Meet the Sadlidates: Tammy Duckworth
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be eschewing much of my usual sarcasm and bitter cynicism in favor of something far more productive: shilling for Democratic Congressional candidates and encouraging you to send them money. Hey, I can smell victory this year, and I really want to win. Every little bit helps. (And no, I’m not getting paid by George Soros for this, you wacky conspiracy theorists. My extreme dislike for the Republicans is motivation enough.)
Tonight’s Sadlidate for is Tammy Duckworth, who is running for Congress in Illinois’ sixth district against Republicrook Peter Roskam.
Above: Tammy Duckworth. She’s one tough chica.
Why is She So Wicked Awesome, Bradrocket? First off, she’s a Democrat running against a Republican. And while that in itself is reason enough for anyone to support her campaign, I also think Tammy has a lot of terrific qualities that set her apart from other candidates.
As you may know, Tammy served in Iraq as a Black Hawk pilot with the Illinois National Guard. In 2004, an Iraqi insurgent launched an RPG at her chopper while she was flying over Baghdad. The attack cost Tammy both of her legs.
And yet, for someone who has lost so much, Tammy has maintained a positive attitude and a great sense of humor. Take a look at this excellent Washington Post profile of her, and you’ll see what I mean:
“I can’t actually hold a soda between my knees in the car,” she says. “It’s really hard to use a laptop when you only have half a lap.”
She half smiles as she says this, able to find wonderment in discovering the novelties of her new self. The smile builds into a laugh as she adds: “But there are positives. My feet don’t get cold.”
Duckworth still wears pink. She has a baseball jersey that reads, “Dude, where’s my leg?”
If there’s one thing I love more than a woman in uniform, it’s a woman who’s funny.
Ah Yes, She Sounds Nice, But Can She Smack the GOP’s Sorry Asses Around? Why, yes. When her rat bastard opponent accused her of wanting to “cut and run” from Iraq, her campaign released a very pointed letter, putting the sleazy shitbag in his place. Here are the relevant excerpts:
Well, Peter, let me tell you this, Tammy can’t “cut and run� and she won’t “cut and run.� But I guess we should expect something like this from someone who worked for Tom Delay and gets his talking points from Karl Rove.
This is the type of accusation that Republicans and Democrats alike should condemn. Tammy has made real sacrifices for this country and we won’t sit back and let some career politician/personal injury lawyer attack her patriotism.
And that, my friends, is how you go on the offensive.
Has She Talked Smack About Bush? Oh, you better believe it, baby. When the Democrats tapped her to respond to the preznit’s weekly radio address last month, she brought a house of bricks down on G-Dubs’ head. Check it:
Anyone who challenges our failed policies, or suggests the need for a new strategy, is accused of “cutting and running.” Well, I didn’t cut and run, Mr. President. Like so many others, I proudly fought and sacrificed. My helicopter was shot down long after you proclaimed “Mission Accomplished.”
Hell yes, sister. Preach that shit.
So, What Can I Do? If you live in Illinois, you can volunteer to help her campaign. Campaigns don’t run themselves- they need lots of help with phone calls, mailings and door-to-door canvassing. You need to get out the word about your preferred candidate and give people a reason to vote for them, and volunteering for Tammy would put you straight at the top of Bradrocket’s “A”-list.
If you don’t live in Illinois, you can always send her some extra cash through Act Sadly!, our official fundraising page. But time is of the essence- if you want your dollars to have an impact in the last few weeks before the election, you’ll have to add ’em now. So scoot, scoot, scoot on over and give, peeps. We can win this thing. We’re really close. Let’s get this sucker done.
Whoa! It’s like being on Atrios! Bring on ten open threads in a row!
Whoa! It’s like being on Atrios! Bring on ten open threads in a row!
Yeah, well I wanna win. I really, really wanna win. And any little thing my sorry white ass can do to encourage people to give their money or time is a good thing.
Plus, I generally gave more text than Atrios normally does. And I didn’t call anyone a wanker 😉
Plus, she doesn’t live in her district!
Just don’t shoot me in the face.
Good luck on the winning thing!
Do you think she ‘cut and ran’ from her district, gary?
I am tired of these motherfucking Republicans in this motherfucking government!!!
