Remember the thing that very nearly kept Republican Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk from getting elected six years ago? His repeated lies about his military service? How he just couldn't stop claiming that he was in Operation Iraqi Freedom (George H.W. Bush's war), and the Navy said "no he wasn't," and how he claimed he got a "combat award" for service in Kosovo when he was never in combat? Guess what war Kirk is claiming to have fought in this campaign? That's right, the Iraq War. Mark Kirk's campaign website says he's a "veteran" of the Iraq War.
The Republican, now battling for a second term in a tight race in Illinois, stayed in the United States during the Iraq War when he served in the Navy Reserves. But on a public webpage on his official campaign website touting his record on veterans' issues, Kirk was listed as a "veteran of the Iraq war."
While Kirk campaign officials said it was a staff error, the issue resembles the controversy that nearly caused his 2010 Senate campaign to implode. Moreover, Kirk is now running for reelection against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both of her legs during combat in Iraq.
A once public, now private webpage on Mark Kirk's official campaign website touted his record on veterans' issues, Kirk was listed as a "veteran of the Iraq war."
Kirk's campaign says that page wasn't never meant to be public, that it was "supposed to be a private site while edits were being made to the page." Yeah, sure.
Also too, it wasn't them—it was a third-party vendor who wrote up the language and the campaign just never got around to fixing it before they made the page and put it out there where voters could find it. How the third-party vendor got the biographical information to write up Kirk's imaginary Iraq War service is not explained.
This is after Tammy Duckworth—a real combat veteran who actually lost her legs for her country—hit Kirk with an ad for "lying repeatedly" about his combat service. Like, it's an issue in the campaign. It was an issue in his last campaign, his pathological lying about his military service. It's an issue with Mark Kirk. He's a liar. Everybody knows it. So why in the hell would the campaign prove it? Again?!
There are enough pathological liars in politics. This one needs to be retired.
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