Military Running for Congress

[Guest cage]

TheGuest,

If you know these candidates well, can you chime in on how he is off active duty already?

I will reply since it has become a question, and I just found this thread. I'm not a big discussion board guy (just ask my former students), so please email / use the website if you guys have any questions - and if you post a follow up I may not see it, as I need to keep correspondance on the 'official' level (I'm sure you can understand that). Als

I was ordered medically retired - apparently high G flight and my knees ceased to agree after 9 years as I will be needing 2 knee replacement surgeries. I never failed a PT test, and was never close to failing. I never had to do a PT test on a profile. Also, I was retired less than a month before my Maj board. I'd still be flying if I could.

Also, I just received endorsement from a major Veterans group/PAC (news release in a day or 2), as well as the co-founder of another major PAC.

Cage

Edited April 5, 2010 by cage

[Guest]

She's not military but she's married to a good friend that I flew with in a couple different locations.

Kelly Ayotte

[SuperWSO]

Whoa. Murtha was anything but "anti-military". He did change his mind on Iraq and said some pretty shitty things about the Haditha incident in which he smeared his fellow Marines, but he was not anti-military.

He was good at one thing - spending money. Other peoples money.

Remeber he fought to keep the funding for the F-22. DoD Buzz

Spending money? Check. I wish we had more F-22s personally, but this wasn't about anything but money.

Refer to this conservative propaganda site, the Huff Post

It was also because of Murtha that the DOD instituted the PDRMA program.

PDRMA credited to Murtha

Spending money? Check.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh remembers Murtha as someone who "cared deeply for our men and women in uniform".

McHugh's statement

Nice things about dead guy, thats a given.

It was Murtha’s influence that led Congress to provide a $500 allowance for every month a service member was held on active-duty under stop-loss orders. And it was Murtha who forced the Defense Department come up with a way to provide more time between deployments for Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans.

Marine Corps Times

Spending money? Check.

Bash him all you want on his smearing of Marines in Haditha, he deserves that. But you can't label him anti-military when you go back and look at his actual record. He was anything but.

His other notables include being just short of indicted in the Abscam sting. Quotable quote - "The FBI videotaped Murtha responding to an offer of $50,000, with Murtha saying, "I'm not interested... at this point."

He was cited by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as one of the most corrupt members of congress. Most of the allegations surround his dealings with defense contractors. Some good may have come to the military, but I don't think that excuses outright corruption.

Oh, and yes, he did turn on his fellow Marines in Iraq. This is not the kind of "friend" I look for in the military or government.

[Vertigo]

He was good at one thing - spending money. Other peoples money.

Spending money? Check.

Spending money? Check.

Spending money? Check.

Spending money on the military and its troops = anti-military. Check.

Look, I'm not defending the guys questionable ethics. Or unscrupulous behaviours. Or turning on his fellow Marines.

I'm defending the accusation you made that he is anti-military. He clearly was not.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Vertigo

[SuperWSO]

I'm defending the accusation you made that he is anti-military. He clearly was not.

So rampant pork barrel politics and corruption is ok as long as you get something out of it.

Once again, we will have to agree to disagree. It wasn't about helping the military, it was about helping John Murtha get re-elected.

[Guest Lockjaw25]

If you can know a man by the company he keeps...

Murtha with Code Pink

Code Pink at protest

I always respected him for his service, but in the last six years or so....

Yup.

[HuggyU2]

I was ordered medically retired.

Thanks for clarifying.

Thanks for your military service.

[Guest]

I was ordered medically retired - apparently high G flight and my knees ceased to agree after 9 years as I will be needing 2 knee replacement surgeries. I never failed a PT test, and was never close to failing. I never had to do a PT test on a profile. Also, I was retired less than a month before my Maj board. I'd still be flying if I could.

Wait, what? That's terrible. I've never heard of a person blowing their kness out from pulling Gs. Quite frankly, I can't even imagine how that would happen.

[HuggyU2]

He may have had a similar issue to me. In my case, my hip pain became so bad that I couldn't get comfortable in the jet. Even getting into the jet became an issue. Finally, I threw in the towel and got an artificial hip: no more pain.

Artificial knees sound a bit more complex.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Huggyu2

[Guest Alarm Red]

Code Pink at protest

The picture is an obvious fake. Do your homework next time and your credibility won't tank wholesale. Now you just look like yet another right-wing nutjob grasping at straws, whereas you may have had a point without the neocon fringe propaganda. The far left does enough own their own to look silly; posting this photoshop bullshit is counterproductive.

[Guest firesmoke]

The picture is an obvious fake. Do your homework next time and your credibility won't tank wholesale. Now you just look like yet another right-wing nutjob grasping at straws, whereas you may have had a point without the neocon fringe propaganda. The far left does enough own their own to look silly; posting this photoshop bullshit is counterproductive.

Codered,

Wow man. Relax. Have a beer....or a wheatgrass tea or something

[Guest Lockjaw25]

The picture is an obvious fake. Do your homework next time and your credibility won't tank wholesale. Now you just look like yet another right-wing nutjob grasping at straws, whereas you may have had a point without the neocon fringe propaganda. The far left does enough own their own to look silly; posting this photoshop bullshit is counterproductive.

