Republican Congressman to co-sponsor anti-Rush resolution... seriously
By Liz A Mair Posted in Rush Limbaugh | War — Comments (21) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
RedState is evidently on fire today about the Rush Limbaugh controversy, and efforts by the Democrats to waste legislative time on their pet anti-Rush resolution.
As such, I thought I would mosey on over and make sure that the RedState community is aware of the fact that on Tuesday, errant Republican Rep. Walter B. Jones (NC-3) told FOX that he will be co-sponsoring the resolution condemning Limbaugh.
This follows months of Jones-- who represents a conservative (and military-heavy), not a moderate or liberal district-- voting with Democrats on the war, and taking quite a few bad economic votes, too, earning him a worse rating from the Club for Growth than five Democrats, and a number of Republicans not usually recognized for their devout fiscal conservatism. It also follows him spending evidently quite a bit of time hanging out with the likes of Dennis Kucinich and Cindy Sheehan.
As some readers will be aware, Jones is being challenged in next year's GOP primary by conservative County Commissioner Joe McLaughlin (full disclosure, I've done some work for McLaughlin). McLaughlin has today been running a radio ad in the district, which blasts Jones for his actions, and describes him as a "phony Republican." For any of you concerned about how the Rush controversy is playing out, and the Republican who's playing along with the Democrats on this one, I'd encourage you to check it out. You can also learn more about McLaughlin here.
Liz Mair writes daily at lizmair.com.
How can I not support?
Seriously, I'm very hesitant to do primaries in 08 except on grounds like corruption, but Jones seems to be a serial offender on multiple fronts and for no good electoral reason.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
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“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so.” – Ronald Reagan
And many thanks to the lightweights at MSNBC for helping Republican fundraising efforts at my address.
I could barely type in my credit card info I was laughing so hard at those imbeciles, especially Dan Abrams. Pathetic.
While I don't think opposing the war is grounds for dismissal from the party (Hagel, for example, was more justly criticized on conservative grounds for his leftwing immigration views than his position on the war), I must say that Jones has crossed a line here.
Here, he has chosen to embrace the Left's bogus interpretation of Rush's comments. Its not even about Rush so much as the side he has chosen. You can oppose the war and not be a leftwing stooge, but I don't see how any conservative can jump on board such a cheap Democratic hatchet-job.
To ferret out the lie, he is unworthy of support. It's not about ideology it's about truth, and anyone who listens to the tapes knows what Rush was talking about. They also know Rush is an ardent supporter of the troops, for as long as he has been on the air.
The good news is the left's phony soldiers are exposed standing right next to the phony patriots. The public has a right to know. Fitting.
Indeed... a little too much...
At one point I counted seven (7) Congressmen with posts on the front page! And Fred Thompson! Heck, I can remember when we had our first post from a sitting Member of Congress here and being impressed just by that.
We've come a long ways, even with the trolls and mobys and Kossacks trying to drag us down.
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(Formerly known as bee) / Internet member since 1987
Member of the Surreality-Based Community
I'd suggest every Republican vote for this bill, and get up there and make a speech about why this tit-for-tat is so idiotic, but they're going to vote for it just to end this waste of time. That might go over well.
and then you have to agree that the beliefs leading up to this resolution are just silly and stupid... In that I would agree.
Unfortunately, the stupid Democratic party thinks that pushing this kind of resolution is not only par for their administration, but is required to keep the left nuts in check... So you can disagree all you want, but you have to agree that the left nutroots seem to be in charge.
Formally known as Deagle... "Golf is a way of life..."
And, if he does think that, is he right? Will his district think kindly of him for doing this?
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
He thinks that. If he does, he's crazy and wrong. This is a 68% Bush district. Not a place where you can win the primary by bashing Rush.
“I think we are the team to beat in the NL East -- finally.” - Jimmy "MVP" Rollins, 1/23/07
at why Jones might think this is a good idea, politically-speaking (ditto that sentiment for him allowing himself to be photographed with Cindy Sheehan, his grandstanding with Dennis Kucinich, his votes with the Democrats on Medicare and the minimum wage, among other things, during their "Six for '06" blitz, his votes against free trade agreements, etc.). As another RedStater points out, this is a 68% Bush district. It is also, as the Houston Chronicle noted in a recent story, a heavily military district, home to Camp Lejeune, Marine Corp Air Station Cherry Point and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Per the Chronicle: "More than 200,000 people are connected to those bases"-- and it doesn't appear that many of them share Jones' position (unsurprisingly).
Jones seems genuinely convinced that the Iraq War is immoral. Earlier this year, he commented, evidently explaining his opposition to the war, "there is only one election I care about, and that is the one that will determine if I eventually win election to Heaven" (this was at an event connected with the John William Pope Civitas Institute in North Carolina; sadly, they have redesigned their website and taken the page where the quote could be found down, so I can't link to it). His comments to the Houston Chronicle similarly indicate that he really believes the war is 100% morally wrong: "On some issues my party's right, and on some issues it's wrong [...] I don't have blind allegiance. My only allegiance is to my Lord" ; writing 6,700 heartfelt letters to the families of Iraq war casualties is his "mea culpa to my Lord" for voting to authorize the war in Iraq.
Jones' opposition to the war may indeed be heartfelt, and grounded in his particular sense of morality. That's fine, it just is becoming apparent that a) his views on Iraq, especially when combined with his voting record on a number of economic items would likely put him more at home in the Democratic party than the GOP and b) there's no way the bulk of his constituents agree with him on the issue of the war, specifically-- after all, he represents NC-3, not CA-8.
Liz Mair writes daily at lizmair.com.
Thanks for bringing this Jones / McLaughlin situation to us. I'll throw McLaughlin some cash. Good luck to him.
Just a question for the group. I know that we have the www.bigredtent.com, but it doesn't seem to contain information on all these candidates. Are you going to some other location to drop dough - the representative's own website, or is there another website that collects and broadcasts the information on the candidate and distributes it like Ac+ Blue does for the Dems? As I'm pretty new to this site, I apologize if this is the wrong forum or if I'm threadjacking (I think I now understand what that term means).
Erik
Erik, I use RightRoots, I think that's similar to that Ac+ Blue site for the Dems. I don't know what other people use. Hope it helps.
Walter Jones has been a pain for a long time. He's a former Democrat, and while former D's sometimes make the best R's, others never let go. Clearly that's the case here.
I completely support his primary challenger.
“I am telling people loosen your ties, fire up the coffee pots, get ready for the weekend, ... We've got a lot of work to do.”
- John Bolton
of pro Rush petitions, but let me add one more courtesy of MRC...
http://www.mrcaction.org/507/petition.asp?rid=12926179
Go here and sign one condemning Harry Reid.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help'
Ronald Reagan
Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.
Edward R. Murrow
It's time he admitted it and goes back to his progressive roots.
This McLaughlin is someone we need to get behind. Walter Jones is a cancer to the Republican Party.