Booman Tribune

NJ-03: Desperate Tactics

by BooMan
Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 11:46:53 AM EST

Republican congressional candidate Chris Myers has a little problem understanding English. In this case, the problem is that Myers doesn't understand the second meaning of 'foot soldier'. The first meaning is synonymous with 'infantry soldier'. The second meaning is 'One who performs necessary but basic, often mundane tasks.' Every political campaign has foot soldiers that carry out necessary but basic, often mundane tasks like phonebanking, doorknocking, stuffing envelopes, and making up voter contact lists. It isn't an insult to infantry soldiers to abbreviate 'foot soldiers' and just call them soldiers, or to call them 'citizen soldiers'.

Decorated combat veteran and congressional candidate Chris Myers (NJ-3) today demanded that his opponent, career Trenton politician John Adler, apologize to United States active duty troops, veterans and military families for comments he made in a YouTube video posted on his web site.

In the video, entitled "John Adler: a progressive," Adler admiringly refers to radical liberal bloggers from the Daily Kos and other liberal blog sites as "the new citizen soldiers". The video can be found at Adler's campaign web site (www.adlerforcongress.com/video), or on YouTube at the following link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-veLCjvWzQM.

"On behalf of our active duty military personnel and their families, and the tens of thousands of veterans living in the 3rd Congressional District, I am calling on John Adler to remove this video and apologize for his outrageous comments," said Myers, himself a former Navy Lieutenant and decorated combat veteran of the Persian Gulf War. "These radical liberal bloggers are in no way, shape or form ‘soldiers,' and referring to them in that way is an affront to the brave men and women in uniform fighting to defend our freedoms around the globe, the veterans who have done so in generations past, and their proud families."

"A ‘citizen soldier' is a member of the NJ National Guard who leaves his or her family to fight for our freedoms in Iraq or Afghanistan," said Myers. "Not a radical, liberal blogger who spews angry partisan tirades from the safety of their home computer. There is no defensible comparison."

Myers also pointed out that Adler's video claims the driving force behind his candidacy were "New Jersey's liberal netroots" and that Adler goes so far as to indicate he uses these radical liberal sites to find ideas that help to guide how he governs.

"During this campaign, John Adler has been auditioning to star in an episdoe of ‘Extreme Makeover' by trying to fool voters into believing he is in the mainstream, while running far and fast from his years in Trenton," said Myers, a successful, job-creating businessman. "But his comments in this YouTube video and his unabashed, close associations with radical liberal bloggers reveal who he really is: An extremely liberal, career Trenton politician who has very little in common with the residents of this district-including most moderate Democrats."

It's nice to get some recognition for our work but calling us 'radical liberal bloggers' is not accurate. Blue Jersey is not radical. Daily Kos is not radical. John Adler is running as a proud progressive. That doesn't make him a radical. The Republicans make themselves look desperate with these types of ridiculous attacks. People know the difference between a citizen soldier and an infantry soldier. People know that John Adler is not a radical.



Display:
I hereby nominate Chris Myers for the much coveted Jean Schmidt-See How Big An Idiot I Am Award.

Such honorable company in which to find ones self.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

by MikeInOhio (miken45054@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 11:58:13 AM EST
Careful...'you're spew[ing] angry partisan tirades from the safety of [your] home computer.'
by BooMan on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 12:12:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ohhhh....You mean, as opposed to spewing angry partisan tirades from the floor of the House of Representatives like my Congresswoman did?

And I'd never "spew" from my home computer................I'm at work. :)

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

by MikeInOhio (miken45054@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 12:56:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"radical liberal bloggers from the Daily Kos and other liberal blog sites"

If only.

Bush is "the first President to admit to an impeachable offense." --Former Nixon counsel John Dean

by DaveW on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 12:28:37 PM EST
Help Adler fight back to these ridiculous dirty tactics... John Adler's ActBlue page

Read more from our friends at BlueJersey. Chris Myers: the man with no plan on Iraq, and who believes the "economy is basically strong."

by MAS117 on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 12:32:26 PM EST
Ooh, ooh!  I've always wanted to be a radical!

