Dear Friends,
There is something happening in American political life that decent people should denounce.
It started with a newspaper advertisement in the New York Times attacking General David Petraeus and calling him General Betray-Us.
The advertisement, placed by the far left political action group MoveOn.Org, has been condemned by large bipartisan votes in both the House and the Senate. It was an irresponsible attack on a decorated military officer.
I don't recall any private group ever being condemned by the Congress in this way.
The Move On attack was the most widely discussed recent example of this behavior, but it was not the only one.
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| Representative Heather Wilson speaks in favor of a resolution condemning vandalism done to the Vietnam Memorial when some kind of acid substance was splashed on the wall during a weekend of war protests in Washington in early September. |
Last Wednesday, after being whipped into a frenzy by Senator Robert Byrd, the Senate Armed Services Committee had to be cleared of jeering protestors in pink shouting down Marine General Peter Pace when he answered a question about the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy by referring to his own religious faith.
Last week, in Intelligence Committee hearings, two of my Democrat colleagues attacked the credibility of Admiral Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence. He politely deflected their assaults and ignored their boorishness. He should not have had to.
And on Thursday morning, I stood with Representative John Carter of Texas when he introduced a resolution condemning vandalism done to the Vietnam Memorial when some kind of acid substance was splashed on the wall during a weekend of war protests in Washington in early September.
The desecration of the Vietnam Memorial opened old wounds for those who were spit on and despised in the 1960s for wearing the uniform.
The attacks on General Pace, Admiral McConnell, and General Petraeus were just as bad.
You can express your political views in America and protest all you want. But these people have crossed lines that shouldn't be crossed. We are right to condemn them. Americans are even more right to put a hand on the shoulders of young people who may be tempted to follow them and say, "We don't do that here."
My colleague from Texas, John Carter, is a former judge. He thinks the people who vandalized the Vietnam Wall should be thrown in jail. I disagree. In my dreams they will be ordered to walk the rows of marble headstones at their closest VA cemetary every Memorial Day, silently placing stars and stripes in front of graves once a year for as long as they live.
Wish you were here,