Wed 29 Jun 2005
Former GOP 2nd candidate Eric Minamyer takes exception to Hackett’s off the cuff joke that Bush is more of a threat than Osama Bin Laden. My response, edited to spice up the language:
I know that it is popular to take expection at off hand remarks. I figure that you get shot at serving your country, your entitled to a little…
What’s a shame is that you don’t take exception to things that really matter when it comes to Iraq.
Here are some things that I might suggest warrant you taking exception to:
- Soldiers being injured and dying because of poor equipment.
- Families of vets having to apply for food stamps.
- Politicians lying about intelligence to justify going to war.
- Osama Bin Laden still being at large.
- Our forces being drawn away from the search for Bin Laden to invade Iraq, a country that wasn’t a threat to us.
- Billions of dollars lost and mismanaged in Iraq.
- Billion dollar no bid contracts for friends of the White House.
(BTW, this was an issue that Jean Schmidt complained about when it came to the state awarding Virginia-based First Health Corp a no bid contract for Medicaid drug benefits. Too bad she doesn’t have the courage to take on the White House over the same thing.)
If you want to represent Americans how about talking about issues that matter to them? Jean Schmidt brings nothing to the table on Iraq. If you want more of the same, vote Schmidt.
If you want to send a kick in the pants to a Congress that wastes our time and money worrying about your personal business instead of solving real problems that effect people’s lives, vote Hackett.
UPDATE: Ann Driscoll gives her response to Minamyer ‘s comments.
ProjectLogic joins with Minamyer
Minamyer slams Hackett
Former candidate Eric Minamyer recently used his campaign blog to rip into Congressional hopeful Paul Hackett. It’s worth noting that both Minamyer and Hackett tout themselves as Iraqi War veterans, but other than that they don’t seem to have much to…
I responded at Minamyer’s place.
BizzyBlog
First, Hackett’s comment was not an off the cuff joke. Nice spin but not true.
Second, I served in five deployments in the Middle East since 9/11. I know what I am talking about when I say the terrorist will not take a comment about Bush being worse than Bin Laden as a joke. They will use it for their own purposes.
Third, Bin Laden is likely in Pakistan which will not allow our troops to search. If you think he should be tracked down so much, how can he be less dangerous than Bush.
Fourth, Hackett is not the only Democrat to say that about Bush. Understand, this is not criticism of the war or a discussion of issues. It is inflamatory and dangerous. If you do not see that, I am sorry.
Fifth, we do care about the troops and the lack of equipment. I spoke about that in the recent campaign. Hackett’s idea about mirroring the Iraqis to American units shows a serious lack of military leadership. It sound so common sence but it is such bad tactics. Major hackett I hope knows that. He just likes the sound of his having a “plan” however misguided and unsound.
Let’s face it. Iraq is a mess. It is bad for many reasons, but mostly because it was a dictatorship for so long. We are trying to rebuild not only war-damaged facilities but to improve the infra-structure from pre-war conditions. This is all being done while a minority tries to kill us and anyone helping bring democracy and stability. On top of that the Sunni hate the Shiite and they both hate the Kurds.
Also, by the way, Hackett’s position on abortion and many other values issues puts him in opposition to most voters in OH2.
Welcome back!
Well… if we are going to debate context you are going to have to cite a source, Eric. To be honest, I’ve never seen a proper context for the line. Just lots of hearsay.
> Iraq is a mess. It is bad for many reasons,
> but mostly because it was a dictatorship
> for so long.
Are you suggesting that we invade Pakistan and Saudi Arabia? Are they dangerous because they are dictatorships?
That’s total nonsense. Iraq is dangerous because we invaded it. It was a bonehead move. The question is who is more dangerous, the people who make the bonehead moves or the people who try to make excuses for it and cover up what a totally bonehead move it was and attack people that talk about fixing it instead of trying to work out real solutions for it.
We need leadership on Iraq now. You’ve got nothing. Step aside for someone that does.