Being a veteran is more than waving the flag
I continue to wonder who is running the campaigns for the Democratic Candidates. While there are many issues in this campaign, there needs to be a volunteer in each of those campaigns who at least reads PomboWatch every day just to keep up on what is going on with Mr. Pombo. I know that that they can't staff a Dick Morris / Karl Rove type war room, but come on, there are just too many golden opportunities that they are missing.
PomboWatch picked up on this one:
March 7: Pombo tries to garner favor with Veterans Groups: A number of Congressmen, including both Chairman Pombo and Ranking Minorit Member, Rahall (D. WVa) put out a press release concerning a Vietnam Veterans Visitors Center. While I agree with this issue, the red tape referenced in the release always means higher costs, I find it a bit disengenuous considering that there are many who feel Pombo is anti-veteran in his voting. In fact, for the last two years, Pombo has earned a zero rating from the Disabled American Veterans for his voting record. It seems that he wants to appear to champion veterans to appeal to the patriotism of his constituency, but hs is not willing to spend a dime doing what needs to be doneThere are several veterans in this campaign. Only one of them has really taken on this issue. Figure it out for yourself. It is the one who doesn't make his sevice the reason to vote for him.
posted by Wes @ 1:51 PM
3 Comments:
Good catch Delta. As always.
Also, as I have mentioned before, I tried to bring up the issue of the USS Iowa with McCloskey, who didn't seem to want to discuss it.
But essentially the USMC needs ship-based artillery support for their troops and the decommissioning of the Iowa leaves a hole that will not be filled until 2010 at the earliest. And even then, the replacement is not much of a replacement. More on this issue here.
After reading the link letter to the editor, I have some doubts about its assertions.
The Iowa and its sister battleships are World War II era vessels. They were decommissioned during the Vietnam War, and sat mothballed until the 1980s, when they were brought back into service by John Lehman, Reagan's first Secretary of the Navy, as part of a Reagan initiative to restore the luster to the Navy. All of this is recounted in Gregory Vistica's book "Fall From Glory: The Men Who Sank the Navy."
Along these lines, this Wikipedia link indicates that the Iowa is primarily in a reserve capacity until 2008, where upon it will be donated to a local port.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iowa_(BB-61)
Moreover, I strongly doubt the Pentagon would approve turning a naval vessel into a museum if was an integral part to national security.
Finally, keep in mind that San Francisco--the ostensible front runner for the Iowa--has been lukewarm about accepting it, which has opened the door for places like Stockton to be considered homes for the ship. Guess how Pombo will frame this issue.
In summary, I'm deeply skeptical about the viability of taking an oppositional stance to docking the Iowa in Stockton.
Both of you are getting sidetracked on a non-issue. What you should focus on is the fact that the poseur patriot Pombo says one thing and votes another way. If he can't support the veterans with his vote, then he does not deserve their vote.
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