This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Veterans in politics

  • Kokesh loses primary bid

    Several months ago, Adam Kokesh, IVAW icon, lost a pre-primary bid for the New Mexico 3rd Congressional district’s Republican spot on the ballot in November with only 19.5% of the vote. Since he needed 20% of the vote to appear on yesterday’s primary ballot, he contested the New Mexico law to get his spot. Republicans conceded to the cry-baby and allowed on the primary ballot.

    Well, predictably, he lost yesterday according to the Farmington Daily Times;

    San Juan County petroleum engineer Tom Mullins defeated Santa Fe war veteran Adam Kokesh in the Republican primary battle for the U.S. House.

    Mullins will face incumbent U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján, unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the Nov. 2 general election.

    San Juan County voters overwhelmingly chose Mullins, who received more than 80 percent of the vote with 96 percent of precincts reporting in San Juan County.

    Funny how this primary has the same results as the last pre-primary. Of course, being the gracious guy he is, Kokesh blamed an out of touch Republican Party, typical reaction from the Ron Paul candidate;

    “It was clear that he had the leadership of the party behind him,” Kokesh said. “The Republican Party, the leadership is out of touch with it’s own base. Our own leadership in our party is corrupt.”

    Is the party’s leadership 80% of the Republicans in the 3rd district? Of, course, John Kerry lost his first Congressional bid, too. So Kokesh bears watching over the years.

  • Blumenthal still leads McMahon

    I don’t know what’s wrong with the people being polled in Connecticut.Clearly, Richard Blumenthal has been lying about his military service for years and yet, a week after the discovery, CT voters seem to be supporting him 56% to 31%.over the Republican candidate.

    I’ve quoted several CT veterans over the last week who claim that Blumenthal has been a great supporter of veterans in CT, yet I’ve been unable to find a single instance where he did that in performing his duties as an attorney general, Sure he gave wonderful speeches (during which he usually lied about his service) but beyond that, he hasn’t done a single thing for veterans.

    Of course, the real Vietnam Veteran, Rob Simmons dropped out of the race – real veterans in CT should be ashamed if their sole reason for supporting phony Blumenthal is his veteran status and his nebulous support for veterans..

  • Simmons to drop out?

    According to the Capitol Watch Blog, the REAL Vietnam veteran in the Connecticut Senate race may be dropping out today;

    Rob Simmons will hold a press conference for this morning in New London to announce he’s leaving the U.S. Senate race, sources said late today.

    The former congressman and Vietnam War veteran lost the Republican convention’s endorsement on Friday to former World Wrestling CEO Linda McMahon.

    It’s a cryin’ ass shame – I’d like to watch Blumenthal wiggle and squirm over his lies during the next six months of campaigning.

    Another thing that makes it a cryin’ ass shame is that another qualified veteran gets squeezed out an election because of a self-funded candidate and the Republican party’s inclination to back millionaires over willing veterans.

    ADDED: Simmons has “suspended” his campaign.

  • Who are the CT vets who “hold off” condemnation of Blumenthal

    There’s an article in the CT New Times entitled “Area Vietnam Veterans Hold Off Condemnation of Blumenthal” about the revelation that Connecticut’s Attorney General had been lying about his service during the Vietnam War. The reporter mentions five veterans who don’t seem to care much about Blumenthal’s lying – a couple even cite the “everybody does it” excuse.

    One name jumped out at me – Paul Bucha. Now Bucha is an honest-to-goodness Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in Vietnam and I don’t mean to denigrate his service in the least, but Bucha said in the article;

    “I hope it isn’t true,” said Paul Bucha, of Ridgefield, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam. “He’s a decent guy. I’d like to believe in our better angels.”

    Bucha declined to speculate about what his opinion might be if Blumenthal were proved to be intentionally lying.

    “My reaction might be far more dramatic than other people,” he said, nothing that some of the men he commanded in Vietnam were killed there.

    But maybe the reporter should have mentioned that Paul Bucha is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who famously campaigned for President Obama.

    There are rumors going around that Bucha is the fellow who advised President Obama’s staff that they could skip the “Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball” for Medal of Honor recipients. Only rumors, mind you, I don’t mean to lend credence to rumors.

    There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Bucha supporting Obama, of course, but it seems to me that if the reporter wanted to give just a few examples of veterans’ opinions, he’d want us to know from whom those quotes are coming and who, exactly, was supporting Blumenthal’s duplicity.

    Knowing this about Mr. Bucha makes me doubt the intentions of the other four veterans in the article.

  • Speaking of Murtha’s seat

    Since I live in the Johnstown area these days, I get to watch the battle for the Congressional seat recently vacated by the late John Murtha. Of course Murtha’s choice for the seat is his former staffer, Mark Critz. Critz runs from behind Murtha’s bloated corpse;

    Even though he’s not a veteran himself, Critz claims to be the veterans’ candidate because he won the endorsement of an organization named “Veterans & Military Families for Progress“. They claim to be a non-partisan organization, but a peek at their staff reveals a solid Blue line through their leadership.

    Their president/Media Director, Tom Howe was the Iowa chair of the Democratic Veterans’ Caucus Platform Committee. Executive VP Jan Donatelli was recognized at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention as a “Hero of the Labor Political Movement.” Administrative VP Jim Van Doren maintained the Oregon Veterans for Kerry website, and more recently was active in the Veterans for Obama movement. So there’s really nothing “non-partisan” about them. A veterans issue organization that supported Obama in his run against John McCain. I’d like to see how they justify that bit of hypocrisy. Oh, wait, here’s their statement on the endorsement;

    As the grandson of a veteran of World War II, his appreciation of veterans’ issues is underscored not by words but by actions. He serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, has shown leadership by introducing several non-partisan bills, some of which have been enacted into law, for the benefit of veterans. He shares the values of our military forces, and fights to ensure our forces are well-rested and properly equipped. Of particular interest to VMFP, Senator Obama shows superior support for veterans’ “coming home” issues such as accessible physical and mental health care, expanded educational benefits and job opportunities, and reduction of homelessness and suicide within the ranks of America’s veterans.

    If you scroll down their “Current Events” page, you’ll notice they get part of their money from SEIU – the purple-shirted thugs of Service Employees International Union which has caused so much trouble at Tea Party Rallies and has close ties to ACORN.

    Critz claims he will “will put veterans first”, but his ties to Veterans & Military Families for Progress tell a different story.