What are Ohioans saying about Jean Schmidt?

Here are excerpts from recent editorials:

Cincinnati Enquirer:

Schmidt's remarks over the top

Schmidt was way out of line. Not only was she factually wrong about Murtha, her remark was a clear breach of decorum in the House, where members are not supposed to stoop to personal insult.

While we agree with Schmidt that it would be wrong to simply withdraw all our troops from Iraq, we cannot support her tone or insinuation that those opposed to this controversial policy are cowards or unpatriotic.

When we endorsed Schmidt for Congress, we knew she was conservative, strong-willed and direct. Those remain admirable qualities, but they must be tempered by fairness and a respect for the views and experiences of others.

Cincinnati Post:

In [her] inaugural speech in the House floor, Schmidt declared, "It is easy to quickly sink to the lowest form of political debate. Harsh words often lead to headlines, but walking this path is not a victimless crime.''

It took Schmidt less than three months to expose herself as a hypocrite.

For the sake of efficiency, perhaps Schmidt and another of the region's freshmen in Congress, Geoff Davis from Northern Kentucky, ought to call a joint press conference. Davis has been indulging in much the same line of attack against critics of the administration's Iraq policy, though it hasn't been quite as personal.

Davis told reporters that he views calls for an immediate pullout as "shameful'' and implied that Murtha and those who support him are working on behalf of al-Qaida.

Good grief.

We've arrived at a point in our politics where a 31-year veteran of Congress - a former Marine colonel who served in Korea and Vietnam, who holds a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry - cannot stand up and say what many Americans believe without being called a coward by someone who hasn't served a day in uniform and not even three months in Congress. Where anyone who tries to bring up a principled debate on a withdrawal strategy risks being branded by the likes of Geoff Davis as a feckless traitor giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

By the way, Democrats would be wise to make the charge that Republicans are calling decorated veterans cowards. Don't limit the scope by saying Schmidt is doing the name calling. You can be damn sure that if a single Democrat said something out of line, the Republican talking point would be that Democrats are at fault.


posted by Quiddity at 11/22/2005 08:26:00 PM