Last updated on September 28th, 2014 at 06:47 pm
Tea Party Republican Congressman Doug Lamborn of Colorado is spending his seven week paid vacation “behind the scenes” urging military generals to resign in protest of President Obama’s policies.
This is very different from Allan West’s attempt to instigate a military rebellion via Facebook, as reported by Justin Baragona on Friday. True, West and Lamborn rely on Tea Party mythology to rally dissent within the military. However, as a former one-term Congressman, West is reduced to making his case on Facebook. Lamborn is a sitting Congressman and a member of the House Armed Services Committee with all the power that comes with those positions. He is also trying to incite rebellion at the highest levels of the military.
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According to Cory Hutchins of Main.com, Lamborn admitted that he and unnamed others are asking Generals to quit the military during a meeting with 50 Tea Party supporters in a bar basement on Tuesday night.
You can see Lamborn explain how quitting in protest would be going out in a blaze of glory in this video, from The Rachel Maddow Show.
One of the 50 people in attendance asked Lamborn and his congressional colleagues to “support the generals and troops in this country despite the fact that there is no leadership from the Muslim Brotherhood in the White House.”
A question based on crazy assumptions deserves and gets an equally crazy response from Lamborn.
You know what, I can’t add anything to that, but do let me reassure you on this. A lot of us are talking to the generals behind the scenes, saying, ‘Hey, if you disagree with the policy that the White House has given you, let’s have a resignation. You know, let’s have a public resignation, and state your protest, and go out in a blaze of glory… And I haven’t seen that very much, in fact I haven’t seen that at all in years.
Incidentally, top contributors to Lamborn’s campaign include Lockheed Martin and Koch Industries.
Lamborn is joined on the House Armed Services committee by 34 other Republicans, including South Carolina’s Joe “you lie” Wilson, and birther, Mike Coffman also of Colorado. Like Lamborn, Coffman counts Koch Industries among the top contributors to his re-election campaign.
It remains to be seen if and how many of Lamborn’s colleagues Congress are collaborators in the effort to get military generals to resign in what Lamborn calls “a blaze of glory.”
There is no glory, honor or patriotism in a lawmaker trying to instigate a rebellion in the military. It’s also a rather odd way of showing support for the troops who are at war in 3 countries. Nothing could embolden our enemies more than to see lawmakers calling upon military generals to protest the Commander-In-Chief’s policies by resigning “in a blaze of glory”
As Irv Halton, a former Air Force General and Lamborn’s opponent in this year’s election, said in an email he sent to The Colorado Independent:
“Our elected officials should not be encouraging our military leaders to resign when they have a disagreement over policy. Congressman Lamborn’s statement shows his immaturity and lack of understanding of the American armed forces. Someone who serves on the House Armed Services Committee should know better.”
Lamborn’s actions are not only inappropriate but a betrayal to the United States and the troops Republicans use as props during photo ops. This is especially striking when you consider the right wing meltdown over President Obama’s latte salute.
Unlike Lamborn, our military understands the meaning of honor and patriotism. Moreover, they have a greater understanding of what it means to act in the best interest of the country and finally, they know who is designated with the authority to set policy.
Even when General Patreus openly criticized our policies in Afghanistan, he refused to resign. It’s worth remembering what he had to say on the subject.
I don’t think quitting would serve our country. More likely to create a crisis. And, I told POTUS I’d support his ultimate decision. Besides, the troops can’t quit. . . .
Republican members of Congress chose to run away for a seven-week paid vacation. Some of the Koch Brothers’ men chose to “debate” policy on ISIS at the clown car summit (aka The “Values” Summit”) because it’s much easier to complain and criticize on the sidelines instead of taking responsibility by debating and voting one way or another in Congress.
The Republican Party is proving repeatedly it is not only the party of stupid and xenophobia; it is the party of the sedition that was bought and paid for by Charles and David Koch
Former contributor.