Mmmm yes. That makes me hot.
To kick some GOP booty!
Well, punch it, maybe.
She might not live in the district she is running in but at least she wasn’t legislative assistant to the crooked Hammer. Nor did she oppose supporting a stem cell research bill as Roskam did. In 2005 he also opposed the Illinois Human Rights act because he doesn’t think homosexuals should be hired. He also helped Salvi get a list of state employees to organize a scheme to see which of them were contributing to Salvi’s campaign.
Roskam opposes an assault rifle ban. Believes that rape victims should be forced to give birth. And he wants to edit Shakespeare in schools so that kids don’t have to hear the word ‘suicide’.
Roskam has been investigated by the FEC in 92, 98, and 05 usually being found guilty.
But Gary’s right, he lives in the district.
I think a large number of politicians, especially on the Federal level, don’t live in their districts. Hell, some of them never even go back to their state once they’ve been elected.
Hmmm.. Mrs. Duckworth kinda looks like teh Laura Roslyn, no? That alone would get my vote, would I have lived in Illinois.
d’yall see that Yankees pitcher got killed in a plane crash? Weird stuff.
Just a note: I didn’t mean to add the “r” to her name. Dunno if she’s married or not, dun care.
Slightly OT, but but are the Republicans really this desperate?
I’d contribute if I was an American. I hope this warrior beats the living hell out of her wag-the-dog opponent. Figuratively speaking, of course.
Um, rah rah, I uh, want her to, uh win, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
I would hold my nose and vote for this carpetbagger but after she was such a willing pawn in torpedoing a true progressive who actiually lived in the district it would be tough.
after all her only claim to fame is that under the guidence of the Nuremberg defense she obeyed illegal orders to engage in an illegal war by illegal means.
It just shows how low our country has sunk that we are cheering for individuals that belong in the dock at the Hague as agents of reform and considering thier oppenents they are.
So I hope she wins. Then after one term we can get somebody who we could be proud of rather then just the lesser of two terrible evils.
It just shows how low our country has sunk that we are cheering for individuals that belong in the dock at the Hague as agents of reform and considering thier oppenents they are.
It must be so surreal to run for office as a Democrat. 🙂
Roskam is a true shitbag, a veritable poster boy for everything that’s wrong with the modern Republican’t party. With his close ties to the DeLay/Abramoff mess and various other ethical failings, about all that’s missing is a sordid Page-fucking incident. He’s also batshit wingnuttayh, far too much so for the district he’s running for. DuPage county is a somewhat old-school, semi-moderate Republican’t enclave, though it’s far less red than it used to be. It might even be considered “purple” these days. While there’s a certain contingent of voters who can be counted on to support anyone with an “R” next to their name on the ballot, no questions asked, there’s also a pretty substantial number of technically Republican’t voters who crossed over for Clinton/Gore/Kerry. And our fabulously corrupt Dem governor. Let’s just say that Alan Keyes didn’t win the county vs. Barak Obama in ’04, and in this cycle, Roskam is Alan Keyes.
Ahh, but could the “true progressive” have won the general? (seriously) Cause if not, then you can take your idealism and shove it, cause it don’t matter.
Also, I’m not sure where we would hold the ~200,000+ soldiers who refused orders and would have been court-martialed…
Ken can bite me.
Oh and Gary, I think she was actually living in Iraq, and then living in an Army hosiptal while she recovered from LOSING HER LEGS. So she probably had a bit of trouble “living in her district”.
But that’s cool. smear a war vetran in a war you won’t bother to fight in.
you ass.
Hey, didn’t she sleep with like the entire Oaklan Raiders team? Heard she was into that kinda stuff along with that Sandy Sullivan chick. That shit’s HOT! Ok, I was just kidding, seriously…
Okay. Gandhi and MLK are my heroes, and so I’m one of those freaky lefties who believe it’s never right to kill. But if the trajectory of my life included choosing to go into the Nat’l Guard, going to Iraq, losing my legs, and then coming home and trying to do something real about the effin’ war I lost my legs in (something like, say, running for office), well, that sounds like a worthwhile life to have lived, more so than, maybe, sitting around festering in a pool of my own RESENTMENT.
so I’m one of those freaky lefties who believe it’s never right to kill
If someone was about to kill your mother and all you could do to save her was to fire a gun at the person who was about to fire on her, would you shoot knowing you might kill the person or would you let them kill your mother?
