October 28, 2010 – 12:06 am
Wow — refreshing!
With six days remaining in the race, Congressman Kirk has pulled his one positive television ad and has gone completely negative, with more than $2 million in false, misleading attack ads.
In stark contrast, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias has gone completely positive for the final week with an ad that features President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, his mother and workers from Hartmarx, with each of them noting his compassion and character.
“Just as Alexi has gone with a purely positive television ad in the final week of the campaign, we learned today that Congressman Kirk pulled his positive commercial and is spending more than $2 million on false, negative ads that have been denounced as smears by independent fact check organizations,” said campaign spokesman Scott Burnham. ”Instead of focusing on the issues, Congressman Kirk has a record he can’t defend. That’s why Congressman Kirk, the Republican party, Karl Rove and the Chamber of Commerce are spending nearly $5 million on negative and misleading attack ads this week.”
Learn more about Alexi Giannoulias.
Few top ten lists match the audacity of Mark Kirk’s top ten lies about his military record. Kirk (1) falsely claimed he served “in” Operation Iraqi Freedom; (2) falsely claimed to “command the war room in the Pentagon”; (3) falsely claimed to have won the U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year award; (4) falsely claimed to have been shot at by the Iraqi Air Defense network; (5) falsely claimed to be a veteran of Desert Storm; (6) falsely claimed to be the only lawmaker to serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom; (7) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kosovo; (8) falsely claimed to have been shot at in Kandahar; (9) falsely claimed to have been repeatedly “deployed” to Afghanistan; and (10) falsely claimed not to have violated Defense Department rules on mingling politics with his military service.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024281.php
Rather than address the deficiencies in Kirk’s character, Kirk’s supporters tell us that even without the lies, embellishments, and misrememberings, Kirk has a good military record. They’re missing the point. Kirk’s military record is relevant only because he lied about it. If Kirk hadn’t revealed himself to be a serial exaggerator, his military record, whatever it is or isn’t, would be utterly irrelevant.
Most of us have never served in the military. I would never disrespect anyone for serving in the military, but neither would I hold lack of military service against anyone. Military service is not a prerequisite for holding public office, nor is military service—or the lack thereof—an indicator of how well someone will do in public office. Read More »
