There’s a lot more to this story. Laura Ingalls is in for Bill O’Reilly and also interviewed Walsh. He claimed to have said she was a hero hundreds of times. I am not sure that Laura Ingalls fell for his bull.
I fall in on the side of Duckworth. Walsh is on the defensive. Plus, I heard the smug, dismissive snickering in his audience. I also argued with some local Republicans both in person and on blogs about McCain. Pretty stupid when I am defending their Republican nominee. I don’t care. Right is right. He was a hero. It doesn’t require us to vote for him but never diminish what John McCain did for his nation. He could have gone home. He didn’t. He stayed with his men and suffered greatly for it.
What has Walsh done for his country? He was dishonorable to Ms. Duckworth. Attack her ideas, not her persona.
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I reflect on 1960…a young man who was also a war hero…disabled with an injury to his back and still got his men to safety. Carried that disability with him the rest of his oh-too-short life. Oh for the time when honorable service was not something insulted.
You must be referring to JFK.
Some war heroes can be loony as fruit cakes and they were still honored as war heroes. It was a certain part of our chivalry. We have lost that chivalry.
I am of the generation where Tammy Duckworth is also a lady. There are just a set of rules that go with that. All too many people have abandoned those manners. It is those manners that put my husband on autopilot, even with his horribly arthritic knees, when a mature woman enters the room or an obviously older person, or a war hero. There will be a time when he absolutely will not be able to do that, but I will know in his heart he has stood up.
I disagree with many of Duckworth’s ideas, but she is an inspiring woman. The fact that she was able to stay in the Illinois National Guard says a lot about her. Nevertheless, interest in her compelling life story probably means that she is treated with kid gloves by the media. By the time she finishes discussing her recovery, the media is distracted and never gets around to asking her tough questions that other candidates get asked. While that does not excuse Walsh’s behavior, he is probably frustrated.
Walsh seems very inarticulate. Duckworth barely lost in her previous run for Congress. I would not be surprised if this incident provides her with momentum in the polls that results in her winning the election this fall.
My idea of a lady warrior is Grace Hopper. She battled bugs and computers. Real combat ladies, I am not used to.
@Moon-howler
Admiral Hopper was a true warrior….there are two types of combat: the battles in the field and the battles in the hallways. When you think on her generation and having to fight the “little lady” images of the day; how women were viewed in the military…she kicked arse! Nobody believed her when she said computers were more than just big adding machines, and “Amazing Grace” proved them all wrong. Not bad for someone who needed a waiver because of height and low weight to get into the Navy!
By the way, “debugging” as a term is more or less accredited to her…there was a computer acting up and when they opened it, a moth had got stuck in a relay which she removed…LOL!
I was fortunate enough to attend one of her lectures. It was a truly unforgettable experience.
Walsh shows what happens when ideology triumphs over analysis. One gets office holders of his quality (or lack thereof) when people vote for buzzwords and bumper stickers instead of voting for character, knowledge, and devotion to public service. There’s no other explanation for that kind of person being in the Congress of the United States.
@Scout
It also doesn’t help that money talks more than ever now…and we all know what walks.
I bet Walsh wears his “patriotic” cloak when it comes to all the talk about support your veterans.
Oh, and lookey what I found on his legislative website. Empty shell of man, I knew it.
He sure has an odd way of “honoring veterans”!
Veterans
@kelly_3406
Duckworth has an interesting background with international depth, which to me is quite important these days. She was born in Bangkok to an American military man. Her mother is Thai. Her father worked for the U.N. in different parts of Asia. She’s fluent in Thai and Bahasa Indonesia.
She has a Master degree in international affairs from George Washington University and was working on her PhD when she was deployed to Iraq.
Seems she has enough on the ball to withstand any questions the press would put to her.
There was a column about Walsh in today’s WashPost.
Duckworth vs Walsh on Piers Morgan tonight (Tuesday) at 9 on cnn.