You probably heard about Congressman(Republican - of course) Tim Huelskamp twitter rage during last night's State of the Union address AND then his meltdown on Rachel Maddow's show. If you haven't, check out this diary that gives a good overview.
This won't be long, but wanted to add a "quick hit" on one of his tweets:
Oh wow, I could go on and on, about "where was he during the Bush years"? I could write several pages of examples of Bush actually using the military as his political prop starting with his infamous "Mission Accomplished" onboard an aircraft carrier.
I could also go on and on how his administration actually tried to conflate criticisms of his administration as criticizing the military. Or how Republicans charged anyone against the war as "not supporting the troops". Yes indeed, I could go on, but I think it would take a better writer than myself to do that justice.
There is only one thing I wanted to add to the conversation. When will someone in the media ask Congressman Huelskamp if he also condemns President Bush for "politicizing the military" in his 2007 State of the Union address?
From the official White House archives:
The chamber audience applauds Sgt. Tommy Rieman as the President recognizes him during his State of the Union Address at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 23, 2007. "He was shot in the chest and arm, and received shrapnel wounds to his legs -- yet he refused medical attention, and stayed in the fight. He helped to repel a second attack, firing grenades at the enemy's position,” explained the President. "For his exceptional courage, Sergeant Rieman was awarded the Silver Star. And like so many other Americans who have volunteered to defend us, he has earned the respect and the gratitude of our entire country."
Here is the
youtube link that takes you to the exact minute and second that Bush also "politicizes the military" /snark. Or you can watch the embedded player and manually skip ahead to 47minutes and 33 seconds into the video.
I don't think it's wrong to honor a soldier during a State of the Union is wrong, I would just like to see a reporter to force Huelskamp to either admit his hypocrisy or condemn - on camera - the last sitting Republican President.