Pombo attacks McNerney on defense, but whose son is in Air Force?
Richard Pombo has been an unabashed supporter of Bush's "War of Terror" and the invasion and occupation of Iraq. He has echoed Bush's claims that Democrats are "soft on terrorism" and the party of "cut and run". So let me ask:
Why is Democrat Jerry McNerney's son serving in the Armed Forces, but Richard Pombo's son Richie Jr. (18 or 19 years old) is not? If Pombo feels so strongly about the righteousness of Bush's war, when is Richie Jr. going to enlist?
Jerry McNerney's son, Michael, did not hesitate after 9-11. He joined the Air Force right after those attacks. But Pombo? Now that Richie Jr. is old enough to enlist, we don't hear anything about it. Sounds like Pombo is all talk about a "strong defense" and "support our troops" -- it is okay to send other people's kids to Iraq, but not his own. Or is it just that Annette could not bear to see her son come home in a body bag, like 5 other Tracy families have? Maybe then Annette would join Cindy Sheehan from nearby Vacaville and call for the US out of Iraq.
Are the voters of the 11th District going to be deceived by the lies of Pombo and Bush -- two chickenhawks whose children have declined to serve their country, yet who have no hesitation about mercilessly condemning McNerney as "weak" and "soft" when he actually has a child in the military? Or are they going to go with McNerney, whose son joined up without hesitation to fight America's enemies?
Actions speak much louder than words, and all Pombo's lying, negative attacks on McNerney can't hide the one simple fact -- McNerney has a son in uniform, Pombo does not.
posted by VPO @ 9:49 AM
7 Comments:
I don't support this war,not for the price of oil. I don't want any anyones child killed for that cause. I have four who will be ready to go by the time Bush leaves office. I can't imagin the pain of loosing a child, to such a worthless cause. Help us resolve this mess, by closing the book on this disaster. It's not a cut and run issue, I hate that term used on good American citizens who want another solution to the problem.
Vote for Mc Nerney.
Tom Benigno
Former Republican candidate for the U.S.Congress. Against Pombo.
I think this is out of line. For one, Pombo does not decide if his son serves, his son does. It is his life, his career and his choice. For all we know, Pombo has tried to convince his son to serve, but that shouldn't be important anyhow.
Secondly, this fight is about getting rid of Pombo because he is a bad representative. There are plenty of perfectly good reasons to think he's doing a bad job and this should not be one of them. This is below the belt and probably without merit, and it makes no sense to go here when there is so much else to dislike him for.
Third, serving in the military is not the only form of patriotism. It is often a selfless and commendable choice, but not serving does not mean you are not patriotic or cowardly, nor does serving mean that you are.
With the possible exception of Annette, who has received so much campaign money from Pombo that she has made herself an issue, I feel that all family should be left out of this fight, on both sides. They have to put up with enough just having a family member run.
Let's try to raise the bar, huh?
Why I wrote this: not because I want to encourage anyone to go to war or join the Army, especially under Bush's "leadership", but because Pombo has the nerve to hammer McNerney on defense and to brazenly lie in his radio ads about McNerney, when no one from Pombo's own family, as far as I know, is even remotely involved with the Armed Forces.
Umm, would that be the same Pombo family that appears in his campaign TV commercials and mailers? Seems like Pombo uses them when he wants to look "all American".
As far as Scott Chacon's points:
I agree that people decide on their own if they want to serve or not, and it is possible Richie Jr. disagrees with his dad on Iraq. Maybe they argue over the dinner table about the need for a withdrawal until Annette shouts, "Enough!" and sends them both to their rooms. So you might have a point there. Not every teenage son agrees with his dad's politics.
But on the second one -- we want to get rid of Pombo because he is a bad representative, and one of the main reasons, other than his environmental stance, is his unquestioning, sycophantic support of Bush and his "War on Terror." That is a huge reason to dislike him. He just had Bush here in Stockton hammering Dems and everyone else who disagreed with Bush as unpatriotic, liberal, cut and run, Osama-loving, terrorist supporting wimps. That is what is below the belt and over the top. Way, way over.
And on your third point, I agree that there are other ways to serve your country -- in fact, a very big one is all this work we are doing to get rid of Pombo.
Lastly, sorry, I don't have any bar to raise. It is all fair game to me. After all the Republicans have done to smear and destroy good men and women, both of their own party and of the Dem party, the bar is so low it doesn't exist anymore.
That these people who skipped service by deferments or hid out in champagne units of the National Guard (and even then did not show up) could dare to send our young men and women to a pointless war based on lies and deceit is beyond the realm for me. Thousands of Americans have died, and 10's of thousands -- some say 100's of thousands -- of Iraqi citizens. And now the intelligence agencies tell us the war has made terrorism worse!
It is especially tragic when the losses are brought home to the 11th District, which has a representative with no-holds-barred support of this disastrous war and its leader.
Sorry, Scott, it is all fair game. I raise a legitimate question here, particularly when the Pombo/Rove/NRCC complex are out to destroy McNerney's campaign on just this bogus "weak on defense" issue.
Scott: could you explain your stand to me so I can relate, what I wrote to what you are responding too.
TomBenigno
My point is quite simple: how dare Pombo (and Bush) make the accusation that Americans who disagree with Bush's policies and want to see his failures corrected are "unpatriotic" or "cut and run" or "untrustworthy" with national security, especially when his Democratic opponent has a son who voluntarily signed up for the Air Force soon after 9-11.
It is the height of hypocrisy for Pombo to put out ads that mercilessly slam Jerry as soft on defense, when Jerry's son has joined up, but Pombo's son is riding around the ranch on his horse.
We don't see any commitment coming from Pombo other than to nod his head vigously whenever Bush speaks. Now, maybe Richie Jr. has all good reasons to not want to join the Army, maybe he can't for some reason. That is all fine, by itself.
But my contention is that his father should "shut the hell up" and give up on the ads attacking Jerry on national security.
I have seen too many Republican "chickenhawks" who are more than willing to send others to battle, but who have no one close to them in uniform. In fact, from what I have seen, they make every effort that they and theirs AVOID military service while they continue to support the war.
It may be out of line in one sense but in another so is sending these kids off to war without the right armor or a plan or under false pretenses.
There is something to be said about the fact that those in congress and the elitist class in general are not sharing the burden that regular American's are.
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