So we should apolagize to the members of the Serbian Militias tried for war crimes because if the Nuremberg defense of just obeying orders is good enough for our thugs its good enough for the Serbians in Bosnia, the Indonesian troops in East Timor and the Rwanda troops at home in the 90’s if those people should be held responsible so should our thugs.
Cegalis could have won and truely respresented the district instead of just being a puppet of her masters, a bad habit she has.
Pay attention to history she was out of the army and out of the hospital living in her own home in a neighboring district when Emmanuel started pulling her strings.
Regretable as her injuries are it is in the same context of any thug who is injured while committing a crime.
The prison hospitals are full of people who were injured while obeying illegal orders to committ illegal acts. if they do not deserve a blanket pardon for thier crimes neither should duckworth, just because you are wearing a uniform while committing a crime does not absovlve you of personel responsibility. That was the lesson of Nuremberg.
If the members of the military had lived up to thier oath and refused to “just obey orders” this ongoing war crime could not have happened. But out of moral cowardice and ethical bankruptcy the military chose to “just obey orders”.
So no apolagies for pointing out that an individual who obeys illegal orders to participiate in an illegal war conducted by illegal methods is not a hero but a thug.
Granted in the sad political reality that the US is in unfortunately a war criminial is the lesser of 2 evils. I would in the existing situation hold my nose and vote for her over the alternative but i would not indulge in any delusions of her being anything but the lesser of 2 evils.
would you be willing to shoot someone that kept asking you stupid hypothetical questions?
What is wrong with someone not wanting to kill someone else? Maybe the guy is one of those Christians I hear so much about.
Also, Ken, our soldiers, sailors & airmen are not guilty of war crimes just for having participated in an illegal war. There are specific conditions to be met for their actions to be considered a war crime. The great majority of our troops have acted in accordance with their oath and the rules of warfare & conduct. There have been some tragic and criminal acts which I hope are fully prosecuted. Being told to deploy to Iraq and participate in foot patrols or fly helicopters is not a war crime. You come across sounding like the stereotypical troop-hating hippie from the 60’s. Your contention is ill informed and assinine.
Ken, you know that we didn’t prosecute THE ENTIRE FOUR MILLION STRONG WEHRMACHT at Nuremburg, right? Because that’s sort of what you’re suggesting we should have done.
Ken, eat a dick.
Kathleen, Duckworth doesn’t live in her district now. She lives in a home three miles outside of her district in Hoffmann Estates.
Ken is doing more swiftboating of Duckworth than any Republican.
But then again, when you support a candidate and the party leadership finds another person, and gives them everything they need for a campaign, and they barely win. You’ll be mad.
“Kathleen, Duckworth doesn’t live in her district now. She lives in a home three miles outside of her district in Hoffmann Estates.”
Yeah, and she probably cut off her own legs to gain a political edge.
Wait. You’re calling this lady a carpetbagger because she lives three miles outside her district? For god’s sake, she can practically walk there.
Oh, no, she can’t. Know why? Because she lost her legs in Iraq, you unmitigated ass.
Next time try throwing a few “the fact is”‘s. Might help focus your attention a little bit.
Gary Sez
Plus, she doesn’t live in her district!
Yeah, you tell that to her face Gary. She may not have any legs, but she can still kick your ass.
Writing as someone who lives in IL-6…
The Repubs are pretty nervous, if the endless stream of mailings and recorded calls I’ve been getting for the past month are any indication. Roskam is Hyde’s cabana boy, and was no doubt expecting an easy win. Since it’s actually a race, the Repubs are accusing Duckworth of everything just short of killing puppies to suck their sweet, sweet blood.
I think she can win, but the whole not living in the district thing and the mis-perception that she’s beholden to the local Democratic machine may scare enough people away.
OTOH, Obama won the district in ’04 (although how hard was that?) and Kerry almost beat Bush here, so maybe the tide has turned.
