Admiral Joe Leads The Way

If you’re looking for a refreshing change from the typical “politics as usual” sludge that has been ground out for far too long (mainly from the Repug side, but the Dems aren’t innocent either at times), then take a look at this article that appeared recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the campaign of Admiral Joe Sestak running against “Crazy Curt” Weldon in the 7th U.S. House Congressional district (I don’t know if registration is required or not).

It goes without saying that this will continue to be an uphill fight against Weldon, and I don’t care what anybody says; I predict that you will eventually see Dubya or Cheney showing up one of these days for a Weldon fundraiser.

I think this excerpt from the article on the Sestak campaign is worth highlighting:

"…Sestak says he is his own chief architect. Paraphrasing what he says was John F. Kennedy's conclusion after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Sestak said, "Never trust the experts. Listen to them, and then do what you think is right.""

Campaign consultants warned him about other damage-control problems lurking in what they considered dangerously specific position papers. Sestak wrote them himself.

Consultants pressed him, for example, to abandon his call to set a deadline to withdraw from Iraq within a year, saying that many voters wouldn't agree.

He declined. A candidate "should be a leader, shaping public opinion rather than following it,” Sestak said.

And as an example of Joe’s leadership, we have this recent statement on the continued sliming of Rep. John Murtha over his highly-informed comments on the Iraq War.

"Congressman Jack Murtha is currently facing ruthless attacks and the deliberate distortion of his record, simply for speaking out against the status quo on the Iraq War. We should all respect Congressman Murtha for bucking the trend in Washington and advancing new ideas. As a veteran myself, I take this very seriously. I am proud to stand with fmr. Sen. Max Cleland and others and say that I am saddened by those who would abandon civil public debate and discourse over our strategy in Iraq and turn to attacking the record of a distinguished veteran."

I realize that the Repug hate machine will continue to be granted exposure by our pliant corporate media, but still, how many times do these cowards attacking Murtha have to be shown up for what they truly are (as you can see, E.J. Dionne did so last January, pulling his punches somewhat at the end after he made his point, and James Boyce provides a good post here, though his question “Where Are The Democrats” continues to resonate, unfortunately).