Little-Acorn
12-03-2008, 02:28 PM
The last paragraph has it slightly wrong, though the gist is accurate. Democrats' McCarthyite efforts to smear, were a smear on Chambliss by pretending he had questioned Cleland's patriotism when he hadn't, not a smear on Cleland himself. If anything, Democrats tried to falsely boost Cleland by claiming his injuries had occurred in combat, though they had happened by accident on a friendly landing field as Cleland himself had described.
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http://opinionjournal.com
from "Best of the Web Today"
A Win for Civility
Georgia voters bury a McCarthyite smear.
By JAMES TARANTO
Democrats will fall short of a 60-seat Senate supermajority in the 111th Congress. Unofficial results, with 97% of precincts reporting, show Sen. Saxby Chambliss with a wide lead over challenger Jim Martin, 57.4% to 42.6%, in Georgia's runoff election. Chambliss's victory assures the GOP of at least 41 Senate seats. It also lays to rest one of the nastiest McCarthyite smears of recent times: the repeated assertion by Democrats and the media that former senator Max Cleland's patriotism is in question.
Cleland was seeking a second term in 2002 when Chambliss ran against him. Chambliss criticized Cleland's voting record--specifically, his repeated votes against the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. Cleland and fellow Democrats objected to provisions in the law that gave the new department more vis-à-vis union work rules. Chambliss accused Cleland of cravenly pandering to special interests.
Democrats, unable to defend Cleland's position on the merits, falsely accused Chambliss of questioning Cleland's patriotism--and thereby introduced into the debate the notion that Cleland's patriotism was in question. In fact, although Cleland might not have distinguished himself as a U.S. senator, he served courageously in the battlefield in Vietnam, so that his patriotism should be above reproach. As we noted in 2003, Cleland was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action at Khe Sanh. His citation reported:
When the battalion command post came under a heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack, Capt. Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions. Continuing to expose himself, Capt. Cleland organized his men into a work party to repair the battalion communications equipment which had been damaged by enemy fire. His gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Four days later, Cleland lost an arm and both legs in a grenade accident. In 2004, in a grotesque bit of political theater, John Kerry's campaign wheeled Cleland out in Crawford, Texas, to "deliver a letter" to President Bush complaining that some Vietnam veterans who supported Bush were saying mean things about Kerry.
As we noted at the time, Kerry, as an antiwar extremist in 1971, had boasted of hatching the idea of exploiting the handicapped for political purposes. "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,' " he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The president, to his credit, ignored the spectacle.
This year, Democrats hoped to exact revenge for Cleland's 2002 loss by defeating Chambliss. Had Martin prevailed, there's little doubt his fellow Democrats would have claimed vindication for their McCarthyite effort to smear Cleland as a man whose patriotism is in question. Chambliss's win therefore should be seen as a victory for civility and decency in politics.
-------------------------------------------------
http://opinionjournal.com
from "Best of the Web Today"
A Win for Civility
Georgia voters bury a McCarthyite smear.
By JAMES TARANTO
Democrats will fall short of a 60-seat Senate supermajority in the 111th Congress. Unofficial results, with 97% of precincts reporting, show Sen. Saxby Chambliss with a wide lead over challenger Jim Martin, 57.4% to 42.6%, in Georgia's runoff election. Chambliss's victory assures the GOP of at least 41 Senate seats. It also lays to rest one of the nastiest McCarthyite smears of recent times: the repeated assertion by Democrats and the media that former senator Max Cleland's patriotism is in question.
Cleland was seeking a second term in 2002 when Chambliss ran against him. Chambliss criticized Cleland's voting record--specifically, his repeated votes against the legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security. Cleland and fellow Democrats objected to provisions in the law that gave the new department more vis-à-vis union work rules. Chambliss accused Cleland of cravenly pandering to special interests.
Democrats, unable to defend Cleland's position on the merits, falsely accused Chambliss of questioning Cleland's patriotism--and thereby introduced into the debate the notion that Cleland's patriotism was in question. In fact, although Cleland might not have distinguished himself as a U.S. senator, he served courageously in the battlefield in Vietnam, so that his patriotism should be above reproach. As we noted in 2003, Cleland was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action at Khe Sanh. His citation reported:
When the battalion command post came under a heavy enemy rocket and mortar attack, Capt. Cleland, disregarding his own safety, exposed himself to the rocket barrage as he left his covered position to administer first aid to his wounded comrades. He then assisted in moving the injured personnel to covered positions. Continuing to expose himself, Capt. Cleland organized his men into a work party to repair the battalion communications equipment which had been damaged by enemy fire. His gallant action is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Four days later, Cleland lost an arm and both legs in a grenade accident. In 2004, in a grotesque bit of political theater, John Kerry's campaign wheeled Cleland out in Crawford, Texas, to "deliver a letter" to President Bush complaining that some Vietnam veterans who supported Bush were saying mean things about Kerry.
As we noted at the time, Kerry, as an antiwar extremist in 1971, had boasted of hatching the idea of exploiting the handicapped for political purposes. "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,' " he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The president, to his credit, ignored the spectacle.
This year, Democrats hoped to exact revenge for Cleland's 2002 loss by defeating Chambliss. Had Martin prevailed, there's little doubt his fellow Democrats would have claimed vindication for their McCarthyite effort to smear Cleland as a man whose patriotism is in question. Chambliss's win therefore should be seen as a victory for civility and decency in politics.