Hell hath no fury like a conservative paper scorned. The reliably conservative
Tampa Tribune ran an
editorial in today's edition that is VERY critical of the junior senator from Florida, Mel "Cementhead" Martinez:
Sen. Mel Martinez is off to a disgraceful start as Florida's junior senator, most recently playing an instrumental role in politicizing the last tragic days of Terri Schiavo's life.
More yummy smackdown goodness below the fold....
To put this editorial in perspective, it helps to understand that the Tribune has reliably endorsed Republican candidates for President every year except last year--when they did not endorse any candidate. Their usual op-eds are very Republican pro-business, pro-small government writings. So for them to nail Cementhead as thoroughly as they did was a nice surprise.
In reference to the infamous Republican talking points Schiavo memo, the editorial continues:
Martinez claims ignorance of the whole thing, an excuse we've heard before when his staffers attack. He says he never read the memorandum he pulled from his jacket pocket and handed Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin. He said he thought the memo explained his reasons for sponsoring the law giving federal courts the authority to review the Schiavo case.[....]
Martinez expects the citizens of this state to believe he knew nothing of the memo's contents. Why should we? He has shown a breathtaking pattern of disingenuousness.
This pattern was well-established in the 2004 campaign, when--without his knowledge, natch--advertisements were sent smearing his conservative Republican primary opponent, Bill McCallum, as being a "darling of the homosexual extremists". His campaign later attacked Janet Reno, who was campaigning for Democratic candidate Betty Castor, and Reno's decision as AG to remove Elian Gonzalez, calling the federal agents involved "armed thugs".
These kind of dirty tricks seem to be straight from the Karl Rove playbook. The difference is, Rove has been smart enough to cover his tracks usually. Martinez has not. But then again, this is what we have to expect from Rove's anointed Republican senator from Florida.
It's bad enough that the memo politicized the Schiavo case. It's terrible that it was put in writing. That it specifically targeted Bill Nelson is not a healthy sign for Florida. [....]
But that is what we are coming to expect from a senator whose staff takes radical positions and is willing to do most anything to win.
More important, he needs to begin taking responsibility for his office and quit imitating Sgt. Schultz from the old ``Hogan's Heroes'' television show: ``I know no-thing!''
It's time for know-nothing Mel to hold himself accountable.
Interestingly, given all the flap over the dirty tricks from the Martinez staff, it was probably terrorism, not the effect of the dirty tricks on his opponents, that enabled Cementhead to win his seat. He spent the last month pairing Castor with terrorism suspect Sami Al-arian, who was a professor at the University of South Florida when Ms. Castor was heading the university. Of course Mr. Al-arian's case is a story unto itself, but given all the nuances in it, I'm sure all the mouth-breathers needed was the message that Betty Castor coddled terrorists.
At least he was up front with that.
The print edition of the editorial has a pairing of photos that is howlingly funny. Since the web edition doesn't run it, I'll try to duplicate it as best I can here, in conclusion:
Florida Sen. Mel Martinez and Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes share a common refrain when something goes wrong around them: "I know no-thing!"
Andy
Sarasota