Joe Walsh Attacks Tammy Duckworth

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) is under fire this week for statements he made regarding his opponent, LTC Tammy Duckworth. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs while in Iraq. Rep. Walsh insinuated that LTC Duckworth is not a hero, saying:

“That’s what’s so noble about our heroes. Now I’m running against a woman who, I mean, my God, that’s all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about.”

Rep. Walsh had compared Duckworth to Sen. John McCain, stating, incorrectly, that McCain rarely spoke of his experiences as a POW. Walsh said McCain was a true hero, because, unlike LTC Duckworth, McCain had to be convinced to talk about his military service. McCain wrote about his time in Vietnam in his best-selling book, Faith of My Fathers, and during his GOP acceptance speech, spoke of his time as a POW. John McCain is a military hero, and so is Tammy Duckworth.

As I read Rep. Walsh’s comments, a bell rang in my head. This all sounded very familiar, but the details were fuzzy. As I waited, suddenly a name blazed its way into my psyche: Max Cleland. Tammy Duckworth has met her Saxby Chambliss.

In 2002, Max Cleland, a Democratic senator from Georgia, faced Republican candidate Saxby Chambliss. Up until a week before the election, Cleland had a comfortable lead, but the final week, his numbers began dropping. His lead went from 49-44 to 48-45, and on election day, Cleland lost to Chambliss 53-46. Saxby Chambliss, knowing he could not win just on issues, dug deep into the cesspool of conservative politics and created a television ad that compared Max Cleland to Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

Max Cleland lost both legs and an arm in Vietnam. During his service, Cleland was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Solider’s Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. Max Cleland was first elected to the Georgia senate in 1998. Viewed as a moderate Democrat, he was staunchly pro-choice and pro-environment. However, Cleland voted to federalize airport security after 9/11 and supported the war on terror.

Saxby Chambliss received student deferments and medical deferments for a football injury during Vietnam. He is still a US Senator, and defends his television ad against Max Cleland to this day. In 2001, while speaking to first responders in Georgia, Chambliss said that homeland security would be improved by turning the sheriff loose to “arrest every Muslim who crosses the state line.” He later apologized for that remark.

Saxby Chambliss, a man who never felt the need to serve his country during Vietman, took a decorated war veteran and compared him to the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and a dictator who used biological weapons against his own people. And he won. Saxby Chambliss knew exactly what he was doing, and to whom he was speaking: he was speaking to the new GOP. He blew the dog whistle, used the code (Muslims, terror, fear, weak Democrat) and he won.

John Kerry was “Swift Boated,” his own service in Vietnam attacked by the right. Al Gore was belittled, his military service used as a joke on conservative television and radio. Steve Snyder-Hill was booed by a few people at a Republican debate, then ignored for 24 hours, until the Republican candidates realized this was bad press. Max Cleland’s career destroyed. And now, we have Rep. Joe Walsh and LTC Tammy Duckworth.

When I first read Walsh’s comments, and the backlash from veteran’s groups, I thought okay, he’s done. Then I remembered Max Cleland. All Walsh has to do is what Chambliss did. He will blow that whistle, and use words like socialism, Marxist, Kenyan, Obamacare, taxes, welfare state, and the Tea Party veterans who are so outraged today will forgive and forget by next week. That’s how it works. Conservatives will never vote outside their party, even when one of their own insults a veteran. Yes, they’re all up in arms today, but will they put the pieces together and see the bigger picture? Will Walsh’s constituents finally realize that this man, this coward, is no good? Setting aside the over $100,000 he owes in child support, Joe Walsh is a cold, heartless man, with little to no regard for the common people in his district. Like all Tea Party politicians, he is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch industries, and when you belong to the Koch brothers, you follow the rules. One of those rules seems to be only conservatives can be war heroes, Democrats need not apply.

It’s up to us to make sure LTC Tammy Duckworth does not go the way of Max Cleland. We cannot lose a strong, Democratic voice to someone as insipid and smarmy and dishonest as Joe Walsh. Mad Mike’s America has about 1-1.5 million readers each week. If we, all of us, went to Tammy Duckworth’s website and donated $5, we could help her defeat the machine that is the new GOP, that is the Tea Party, that is Koch. We could put a woman into congress who actually cares about people, who has seen war and suffering and understands what it is to struggle. Illinois would be the better for it, and maybe we could send a message to the new GOP that America is not for sale, and we will not stand by idly while their puppets belittle our military veterans.

Thanks to The Chicago Tribune and Think Progress  for information contained in this article.

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