Poor Jean Schmidt. Soon to be cut loose like a minnow on a marlin boat by her party after making one of the dumbest fresman mistakes ever in the halls of Congress: calling out a 37 year Marine veteran and implying he's a coward for wanting to redeploy troops from Iraq.
Now it seems "Danny" -- State Rep. Dan Bubp -- the guy from back home whom Schmidt claimed she was quoting when she let loose with "cowards cut and run, Marines never do" -- is throwing her back with the gimpy fish, too. Bubp today denied he ever made the disparaging comment about Jack Murtha, saying Schmidt obviously misconstrued their conversation. (BTW somebody tell Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson that Bubp is not in Iraq, and never has been. He's in Ohio...)
Karen Tabor, spokeswoman for the Ohio House GOP caucus, said Bubp, a Republican from West Union in southwest Ohio, never intended his remarks to be used against another serviceman.
''I don't think he ever made reference to Congressman Murtha with Congresswoman Schmidt,'' Tabor said.
Bubp did not return calls to his office Tuesday seeking comment.
Tabor said Bubp was concerned that the remarks attributed to him by Schmidt, whose district is east of Cincinnati, would be taken as an attack on Murtha and American veterans.
''That's certainly not how they were intended,'' Tabor said. ''The intent of his conversation with Congresswoman Schmidt was to express his concern with immediate withdrawal and the potential to leave (MIA) American forces behind.''
Barry Bennett, Schmidt's chief of staff, said Bubp did not know Schmidt was going to use their conversation as the basis of her House floor comments.
For her part, Schmidt has released a statement saying she regrets that the controversy has "become about her" and "choice of words." (I'll bet she also regrets that SNL didn't even use one of the cute actresses to play her in the parody -- wouldn't have been realistic, honey...) She's also trying the Hail Mary gambit: claiming that ... why ... she didn't know Murtha was a Marine (apparently she wasn't actually in the House chamber when she made her remarks -- she was having an out of body experience from her true post at Arlington National Cemetery, where she diligently keeps the crypts... sorry, couldn't resist...):
Murtha’s resolution was the subject of intense national news coverage because of Murtha’s military background and his 34-year history of supporting American troops while in Congress.
But Schmidt said Tuesday she had not seen any of the news coverage.
“I don’t listen to the news in D.C. because it’s not my news environment,’’ said Schmidt, who conducted the interview with The Enquirer with her chief of staff, Barry Bennett, sitting nearby. “I watch something light-hearted and then I go to bed.’’
Schmidt said she delivered her one-minute floor speech minutes after speaking on the phone to Bubp, who told The Enquirer Monday he did not mention Murtha by name in his talk with Schmidt and would not call a fellow Marine a coward.
“After I talked to Danny, I wrote down some notes and went to the floor to ask for time to speak,’’ said Schmidt, who said she did not run her remarks by staff or Republican legislative leaders before delivering them.
Something lighthearted? Like what? Endless reruns of Michael Jackson's "Thriller???"
Sigh. Really, Jean, you've got to do better than that. No doubt your political career is over, although there's always a shot at that Katherine Harris makeover... Maybe one of your many supporters could cover the cost of the ops! You could even call them "special ops" so you'll feel even closer to the troops...
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
