Army National Guard Major Stuart Anderson was killed in Iraq in January 2006 when the Black Hawk helicopter in which he was traveling crashed. At the time of his son’s death Major Anderson’s father (Claremont Anderson) was quoted as saying: “I’m so proud of all of them [those who have been killed in Iraq]. But it’s the price we pay for freedom.â€
Mr. Anderson has apparently had a change of heart. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has turned Mr. and Mrs. Anderson’s bitterness over their son’s death to partisan political purposes. They have done so by filming Major Anderson’s parents condemning Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman for his support of the American effort in Iraq and faulting him for their son’s death. It takes some doing, but Chuck Schumer and the DSCC may have set a new low in advertising with this spot holding Senator Coleman responsible for the death of Major Anderson.
So long as we know what the ground rules are, fine. We’ll start running commercials accusing Democrats of dishonoring the dead. (F*** that — let’s have some now-out-of-the-service vets explain how they feel about Obama voting against money for ammo and armor in the middle of a shooting war.)
Let’s have at it.
Put the rank stupidity of this ad to one side. Chuck Schumer heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He voted with many other Senate Democrats to authorize the use of military force in Iraq. Insofar as I can determine, Al Franken himself supported the authorization to use military force in Iraq. See Eric Black’s reconstruction of Franken’s views on the war, Black’s further thoughts on Franken’s views and Black’s most recent take on Franken’s (and Coleman’s) views. Black gave Coleman the opportunity to respond to Franken’s imputation of responsibility for the war to Coleman:
Coleman’s response: “I think it’s a foolish cheap political comment. I don’t think most Minnesotans would give much credence to. Was it Al Franken’s war? He supported it. Was it Hillary Clinton’s war? I don’t think most folks are going to listen to that or it’s going to have any impact.”
The disgrace Al Franken’s friends have now wrought in this campaign should have an impact, if not the one they intend.
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