How many different ways can I think of that Kirk has misrepresented his personal and military resume? I'm sure someone can help in the comments if I miss one. He lied about combat experience, Iraq service, command experience, winning a prestigious award and his teaching experience.
Al Gore was pilloried as a serial exaggerator after he
- made one unguarded remark about his important role in bringing about the Internet,
- mistook his memory of someone who accompanied him once on an official visit to a Texas fire disaster
- suffered some swift-boating of his honorable Viet Nam service.
No collapse of the Kirk campaign appears imminent after the much worse and actually real revelations of Mark Kirk's pitiful lack of personal character. So, maybe it's time we put Mark's grandiose descriptions of his trophy case behind us. Let us instead look at the truth about Mark Kirk, because that stuff is twice as crazy and scary.
Ok. Let me click here to continue on one of these. Oh, here we are at the full Monty, Mark Kirk on Fiscal Responsibility.
Hey, I'll bet he put what's most important to him right up at the top. Right
Mark Kirk opposed Speaker Pelosi’s trillion-dollar stimulus plan. Congressman Kirk offered two amendments to the bill. The first Kirk Amendment successfully cut a $200 million set aside to re-sod the National Mall. The second Kirk Amendment, which would have created a bipartisan oversight panel, was rejected by the Democratic Leadership.
Oh, dear. This is the Trifecta of Ick. First Kirk sticks out his chest as a stalwart opponent of the stimulus bill. But he doesn't let that stop him from bragging that they passed one of his amendments, anyway. What a two-faced weasel. He completes the Icky Trifecta by showing what a complete prick he is. Look at what his amendment did. It denied funding for thousands of American jobs, with a nearly immediate stimulative effect in Washington, Virginia and Maryland. Hell. What does Kirk care anyway? He's a doctrinaire and faithful Republican who is always willing to play along with any reverse Robin Hood scheme that his Republican leadership comes up with.
The rest of Kirk's schtick on Fiscal Responsiblity is more of the same GOP mind-crap. He's a deficit hawk, maybe a bit McCainish:
Mark Kirk remains the only member of the House Appropriations Committee to reject pork-barrel earmark spending. He cosponsored legislation to reform the appropriations process to stop wasteful, secret earmark projects.
Congressman Kirk led the effort to cancel House funding for the Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere."
Mark Kirk supports the line item veto and cosponsored the Balanced Budget Amendment.
He was the first member of Congress in history to visit the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Public Debt and has emerged as a leading voice against the Federal Reserve’s policy of printing money to finance our own debt.
Taxes? Doctrinaire GOP lock step votes in the past comprise Kirk's explanation of his likely future votes as a Republican in the U.S. Senate. He's for everything wrong the Republicans have done about taxes since enacting Bush's soon to expire 10 year gravy train with biscuit wheels for the top earners in the American . . .
Sorry. Ahem, . . . tax cuts for the rich. Death Tax? Roll over and stop flopping. Capital gains rate cuts? Come sit next to me, honey, I think I love you. Extending those Bush top bracket tax cuts even though the reason they have to expire is because they weren't paid for? Did I imply I was a deficit hawk? What was I thinking.
Folks, there is plenty more just as bad in the well lit bunker that is Mark Kirk for Senate on his multi-faceted Issues page. There is plenty of material for a series observations like those above if folks show enough interest.
Mark Kirk is a complete Republican snake. He is a reliable Senate vote for nothing important to the principle constituencies at this site. He is a danger to the prosperity of Illinois and cannot be allowed to occupy the President's former seat in the Senate. Someone needs to find a way to draw more attention to this race. Alexi Giannoulias needs the support of this community