Democrat Trys to Exploit Fallen Marine
From: Review-Journal
“Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas H. Anderson was killed on Nov. 12, 2004, in Iraq.
Photo by The Associated Press
From: Best of the Web
‘That Guy Is a (Expletive)’
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports on a Nevada Senate candidate’s botched effort to use the crippled-vet ploy:
Hoping to generate attention for his boss late in an underdog campaign, an aide to Democrat Jack Carter solicited the mother of an Iraq war casualty to appear alongside the Senate candidate at a rally or news conference last week.
But if it was looking for a willing ally, the Carter camp evidently picked the wrong mother.
Eleanor Dachtler of Las Vegas said she was insulted by the overture, which was made in a blind letter that began: “I hope I have reached the right Eleanor Dachtler and that you are the mother of Nick Anderson. If not, please disregard this letter.”
The letter asked if Dachtler would appear with Carter at an event where the candidate would be criticizing the Iraq policy of President Bush and Republican incumbent John Ensign.
Dachtler’s participation could help draw media coverage, she was told. . . .
“I read the letter, and I thought, ‘This guy is a (expletive),’ ” said Dachtler, whose 18-year old son, Nicholas, was killed on Nov. 12, 2004, in the Anbar province. . . .
She said she kept her annoyance to herself until she saw Carter on television with paraplegics at an event to promote stem cell research, similar to the idea his aides had pitched her on Iraq.
“It was almost like he was exploiting these people,” she said.
“Almost like”? Mrs. Dachtler, you have a gift for understatement! Jack Carter, by the way, is the son of the worst president of the latter half of the 20th century.
There’s something especially revolting about the attempt to exploit American servicemen by painting them as victims rather than heroes, a political technique pioneered by John “Botched Joke” Kerry, who told a Senate committee in 1971:
“I called the media. . . . I said, ‘If I take some crippled veterans down to the White House and we chain ourselves to the gates, will we get coverage?’ ‘Oh, yes, we will cover that.’ “