As always,
http://blog.bruderly06.com is the original. Accept no substitutes, except this one.
Friday started out as a great night. I met Howard Dean in Jacksonville, Dave talked to him for a couple minutes about the campaign. The Duval Democrats had a great JJ party, complete with a chocolate fountain, in which you could dip strawberries... mmm... deca-licious... (droool)
But I'm going to have to talk about that tomorrow.
Because you see, when I returned home, I flicked on the TV, to find the dark heart of the GOP. Jean Schmidt, Congresswoman from Ohio, barely even sworn in, decided to call a Democrat a coward.
Unfortunately for her, she picked Col. John Murtha, a retired combat Marine with 37 years of service and decorations littering his dress uniform. Schmidt, of course, has had run-ins with soldiers before, barely defeating Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett in a special election a couple months ago. She squeaked by, despite underhanded tactics, money from the GOP and living in the 3d most Republican district in Ohio.
Schmidt called Murtha a coward, because he had the timerity to suggest a resolution that called for a quick withdrawal from Iraq, followed by diplomacy helping along the nascent democracy in that country.
Republicans, even after the Schmidt attack, would not let up. Murtha's intelligent, well thought out resolution was not allowed to come to a vote. Instead, a terribly written Republican counterfeit was brought to a vote.
Paraphrasing, though just barely, the resolution said, "We go now."
Of course, it was voted down, Murtha's resolution never saw the light of day, and the wonderful corruption filled party of Schmidt, DeLay, Frist, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and Cliff Stearns continued to rule the petri dish that is their culture of corruption.
Please vote Dave in '06. Please support him now. There will be happy moments talked about tomorrow (WITH PICTURES!) but for now, I'll end with President Johnson's campaign slogan in 1964:
"The stakes are too high for you to stay home."