Is a "Swift Boat" campaign against Phil Forgit revving up? I sure hope not, but read this. The letter to the editor, from a "Steve King" of Yorktown, questions the circumstances surrounding Forgit's Bronze Star medal (while serving in Iraq with a naval special warfare unit).
That's bad enough, but I'm also hearing that there's a "whisper campaign" -- how organized, I don't know -- to discredit Forgit's military service in Iraq. Unfortunately, that sounds like typical Republican dirty tricks; ask Max Cleland, Chuck Robb, John McCain, John Kerry, and others what they think about that.
I certainly hope the Rob Wittman campaign has nothing to do with this. I would expect Wittman to immediately and strongly denounce and reject any Swift Boating tactics against Phil Forgit by his supporters.
I read the article. It's sad but it could be much worse, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is indeed something more villainous out there.
Republicans hate Democrats in the military, they want them to blindly support the GOP, but they "misunderestimate" our troops. I live in a place with a lot of military families, and the vast majority do not pick a party, the vote for the best candidate, and given the enormous disrespect the Republicans have shown for the military in Iraq, chances are the best candidate for them is almost always a Democrat nowadays.
It's a fine website and the reference to the Bronze Star Award is very low key. I did not see a photo of the medal, only a mention in the biographical text.
The letter to the editor is especially subtle. It appears to support Phil's candidacy while questioning the circumstances and merit of the Bronze Star award. It all but says that the candidate is marching behind his medal. It makes a specific non-abbreviated mention of Phil's Navy service rank which appears to emphasize that Phil was not a commissioned officer. Watch for these same elements to appear again with frequency and the "Swift-Boat" tactics will be confirmed.
But the committee's independent expenditure arm this week spent almost $8,000 to produce an ad attacking Forgit that hasn't yet aired, bringing its total expenditures for anti-Forgit activity to almost $39,000. The NRCC also has spent about $3,100 on phone banks to help Wittman.
Hopefully this tatic will backfire and it will fire up Democrats to turn out and vote for Phil on December 11th.
As for plausible deniability, I am absolutely sure, based on past observation, that Wittman can readily be proved to have a firewall between him and the swift boating, and that the National Republican Committee will also have no direct connection with his campaign when their negative ads start.
Mr. Forgit needs to respond immediately and forcefully to any such negatives, and a pre-emptive strike of his own would be ideal. I hope the usually sluggish Democratic response will be quick, quicker, quickest... has some one written a letter to the editor on their side?
Let's see, belongs to the GOP, thinks "politics is a full contact sport," is concerned about "this immigration/amnesty bill (grrrr)," and "all the bozos who want to pull out of Iraq," and believes in "the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died on the cross for my sins and on the third day rose again and today sits at the right hand of God in all His glory."
Yep, sounds like our Steve King of Yorktown.
I wonder how many medals Steve has, whether he was an officer or rose through the enlisted ranks, whether that LTE was one of those sins, and what he would think if someone slimeball questioned his military service.
"Headline: Politics: A Full Contact Sport"
"I Belong To: The GOP, Air Force Association"
"When I'm Not on Topix: I'm irritating others in different blogospheres"
That definitely seems to be the guy who's going after Forgit!
Really just plain pathetic and somewhat childish.
What Phil Forgit has to do right now ... is pull together a couple good Mailings / Fliers that projects his background .... get some other media exposure and hope the local democratic committees get the vote out.
At this point nobody really cares about this election and I predict it will be a record low turn out (just partisans). A democrat couldn't have a better chance to win in this climate but Phil has to get his Profile Raised with the general public.
I'm also a veteran who spent over 25-years in the military (two wars) and I visited Phil Forgit's website. Right there on the first page is a bolded statement about his BSM and service with a NAVSPECWAR unit and just about every press release link is a plug that includes something about his Bronze Star.
Fellas I am telling you that kind of marketing normally is reserved for gallantry-associated awards, and if you think that's lost on the area's veteran demographic then you better go back and refigure. "Swiftboating" may be a cussword to non-veteran progressives, but to me it was a matter of a bunch of guys who don't like pretenders keeping a major one out of the oval office. Most of us would have rather had W any day of the week than that numbskull stuffed shirt Kerry.
King's letter was fairly benign, but with all the noise being made in here you would think the boy was really onto something huge. How many of you who have posted are vets? And I don't mean that in a mean way, I just think there is a difference in how we perceive things.
I don't believe Kerry "pretended" to have any of his awards. The Navy, in fact, authenticated that each one was properly approved by numerous senior officers in Kerry's chain-of-command. Kerry's destructive mistake was failing to defend himself and that probably lost him the election.
The BSM is not a Navy medal. It orginated 'back when' with the war department and now is presented as a DoD-level (joint in other words) decoration. It has two purposes and those are now hopefully understood. People are frequently starstruck by this medal when they do not understand the dual purpose aspect.
The marketing comment was in reference to his website's "About" page. Look at it. If you can honestly conclude there's no attempt to construct the image of a war hero there then that is fine. I would disagree. I am not alone in that interpretation either.
Your comments on Kerry reflect your opinion and I certainly do respect that. We all served to preserve that right in one capacity or another. My own opinion is based on what I considered highly credible challenges by the swifts. As a historian and Vietnam era vet, I have seen similar claims go unchallenged and I find that really annoying. The swifts felt it would be an outrage to ignore Sen Kerry's claims and apparently their message resonated with many.
That is how I feel and I am sorry no one here sees any significance in what I said. Sorry I bothered you all and I wish you well.
As the custodian of my father's military record, including two Bronze Stars awarded for valor, I understand the distinction made in the letter quoted. It's not an insignificant distinction for veterans, but it's one made with obvious political motives. Forgit should speak quickly, clearly and if necessary cite King's own apparent bias. If his award was for meritorious service, it's no less an indication of his patriotism. To say otherwise is to slander all our soldiers, sailors and marines serving overseas.
Yes, this is swiftboating... rampant inuendo with just enough fact to make it credible.
It brings to question: What has Wittman done to serve our nation? As President Bush reminded the Democrats last month, "We are a nation at war!" Has Wittman served? If not, no supporter of his has the right to criticize Forgit for wearing his BSM.
P.S.- I, too, served (USAF '69-'73). My father served 31 years. Both of my brothers volunteered. I think everyone should honor our nation by volunteering, not only in times of war, but more importantly, in times of peace.