Friday, November 03, 2006

The Case For Patrick

I prepared an “omnibus” post of sorts a couple of weeks ago in response to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s silly endorsement of Mike Fitzpatrick in the U.S. PA-08 House congressional race, and at the time, I said I would do the same thing for Patrick Murphy at some point. I will get to it shortly.

First, though, I should note that the Bucks County Courier Times allowed Mikey to pout all over the place in his Guest Opinion today because he didn’t receive the paper’s endorsement (cue the tinny violin…”I’m just an Eagle Scout from Lower Bucks on a mission to do my good deed” – pardon me while I heave).

I’ll just share this brief excerpt with you…

The war in Iraq is far and away the most critical issue of our time, and I have laid out a clear plan for a new strategy for success that will bring our troops home quickly, safely and victorious as short-term benchmarks are achieved.
It is now official, ladies and gentlemen. Mike Fitzpatrick has lost his mind.

Given that, I would ask that you read the following letter from a member of the reality-based community.

In response to Rich Petrucco, who wrote a letter taking Democratic congressional challenger Patrick Murphy to task because nine months ago, on the cable TV program “Hardball,” Murphy said he hadn’t made up his mind whether or not he would have supported the war.

He states that he knows where Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick stands. Really?

Where does Fitzpatrick stand on the Iraq war? While Murphy has had a detailed plan for months about what he would do in Iraq, Fitzpatrick has been whacking Murphy for that plan, and then a month ago, he distances himself from Bush and his stay-the-course mantra. Of course, that is no longer in vogue.

What is Fitzpatrick’s stance? He wants to let the Iraq Study commission decide what to do. Now the neocons are coming over to the timeline theory, or should I say benchmark theory, something Murphy has been saying for months.

How disingenuous of Fitzpatrick to put out a commercial attacking Murphy when he has no position at all and we’re just a week from the election!

John Toth
Middletown Township
How indeed.

From here on out in this post, though, I want to highlight Patrick’s accomplishments and some key moments for him in this campaign, as follows:

As I noted yesterday, Patrick received the endorsement of Michael J. Fox for advocating embryonic stem cell research here (and a related post is here).

Michael Schiavo also supported Patrick as noted
here.

This links to Patrick’s endorsement from the Bucks County Courier Times.

This notes that electing Patrick is crucial as part (hopefully) of the Dems taking over the U.S. House of Representatives next Tuesday.

This shows how the “swift boat” attack of Mike Fitzpatrick and Kevin Kelly backfired (with Patrick responding here).

Patrick meets with the parents of autistic children
here (and by the way, after this Guest Opinion was published, a Fitzpatrick supporter responded and noted that Mikey had secured $75 K in funding for autism research; a skeptic like me, though, would wonder if such a special appropriation was needed because research was under funded by this congress to begin with).

The letter from
here notes that Patrick is “someone with guts and a spine.”

Patrick appeared with Tim Roemer of the 9/11 Commission
here concerning the lack of transit safety, specifically on our rail lines, since the commission recommendations weren’t implemented by Dubya or the Repug congress.

Patrick calls on Mikey
here to return all of the campaign funding he received from the Repug congressional “leadership” responsible for covering up the Mark Foley scandal (somehow I doubt he ever did).

Patrick opposes torture
here.

Patrick
held a press conference at B.J.’s Wholesalers in Falls Township to address the Medicare Part D “donut hole” with a lady named Charlotte McClellan who, because of this legislative gimmick dreamed up by Mikey and the Repugs, could no longer afford her medication for multiple sclerosis.

As Patrick started to close the polling gap between himself and Mikey, his staunch support for Israel was noted
here (and here also).

Both Patrick and Mikey discuss Iraq in a YouTube clip
here.

Patrick outlines “A Soldier’s Promise”
here, with the typical derisive response from Mikey.

As much as I dislike J.D. Mullane, I have to admit that he had a good idea
here to get Bill Clinton to campaign with Patrick (I was hesitant at first, but it was the right thing to do).

Patrick
chides Mikey for his wasteful spending (another letter provides background on Patrick’s hard-earned accomplishments).

Patrick
goes after Mikey for not having a position on Iraq and running to the Iraq Study Group for an answer instead.

Patrick defends his Catholic faith
here against the endless freeper onslaught he has faced in the pages of the Bucks County Courier Times during this campaign for his pro-choice position (mine also).

Patrick introduces his new G.I. Bill of Rights
here.

Patrick and his entire staff signed the “honesty pledge” from the Bucks County Courier Times
here (Mikey signed also, though it’s obvious that he didn’t take it very seriously).

Patrick and “Murphy Corps” engaged in 8th-district community service projects
here.

Patrick speaks out
here against Fitzpatrick’s “Delete Online Predators Act,” though Patrick may have recanted somewhat on that (I haven’t, though…the true goal is to absolve schools and libraries from liability in the event that something horrible happens to our kids and also to attack “social networking sites,” including blogs like this one – if Mikey were serious, he’d support hiring more police to patrol online at Patrick suggested).

John Toth (today’s letter writer, noted above)
speaks up for Patrick during last spring’s primary campaign against Andy Warren (who, despite my recent post, continues to do absolutely nothing to help Patrick, the standard bearer for the party he professes to support).

And Patrick speaks out here on a whole host of issues
here, including Medicare Part D, the rising cost of a college education, our costly, inefficient and downright STOO-PID energy policy in this country, and the horrible mismanagement of the Iraq war.
Also, please allow me to point out the following.

For anyone who believes that I support Patrick Murphy lock, stock and barrel on every little thing, please take note that Patrick supports the Patriot Act, and I most certainly do not. However, when voting, I think it’s wise to weigh what you might call “the preponderance of the evidence,” and that comes down squarely in Patrick’s favor as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never been a “single issue” voter for anyone, and I never will.

I’m not sure if it’s still possible to make a donation, but the campaign will definitely need help with the “Get Out The Vote” effort on Tuesday, so, as one of my final reminders to help out Patrick any way you possibly can, please click here.

Update: So “Saint McCain” is going to be in this area soon to campaign for Mike Fitzpatrick, according to the Bucks County Courier Times today.

Gee, I wonder if he’ll speak out about Mikey’s swift-boat smear on Patrick (next question) or even make amends for the fact that, when campaigning in Illinois for Repug State Sen. Peter Roskam – who apparently tosses around the “liberal” label as an insult when it suits him…nice guy – McCain mentioned how he visits troops at Walter Reed hospital who’ve lost limbs, somehow forgetting about the fact that Roskam’s opponent Tammy Duckworth lost both her legs when her chopper was fired on in Baghdad and hit with a rocket-propelled grenade.

(This is a YouTube link, by the way - sorry the audio is so bad.)

Let’s see if anyone asks McCain about that, OK?

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