Thursday, September 27, 2007
Calling On Cornyn
Here's a letter I penned to one of my Senators today. Based on the response, this blog may see some related updates.
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September 27, 2007
Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Cornyn:
You recently proposed an amendment, which both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed, that sought to “strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; and to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org.” You are now using that amendment to solicit campaign donations. I have enclosed a copy of the Congressional Record documenting that amendment and a copy of your fundraising solicitation for your reference.
Fresh on the heels of that amendment, nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called members of the armed services who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq “phony soldiers.” He made that remark while responding to a caller during the September 26, 2007 edition of his show. His most recent “phony soldiers” attack follows his January 25, 2007, declaration that we “got a new name for Senator Hagel in Nebraska, we got General Petraeus and we got Senator Betrayus, new name for Senator Hagel.”
By calling members of the armed services “phony soldiers” and by calling your colleague “Senator Betrayus,” Mr. Limbaugh has done the very thing you claim to “condemn” in your amendment and in your fundraising solicitation. As you should well be aware, Senator Hagel, according to his official Senate biography, “served in the U.S. Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant E-5, 1967-1968, and [served] in Vietnam in 1968.”
This means that Mr. Limbaugh has, in the words of your amendment, made an “effort to attack the honor and integrity of…all the members of the United States Armed Forces.” He attacked active duty members of the armed services by calling them “phony soldiers.” He attacked a veteran of the armed forces by calling him “Senator Betrayus.” He made those attacks using language strikingly similar to the “unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus” that your amendment and fundraising solicitation seek to “repudiate.”
As you have gone on the record to “condemn…the liberal activist group Moveon.org” and used that condemnation as fundraising fodder, I must demand that you hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard. I call on you to propose whatever additional legislation is required to equally “condemn” the attacks on members of the armed services, both active duty and veteran, made by Mr. Limbaugh.
Your failure to hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard you have held Moveon.org to would be nothing short of hypocrisy. Should you indeed prove yourself to be such a hypocrite, I will have no choice but to see that I inform as many of my fellow Texans as possible of your two-faced behavior. I hope I can count on you, as my elected Senator, to do the right thing and hold anyone who attacks our soldiers to the same standard.
I eagerly await your action on this matter.
Sincerely,
Daniel Melder
/s
Enclosures
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September 27, 2007
Senator John Cornyn
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Cornyn:
You recently proposed an amendment, which both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed, that sought to “strongly condemn any effort to attack the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all the members of the United States Armed Forces; and to specifically repudiate the unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus by the liberal activist group Moveon.org.” You are now using that amendment to solicit campaign donations. I have enclosed a copy of the Congressional Record documenting that amendment and a copy of your fundraising solicitation for your reference.
Fresh on the heels of that amendment, nationally syndicated conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh called members of the armed services who advocate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq “phony soldiers.” He made that remark while responding to a caller during the September 26, 2007 edition of his show. His most recent “phony soldiers” attack follows his January 25, 2007, declaration that we “got a new name for Senator Hagel in Nebraska, we got General Petraeus and we got Senator Betrayus, new name for Senator Hagel.”
By calling members of the armed services “phony soldiers” and by calling your colleague “Senator Betrayus,” Mr. Limbaugh has done the very thing you claim to “condemn” in your amendment and in your fundraising solicitation. As you should well be aware, Senator Hagel, according to his official Senate biography, “served in the U.S. Army infantry, attaining the rank of Sergeant E-5, 1967-1968, and [served] in Vietnam in 1968.”
This means that Mr. Limbaugh has, in the words of your amendment, made an “effort to attack the honor and integrity of…all the members of the United States Armed Forces.” He attacked active duty members of the armed services by calling them “phony soldiers.” He attacked a veteran of the armed forces by calling him “Senator Betrayus.” He made those attacks using language strikingly similar to the “unwarranted personal attack on General Petraeus” that your amendment and fundraising solicitation seek to “repudiate.”
As you have gone on the record to “condemn…the liberal activist group Moveon.org” and used that condemnation as fundraising fodder, I must demand that you hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard. I call on you to propose whatever additional legislation is required to equally “condemn” the attacks on members of the armed services, both active duty and veteran, made by Mr. Limbaugh.
Your failure to hold Mr. Limbaugh to the same standard you have held Moveon.org to would be nothing short of hypocrisy. Should you indeed prove yourself to be such a hypocrite, I will have no choice but to see that I inform as many of my fellow Texans as possible of your two-faced behavior. I hope I can count on you, as my elected Senator, to do the right thing and hold anyone who attacks our soldiers to the same standard.
I eagerly await your action on this matter.
Sincerely,
Daniel Melder
/s
Enclosures