I imagine there must be quite a few congressmen who longer live in their districts after redistricting, especially if done by the opposition party. Do they have to keep moving? Just wondering.
I do like Tammy’s attitude. Max Cleland was just too nice.
Hey, Sadly, No Commentariat. Thanks and congratulations for your collective smack-down of the lunatic fringe as represented by Ken. When I read this thread this morning I was pretty seriously outraged.
As I’ve said before, for a lot of the guys who chose to go to Canada rather than to Vietnam, it took a lot of courage. But there is another side represented there. Down through the millenia, there have been people who were simply too afraid to fight. Now I’m not saying that all consciencious objectors are cowards, not even close, but I AM saying that not all objectors are truly consciencious. For this buttwipe “Ken” to call this strong, courageous woman a “Thug” and a war criminal represents the foulest kind of cowardice. Her country called, and she answered, and her sacrifice is beyond anything that Ken can even begin to comprehend.
You guys said it all, so I don’t need to refute his position logically or legally. But I do want to say one thing to him. I have a very big tent Ken – and you are not welcome in it…
mikey
SUPPORT THE TROOPS!
“I would hold my nose and vote for this carpetbagger but after she was such a willing pawn in torpedoing a true progressive who actiually lived in the district it would be tough”
Oh my. At least Ken went on to prove he’s a nut b/f I got a chance to comment. As noted above by someone else, Cegelis had no chance in the general, none. I’m not in IL06 but I volunteered for her a bit when she ran against Hyde in 04 and she’s a odd one. Seriously. Maybe a nice person but not a great candidate (and a bit of a sore loser). Duckworth, otoh, is proving again & again to be more than just a great story, but a kick-ass candidate who’s going to be a great rep.
– BY GETTING THE REPUBLICANS OUT OF POWER!
Soros isn’t paying you? Sucker!
He’s pays me regularly – in crack.
Reality is a unwelcome perspective to those who have drunk the koolaid so continue to support those that were on the ground when over 600,000 Iraqi’s became victims of this war( John hopkins Study).
So ignore the fact that Cegelis in 2004 proved that the D’s could be competitive and that Il 06 could be won by coming within 6 points of entrenched member of the rethuglican leadership in a rethuglican year without any help from the DCCC. In part because she ran her own campaign and refused to help feather the nest of the D’s Washington consultants.
Ignore the fact that if she was so concerned about the rethuglicans she could have run against the representative who represents her own district instead of using $100,000’s of DCCC money to buy a primary against a local D.
Oh but I guess that being part of the reality based community that looks at facts makes me part of the lunatic fringe. a bit like Howard Dean when he started campaigning in 2003 against the war or the people who stood up and opposed the war in 2002 or even people like a true American hero Lt. Wataba who is living up to his oath by refusing to participiate in this ongoing crime.
So I am out of this echo chamber for this subject and will let others engage in thier militaristic fantasies of a soldier on a white horse saving us no matter how bloody the soldiers hands.
have fun with your illusions.
Dood, virtually none of that puts you on the fringe. Most of that makes you a welcome addition to our side. We can debate about whether a candidate is “electable” or not. The part that got you such a negative reaction, especially from me, is the part where an individual courageously and honorably answers their nations call and lives through combat (something I guess you’ll never have to do) and you call them thugs and war criminals. You won’t get a lot of argument that the people responsible for the war in Iraq need to be tried in the hague, but you simply aren’t going to get any traction for claiming that good, honorable soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are somehow guilty of some kind of crime. Those of us who have answered our nations call have made sacrifices so you can dishonor us all with your bullshit. Take a rational view of combat veterans and you will find we accept your politics.
Oh, and one other thing. When you have seen night hand-to-hand combat in the light of flares, exchanging fire at zero range, and have smelled the bodies burning in the wire, and lived though the terror and horror, you don’t come back with a lot of illusions. So maybe you should examine yours…
mikey
Ken, it sounds like you think that only two choices people in a war zone have are Hugh Thompson or William Calley. I’m neither a vet nor a big fan of the military, but I really do believe there’ s a little more moral shading than that.
