Rep. Jean Schmidt, yesterday said...

[Rainmaker]

During a resolution debate on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday calling for the immediate withdrawl of the troops from Iraq, Rep. Jean Schmidt, (R-Ohio), the most junior member of the House, told of a phone call she received from a Marine colonel. "He asked me to send Congress a message - stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message - that cowards cut and run, Marines never do." Schmidt cited this “real” phone call with an air of superiority and reverence.

We can only assume for the Congresswoman to cite on the House floor during a debate such a quote, she believed this Colonel must posses intimate knowledge and insight on the War and occupation.

Later, the Republican Congresswoman withdrew her remarks from the official record. Did she remove her comments because she lied about receiving such context from a Marine officer by way of a phone call? I don’t know; however, I find it highly unlikely a high ranking active Marine officer with deep knowledge of the situation in Iraq would play disingenuous and triangular communication games with the US Congress. A high ranking Marine with deep knowledge of this war would know to keep his or her mouth shut on such political issues and Congressional dynamics.

But, more importantly, for our freshest member of Congress to stoop so low as to equate Murtha’s recommendations with a coward’s ethos is a reminder of what these Republicans have become, and, unfortunately, where Republicans seem to be headed.

For the record: Murtha served 37 years in the Marines, and has Purple Hearts to his name. He visits wounded soldiers at Walter Reed every week. Three years ago, he won the Semper Fidelis Award of the Marine Corps Foundation, the highest honor the Marines can confer.