certainly necessary. On my first ship I was in a damage control party for about 6-8 months as the entry man. First in to a compartment, nozzle man behind me.
soonergrunt
@Ruckus: “On my first ship I was in a damage control party for about 6-8 months as the entry man. First in to a compartment, nozzle man behind me.”
Sounds like point-man in house clearing.
SCREW. THAT.
Ruckus
@soonergrunt:
Sounded like that to me as well. No point of comparison but still.
There is a small difference. The only time I had to go into a
roomcompartment with a fire going was in firefighting school. Drum of diesel going, I was nozzle man and in this case first in and you have to put out the fire. Do it wrong and you stay in till you get it right. You can see only about 2 feet off thefloordeck, if you stick your head into the smoke most likely you choke and fall(good!) or asphyxiate yourself. But if you don’t do it then you get the Forrestal.ETA Different strokes, same shit
Constance Reader
@The Moar You Know:
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute…
…he’s actually getting beaten in an ass-kicking contest by a no-legged woman.
OMG, I love this. I just love this.
Kick’em in the soft spots, Tammy!
Jim C
@gene108:
Illinois Republicans aren’t immune to Obama Hatred, even if many of them keep it to themselves.
The Other Chuck
@Jay C:
You cannot point out hypocrisy to a Republican. Accusations of hypocrisy simply cannot stick, because hypocrisy is the very medium in which they exist. It’s like telling a fish that it’s wet.
AA+ Bonds
I think that line will work for a lot of people. Most people in America didn’t serve and they want to feel better about it.
Thymezone
It’s amazing to me that there isn’t some Asshole Clause that allows congress to just throw out somebody like Walsh.
We don’t have to agree ideologically with our representatives, but there should be some cap on the degree to which they just be complete assholes. There is no reason in a country this big that we have to settle for assholes in government.
Throw his ass out.
Soonergrunt
@Thymezone: There actually is such a thing.
Expulsion from the Congress can be achieved by two thirds majority vote of the membership.
In the current House of Representatives, Joe Walsh’s behavior will probably get him a few high fives in the majority leader’s office.
Thymezone
@Soonergrunt:
Dang, I forgot that. Well then let’s have the vote …..
AnotherBruce
After watching the video, I’ve concluded that the guy is meat. He was speaking to a crowd of what he perceived to be friendlies, yet there was no perceptible reaction to what he was saying. The whole thing appeared to smell like a bloated carp on a Mississippi summer sidewalk to the crowd.
I think he’s going to wind up a broken man in a gutter, but I’m kind of a sunny optimist that way.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Yes, here’s hoping a great, big, ol’ karma ball goes rolling over him in a spectacularly public fashion (or that — if you prefer — the Flying Spaghetti Monster unloads cosmic justice upon him in a way that makes Walsh squealingly aware of his own miserable behavior).
brantl
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: Stupid and Evil are seldom mutually exclusive.
brantl
@Ronzoni Rigatoni: But he did crash several planes (one while hot-dogging at low altitude, clipping a power line, and ditching into the Mediteranean), and went against orders to be in the airspace that he was in, when he was shot down and taken. Also set fire to an aircraft carrier. All in all, a shitastic service record.
brantl
@Soonergrunt: Yes it was, he did a hot dog burn off that set fire to the carrier. I don’t remember what they call it, but he did it.