Irony of Phony Soldier Tom Harkin

Everybody has this clip from Stolen Valor, but I wanted my blog to have it too. It recounts how Tom Harkin was caught exaggerating his war service. Just like the phony soldiers like Jesse MacBeth, Harkin is a phony. To be clear, until he opened his mouth his war service was honorable albeit routine. It was when he falsely boasted of risky and exiting flight missions in Vietnam that he is now named among the phonies.

In a moment of supreme irony, Tom Harkin's was one of the nastiest commentaries against Rush Limbaugh. It is not certain how Harkin thought his wounds from being exposed as a fraud would not be publicly ripped open again when he opened his mouth in this phony soldier fraud. He has embarrassed himself, his family, his state and his party by being the absolute worst person to take the stage and perform his diatribe. I wonder how many Dems were actually thinking at the time and were shaking their heads knowing the coming punishment that would fall. Probably none as they were all whipped up in the orgy of once again overplaying their hand. It is the Wellstone Memorial all over again.

Top Dem Presidential Contenders Sign Onto Limbaugh Lie

In a desperate bid to pander to the far left, owners of today's Democrat Party, the top two Dem Presidential contenders and sitting Senators have signed their names to a known lie. The Senate Democrats have officially condemned Rush Limbaugh for a distorted version and interpretation of what he said about phony soldiers.

The fact is that a number of people have stepped forward, blatantly misrepresented their military service in order to gain a platform among easy believing lefties to trash the rest of the troops. Under any interpretation these people can without doubt be labeled as "phony soldiers". They are phony soldiers because of the lies they told about themselves and honorable troops. To distort this fact as a claim that they are phony because they oppose the war is a blatant and undeniable lie.

It is bad enough that 41 senators are willing to engage in this lie. It is far worse that the two leading Democrat Presidential contenders are among this list. While the offices of Representative and Senator are high, the office of President is the highest in the land and represents the most powerful person in the world today. It is unthinkable that a person so willing to throw truth out the window in such a high profile and reckless manner should even be considered for this honorable position. It seriously calls into question their judgment and one wonders how cheaply they will sell themselves if they ever achieved the office (and to whom).

I wrote about the coming blowback from this stunt by the Dems. The longer this goes on the more opportunities Limbaugh and other conservatives can beat them over the head again and again for their sorry record on supporting the troops, for their ultimate disparaging of the troops by calling their General a liar before he even said anything, for their track-record of eagerly jumping on the bandwagon of the phony soldiers that Rush was talking about, and for how foolish and dishonorable they are making themselves look by this distortion.

I doubt if anybody who has a favorable opinion of Rush Limbaugh will change to having an unfavorable opinion of him. In fact there will likely be some to give him a listen or another try and change to a favorable position of him. There is no doubt that this lying smear will turn off quite a number of Independents who will have a strong unfavorable opinion of the Democrats involved. These are the kind of missteps that steal defeat from the jaws of victory. A few more at the "right" time and the Dems will be panicking wondering what went wrong.

Better Stand to the Side to Avoid the Blowback

What happens when the institutions of the MSM and the Senate choose to purposefully hitch their wagon to a known false accusation against an American icon? BLOWBACK! These institutions in their desperation have taken a calculated risk. However, it does not seem they spent much time in the calculation phase. Here is the calculation that should have been made:

*--The left has consistent track record of undermining the troops
- John Kerry accusing the forces in Vietname of ...
- Tainting the entire troops for the actions of a few bad apples at Abu Graibh to score
politically
- Taking the word of terrorists and insurgents to paint the troops running Guantanamo Bay in
a bad light
- Claiming the war is lost while our troops are in harms way continuing the fight you don't have
the stomach for
- Accusing the troops of killing innocent civilians in cold blood in Haditha before an
investigation is complete and before any charges are filed, much less being proven guilty
- Painting our troops as stupid losers with nothing going for them except to get "stuck in Iraq"
- Playing political games with the funding of our troops in harms way before finally, reluctantly
approving the funding to avoid political backlash
- Accepting the word of liars like Scott Beauchamp, Jimmy Massey, Jesse MacBeth, and
Amorita Randall without question and without fact-checking as long as it makes our troops
look bad
- Rejecting the testimony of the decorated and honorable General Petraeus not because he has
ever shown himself worthy of mistrust, but because you do not like his message

*--Rush Limbaugh has an impeccable track record of supporting the troops as outlined in a
House Resolution counter to the pathetic efforts by the Left to smear him:

- His relentless efforts to build and maintain troop morale through worldwide radio broadcasts
and personal visits to conflict regions
- He has consistently used his broadcast time to praise American troops and support them
during their ongoing efforts to secure peace in a troubled world
- He has met with troops in Afghanistan
- He raised and donated millions of dollars to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation,
which provides college scholarships to the children of Marines and veterans of other
branches killed in action
- He features an “Adopt a Soldier” program which provides them with free subscription access
to his online program features
- His desire to see American troops achieve a successful outcome in Iraq, Afghanistan and
wherever soldiers are stationed and his tireless public support for American troops and their
families through radio broadcasts, fundraising and other public support

*--The context of Limbaugh's entire segment is a clear indictment against the liars the left has embraced in order to undermine forces in harms way

*--In spite of these obstacles the plan of the Left is to:
- Extract and twist a few words of that context the left can make a good thing sound bad
- Have an insincere crowd of partisan hacks comment on the distorted claims as if they are true
- Have John Kerry give a Lurch-like speech on how offended he is
- Have Harry Reid call Rush Limbaugh unpatriotic and demand an apology (trying to have a
straight face)
- Try to pass a resolution denouncing the distortion of Rush Limbaugh's comments


There have been times that I have read a portion of what somebody has said and reacted to it according to my interpretation of the partial transcript. I later read or was pointed to the full transcript and realized my error. It is not feasible to think that these clowns do not know the truth of the matter. They are so desperate to take the heat off of their latest bad PR that blatant dishonesty seems to be their only hope. Liberals forget that they no longer have a monopoly on public discourse.

So where does the blowback come in? The public that does see this and see how low the liberals are willing to go will cause more damage than the few that hear the offhanded distortion and believe it. I have a gas grill that does not always start right away. The gas comes and comes as I turn the starter button. Finally, the gas ignites and there is a huge poof. I am lucky to come away without my eyebrows getting singed. The liberals in the MSM and the Senate will be lucky to pass from the coming blowback with only singed eyebrows.