Sweet, being totally judged by one post. Look, I don't even have photoshop on my computer, so if it's a fake, I apologize, I screwed up. My bad. There are plenty of people on both sides I'm not exactly happy with. I still don't appreciate Murtha being judge and jury on Marines in combat before an investigation was being completed, nor do I appreciate him associating with Code Pink.

'Nuff said, let's try and get this back on topic.

[Gravedigger]

Awesome, I would have voted for that dude. He is unemployed and has a felony, I'd say he represents a significant portion of the state.

What the hell was with the delay? Was he in Baghdad, or did it just take him that long to comprehend the question?

Edited June 11, 2010 by Gravedigger

[DFRESH]

The first one was so painful to watch, I skipped the second.

[PapaJu]

Not sure if I should feel sorry for the guy or think it's kind of awesome that a nobody won a major party primary for national office.

[bucky60k]

Not sure if I should feel sorry for the guy or think it's kind of awesome that a nobody won a major party primary for national office.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but this guy has no business being in the election. He can't even form a coherent thought let alone debate someone on issues. it will be interesting to see the whole story on how this guy has risen from nothing to his position today.

[PapaJu]

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but this guy has no business being in the election. He can't even form a coherent thought let alone debate someone on issues. it will be interesting to see the whole story on how this guy has risen from nothing to his position today.

Dems are claiming GOP plant. That would be the only remotely plausible theory at this point, though they've also played that card in a couple of South Carolina elections where the "preferred" guy didn't win as of late.

[itsokimapilot]

Dems are claiming GOP plant. That would be the only remotely plausible theory at this point, though they've also played that card in a couple of South Carolina elections where the "preferred" guy didn't win as of late.

If he was a plant wouldn't someone on the right helped him campaign (suggest ads, banners, pins, anything)? It doesn't seem as if he did anything a normal politician would do to get elected.

[Vertigo]

Mark Kirk is running for Senate from Illinois (the Burris/Obama seat)

Kirk, who holds the rank of Commander, is a Naval Reserve intelligence officer and has served during conflicts with Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia. He recently became the first member of Congress to serve in an imminent danger zone since 1942 when he deployed as a reservist to Afghanistan in December. The U.S. Navy named Kirk Intelligence Officer of the Year in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo.

Mark Kirk

Seems this guy may be getting a second look at. He's already been cautioned twice for mixing his active duty with his politics. Also seems he exaggerated his service and that Intel officer of the year award. That was given to the whole unit, not this one individual.

"Pentagon: Kirk mixed politics with military duty

By CHRISTOPHER WILLS

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- The Pentagon said Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk has been cautioned twice for improperly mingling politics with his military service, but Kirk's campaign denied any improper conduct Tuesday.

The Defense Department said Monday night that Kirk, a commander in the Navy Reserve, was warned after two incidents of political activity while he was on active duty. Before being allowed to go on active duty again in Afghanistan, Kirk was required to sign a statement acknowledging he knew to avoid all political work.

"Commander Kirk was counseled about each of his violations after they occurred and signed a statement acknowledging the limitations on his ability to participate in campaign activities while on active duty. He was required to complete this acknowledgment before being allowed to begin active duty in December 2009," the Pentagon said.

Kirk's spokeswoman dismissed the issue, saying the questions have already been addressed by the campaign in the past.

"Had there been any issues documented in Congressman Kirk's military record, the Department of Defense would not have issued a second waiver for his deployment to Afghanistan," Kirk spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said in a statement Tuesday.

The Defense Department said one incident occurred late in 2008 when Kirk gave interviews about Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich being arrested.

And in July 2009, Kirk or a staff member wrote on the candidate's Twitter account that he was on duty at the Pentagon's National Military Command Center.

Kirk, a five-term member of Congress from Chicago's northern suburbs, is running against Democrat Alexi Giannoulias for the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.

Kirk already has dealt with revelations that he had exaggerated his military record, particularly by repeatedly saying he was named intelligence officer of the year. The award in question went to his entire unit.

Kirk has made his 21 years of service in the Navy Reserves a key part of his campaign, mentioning it in most speeches and news releases.

Politicians' military records are under particularly intense scrutiny after the recent revelation that a Senate candidate in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, had sometimes told audiences he served in the Vietnam War. Actually, he was in the Marine Reserves and never left the United States.

The issue of Kirk taking political action while on active duty was first raised when a blogger named Terry Welch disclosed a Defense Department memo on the issue.

Source

*typos

Edited June 15, 2010 by Vertigo

[chuckster]

I had the privilege of meeting CDR Tom Garcia and spoke with him for quite a while about the military and space program. He is a decorated Naval Aviator who is very outspoken and just seems like an all around good guy. Very approachable and seems to be genuinely fed up with general perceptions and views towards space and defense. I live in central Florida and we need more people like this in office. My .02

http://tomgarciaforcongress.com/index.html