 

Fear will keep the local systems in line. -Grand Moff Tarkin -SLB-

by boran2 (blogistan@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 12:49:04 PM EST
Myers is an idiot. And I agree with you that "It isn't an insult to infantry soldiers to abbreviate 'foot soldiers' and just call them soldiers, or to call them 'citizen soldiers'."

However, I would point out that there are significant differences in the three terms, and anyone using "soldier" or "citizen soldier" should do so with the understanding that they may be criticized for it.

"Foot soldier" long ago made the jump from military to civilian discourse, and can be applied without controversy to any situation.

"Soldier" is obviously generic enough that it too is often used to describe non-military people doing all sorts of things. But it is also the exact specific term used to identify a member of the U.S. Army. Some members of the Armed Forces, their families, and veterans dislike the use of the word "soldier" to describe civilians.

"Citizen soldier" is much more specific, and the only instance where Myers has a point. The term is a well-established and commonplace name for a member of the National Guard.

The band Three Doors Down last year released a song titled "Citizen Soldier" for use by the National Guard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJRthpxDM10

The Library of Congress uses the term:
http://www.loc.gov/wiseguide/jul08/citizen-soldier.html

There are numerous organizations that use the term, such as a Citizen-Solider Support Program:
http://www.ribbonstoreality.org/

Citizen Soldier is the name of numerous National Guard newsletters:
http://kynghistory.ky.gov/publications/EANGKy+Citizen+Soldier.htm

etc.

Of course descriptive words and names are not property, and can be used by anyone for their own reasons. But anyone using an established term should be aware of its current usage, and prepared for possible criticism.

by along on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 02:27:45 PM EST
The fundamentalist Christians also have framed themselves as "soldiers" for centuries.  It has become their self-description of choice for the last couple of generations.  And I don't see anyone on the Republican side soiling their shorts over that one.  Are military families and veterans wailing and gnashing their teeth at the Christian right for their "Christian soldier" banner they so proudly wave?  Yeah...give me a call when that happens.

This is purely a political pander right out of the Republican playbook by this moron Myers.  It is what they do when they have nothing else left.  They have tried to run the gamut from flag pins to the term "soldier". What a bunch of idiots.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

by MikeInOhio (miken45054@yahoo.com) on Wed Jul 23rd, 2008 at 03:28:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]


Display:
Go to: [ Booman Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]
Menu
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password

My contribution: $





Proud member of

The Liberal Blog Network

a FeedBurner Network


Advertise in The Liberal Blog Network

Subscribe to this network

A-List Blogger

Find textbooks at Alibris!

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Learn the real story behind the WMD in Iraq:

The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism
by Ron Suskind

New from W. Patrick Lang:

The Butcher's Cleaver: A Tale of the Confederate Secret Services by W. Patrick Lang

ManEegee recommends:

The Devil's Highway: A True Story
by Luis Alberto Urrea

Some good history:

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
by Tim Weiner

What's going on in Iraq:

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone
by Raji Chandrasekaran.

On BooMan’s shelf:

The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End
by Peter W. Galbraith

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES

Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos
by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.


SOTW-120x90
Download Sleeper Cell on iTunes (Better than "24") Download Weeds on iTunes (Hilarious 1/2-hour adult comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker) Download Late Nite with Conan O'Brien on iTunes
John Belushi - SNL
Download South Park on iTunes
Verve Vault

James Hunter - People Gonna Talk:
James Hunter - People Gonna Talk
icon


Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")



Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)


Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)


"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen


The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review


BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual

$79.95 * Sale: $59.95


Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)


The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!


The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan


Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----


Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review


Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey


1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus



Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"


Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)


The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine


Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com

:





We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Alibris - Books You Thought You'd Never Find
Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:
www.Patagonia.com



Booman Tribune Homepage
admin@boomantribune.com
powered by Scoop

A-List Blogger

Blogarama - The Blog Directory

More blogs about Blogs at Technorati.

Listed on BlogShares

© 2007 Booman Tribune