Earlier today on MSNBC with David Shuster, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA-10) not only showed himself to be a mouth-piece for the far right, he also demonstrated that he’s willing to demean the honorable men and women of the military if it helps him get re-elected. Over at Think Progress, they explain what happened:
In recent days, there has been an “uproar” among right-wing pundits and politicians who have objected to trying terrorism suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged co-conspirators in civilian courts in New York City. One of the most outrageous objections against the New York City trials came today during an exchange between Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) and MSNBC’s David Shuster. After being asked whether it was hypocritical to be against the NYC trials while saying nothing about 119 terrorism suspects who were tried in civilian courts during the Bush administration, Wolf deflected and claimed that giving terror suspects civilian trials is equivalent to “treating them better than you’re treating a young American serviceman or woman”
That little performance looked more like a gang initiation than an interview. Boehner and Canter must have told Wolf that he needs to start singing for his supper or there won’t be any campaign money come the Fall.
It should be obvious to everyone that Frank Wolf no longer sees the need to keep up his “moderate” façade any longer. This is yet another sorry example of a career politician looking at the polls and making policy choices based on his own self-interest. Hoping to avoid a repeat of NY-23, he’s willing to sacrifice all those moderate and independent voters who have kept him in office, in order to placate the "Tea Party" crowd .
Since the day he President Obama was sworn in, Wolf has been on the attack, for no other reason than partisan politics. This time, in attempting to fan the flames of fear by demonstrating how horrible it would be to try terror suspects in civilian courts – as the Bush Administration did with Richard "Shoe Bomber" Reid, "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, Zacarias Moussaoui, José Padilla, the "Buffalo Six," etc. – Wolf has impugned the integrity of our military courts and our military in general, by suggesting that servicemen and women are treated worse than terrorists because they are tried in military rather than civilian courts.
For those of us in the VA-10, this is just another example of Wolf being totally hypocritical. The fact is, during the Bush administration, many terrorist suspects were tried in civilian courts, with nary a peep of protest from Frank Wolf. Apparently, as long as there’s a Republican president, it’s fine. If there’s a Democratic president, it’s not fine. Of course, this is typical of Frank Wolf, as I pointed out recently:
“It’s pretty obvious that Wolf no longer sees the benefit of portraying himself as a moderate. The radical far right members of his party must be pleased with his round the clock attacks on President Obama and his administration,” said Richard Anthony, a democratic candidate for Congress in Virginia’s’ 10th District. “The moderate, independent voters in the 10th who turn out in November prefer ideas to finger pointing and partisan attacks.”
The bottom line is this: we can't let Frank Wolf get away with his hypocrisy, his slander of the military justice system, and his right-wing lunacy, certainly not in a district that was won easily by Barack Obama in 2008. Instead, Wolf needs to be taught a lesson once and for all. The best way to teach him that lesson? How about by helping a strong, progressive Democrat like myself give Wolf the race of his life this year. If you would like to help out my campaign, how about donating "$5 against Frank" and say "no" to Frank Wolf's hypocrisy? Alternately, you could give $11.90 (or $119.00) for the 119 terror suspects Wolf never said a word about.
Either way, it would send a clear message to Frank Wolf that his reelection is far from a sure thing, especially if he keeps mouthing off like he did earlier today. Thanks very much.