From Harry Reid's website:
Press Release of Senator Reid
Senate Democratic Leaders To Call On Clear Channel To Renounce Limbaugh's Attack On Our Troops
Democrats Ask Colleagues to Join in Condemning 'Phony Soldiers' Comment
Friday, September 28, 2007
Washington, DC—Senate Democratic leaders will send the following letter early next week to Mark P. Mays, CEO of Clear Channel Communications, calling on him to publicly repudiate Rush Limbaugh’s characterization of troops who speak out against the Iraq war as “phony soldiers.” The leaders are waiting to send Clear Channel this letter in order to give their colleagues – including those who have recently spoken up against attacks on our troops’ patriotism – the opportunity to sign this letter and join in expressing outrage at Mr. Limbaugh’s indefensible comments.
Below is the text of the letter:
Mr. Mark P. Mays
CEO, Clear Channel Communications Inc.
200 East Basse Road
San Antonio, TX 78209
Dear Mr. Mays,
At the time we sign this letter, 3,801 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, and another 27,936 have been wounded. 160,000 others awoke this morning on foreign sand, far from home, to face the danger and uncertainty of another day at war.
Although Americans of goodwill debate the merits of this war, we can all agree that those who serve with such great courage deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. That is why Rush Limbaugh’s recent characterization of troops who oppose the war as “phony soldiers” is such an outrage.
Our troops are fighting and dying to bring to others the freedoms that many take for granted. It is unconscionable that Mr. Limbaugh would criticize them for exercising the fundamentally American right to free speech. Mr. Limbaugh has made outrageous remarks before, but this affront to our soldiers is beyond the pale.
The military, like any community within the United States, includes members both for and against the war. Senior generals, such as General John Batiste and Paul Eaton, have come out against the war while others have publicly supported it. A December 2006 poll conducted by the Military Times found just 35 percent of service members approved of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq, compared to 42 percent who disapproved. From this figure alone, it is clear that Mr. Limbaugh’s insult is directed at thousands of American service members.
Active and retired members of our armed forces have a unique perspective on the war and offer a valuable contribution to our national debate. In August, seven soldiers wrote an op-ed expressing their concern with the current strategy in Iraq. Tragically, since then, two of those seven soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq.
Thousands of active troops and veterans were subjected to Mr. Limbaugh’s unpatriotic and indefensible comments on your broadcast. We trust you will agree that not a single one of our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends serving overseas is a “phony soldier.” We call on you to publicly repudiate these comments that call into question their service and sacrifice and to ask Mr. Limbaugh to apologize for his comments.
Sincerely,
Senator Harry Reid
Majority Leader
Senator Richard Durbin
Assistant Majority Leader
Senator Charles Schumer
Vice Chairman
Democratic Conference
Senator Patty Murray
Secretary
Democratic Conference
_________________________
What a bunch of quacks!
10 comments:
And yet those four all voted against rebuking MoveOn.org, along with Senate pro tempore Robert Byrd (3 heartbeats away from the Presidency) and Wisconsin's own embarrassment, Russ el-Slimeroad.
Amazing.
Not a one of those scuzz balls, including those mentioned by the eggster, are worthy to even lick the bottom of the boots of the U.S. Military, past, present, or future!
It makes me sick. It really does.
Tell us how you really feel, John. :)
Totally a partisan post. I don't support moveon.org. They are crazy left. On the other hand, the rightwing characters are no fun either! Anyone who disagrees is an unpatriotic, unamerican!!
Good - Keep engaging in this kind of hatred. Two things are assured: More troubles here at home and more anti-american sentiments abroad!
Of course it's a partisan post.
No kidding.
I didn't claim it wasn't.
Reid and his comrades have really gone off the deep end on this one. That's not hate. That's truth.
Congress has no business passing resolutions condemning anybody's political speech, whether it is Rush Limbaugh or MoveOn.org.
"Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...."
If MoveOn wants to criticize Gen. Petreus, they have the right to do so - and that is exactly what makes this country great. And if Rush L. wants to insult soldiers who disagree with him, well that's his right too. And while I may not agree with what he said, or john's loathesome rant (see above), I will defend to the death their right to say it. And that, my conservative friends, is what differentiates a liberal patriot from a conservative "Patriot".
When the fit hits the shan, a liberal Jewish lawyer from the ACLU is willing to stand up and defend the KKK's right to march in Skokie, Illinois. But where, oh where are the conservatives standing up for the rights of the unpopular and defending the Constitution? They aren't - instead, they are dreaming up ways to silence people, to limit speech, to imprison journalists who publish unflattering stories about the war, and to disappear American citizens from American soil to be held without charge and without trial for years, to torture people
The one thing that makes this country different from any other in the world is our Constitution and the principles and ideals that it stands for - how sad that so many of you are willing to wrap yourselves in a flag, claiming to be Patriots, while letting a corrupt administration tear the Constitution to shreds.
I don't know where to begin, so I'll make an all-encompassing comment in response to your remarks:
What a load!
Of course you don't know where to begin - because it isn't possible to reconcile this Administration's policies with the freedoms guaranteed by the US Constitution, so why bother when it is so much easier to hurl yet another insult.
The thing is, that it's the "band of America hating losers" that defend john's right to spew hate, while right-wing "Patriots" who claim to love America work so hard to destroy the very freedoms that make America great.
I couldn't disagree with you more.
We're in parallel universes. We have different world views.
Let's agree to disagree.
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