I dunno. I don’t think I’m an especially moralistic person, but if someone told me to go kill Iraqis, well, I wouldn’t. Doesn’t matter if I had, with noble intentions, previously signed a contract agreeing to. Doesn’t matter if I got sent to jail for refusing. I wouldn’t do it. I dunno what that makes anyone else or what that makes me. Other than hated at Sadly, No. 🙁
So I am out of this echo chamber for this subject and will let others engage in thier militaristic fantasies of a soldier on a white horse saving us no matter how bloody the soldiers hands.
Isn’t Ralph Nader running for something somewhere, Ken?
I think the only thing being said here is just “have a little bit of sympathy for people in the military”.
That’s really not such a terrible thing to say.
Most people who enlist do so for one of two reasons: they’re really patriotic (which, despite my socialism, I can’t bring myself to hold in contempt on general principle, because a lot of patriotic people manage to make good things come from their patriotism), or they’re really poor.
If you really are a pacifist and a CO, then your pacifistic behavior ought to be displayed in your language as well as your conduct, and attacking people who disagree with you on that score is not really very peaceably-minded. If you don’t object to military action on general principle, but only on the grounds that America often goes to war in bad faith – well, I agree with you there. But turning on those who serve honorably is – in those circumstances and from that point of view – just blaming the victim.
Specific soldiers who commit illegal or brutal acts deserve all the condemnation they receive. But soldiers who acquit themselves admirably of a duty they should never have been called to serve deserve no more opprobium than do the rest of us who work in our jobs that, directly or indirectly, support the war machine that kills Iraqis.
I used to work for a bank that screwed stockholders by doing funny things with their hedge funds – am *I* in some way morally culpable for that (note: I didn’t work in their investment division at all). it’s the same thing, really.
Thess, that position won’t get you hated here. I would personally salute your individual courage and morality. And I would acknowledge that you are a good man, indeed, in many ways better than me. What I would not accept is for you to judge me as a thug or a criminal for taking a different course…
mikey
I would like to add that there have been actual, real war crimes committed in the Iraq war. Labeling everything American soldier a war criminal is farcical, and also totally undercuts the actual war crimes that should be investigated and prosecuted (as some are). It just makes me sick.
To Adbray: Oingday Oodgay Orkway. Eepkay Itway Upway.
Did you notice that just recently in London Town
The flags all waved
The people smiled a lot, the world was right
But now it seems that nothing’s changed
My ears are ringing with the promise
The promise that they’ll right the wrongs
And that they’re ever gonna give you
Democracy, Democracy (you wanna bet?)
We’ve been down this path a million times
And yet there seems no hope for us
These times are hard and yet a few do well
The rest can wallow in their dust
And if you’re looking for the answers
You won’t need a crystal ball
‘Cause they’re not taking any chances on
Democracy, Democracy (not on you’re life)
Don’t tell me revolution changed a thing in France
‘Cept a king or two
‘Cause when it’s Bastille Day a toxic time bomb ticks
In the Pacific blue
‘Cause revolution changes nothing
And voting changes even less
‘Cause it’s only time you’re wasting on
Democracy, Democracy (there’s none round here)
[…] Democrat Tammy Duckworth, who is running for Congress in Illinois, and has appeared at campaign rallies with Fox speaking out in favor of stem cell research. She lost both of her legs in Iraq, and now feels the need to point this out wherever she goes. In every interview she goes on and on repeating the tired old story of how she lost her legs and constantly makes jokes about her injuries, telling one interviewer, who no doubt felt very uncomfortable, "I can’t actually hold a soda between my knees in the car. It’s really hard to use a laptop when you only have half a lap." Apparently, she has never heard the phrase "too much information." In one campaign appearance she even took one of her artificial limbs off and sat down, saying it was more "comfortable." Apparently, her own comfort was more important than the comfort of people around her. When her opponent, Peter Roskam, metaphorically accused her of wanting to "cut and run" from Iraq, she exploited her affliction by pointing out that she cannot run; at least, not very well. Of course, every Republican candidate has accused his or her opponent of wanting to "cut and run." Is it fair that Roskam is the only candidate in the country who is not allowed to use this carefully focus-grouped soundbite? Technorati tags: Rush Limbaugh, Michael J Fox, Claire McCaskill, Disabled, Media, Politics Posted in usa, Wingnuts | […]