Lawmakers unite at anti-war town hall [Look who RINO Walter Jones is hanging out with now]

RALEIGH -- In an odd political bedfellows moment, three North Carolina congressmen - two progressive Democrats and one religious-right Republican - joined forces Monday to urge the Obama administration to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

At an anti-war town hall meeting in the Legislative Building, Republican U.S. Rep. Walter Jones and Democratic U.S. Reps.David Price and Brad Miller sought to keep the pressure on the administration to end the American combat operations by the middle of 2013.

"Our concern is that too many times, administrations will say that the date for coming home is a year from now, 18 months from now, 24 months from now, and we the American people just accept it," Jones told 150 people in the legislative auditorium.

"Bull," Jones said. "You can't trust any of them. I'm talking about both parties."

The event had a clean-your-eyeglasses aspect. Jones usually speaks to Republican and Christian conservative groups. The rally sponsored by the N.C. Peace Action and the American Friends Service Committee - Carolinas Office brought out a lot of Triangle liberals. The event was entitled "Bring Our War Dollars Home/Restore Our Communities."

"On 10 issues, you probably wouldn't agree with me on any but one," Jones said. "But that one is why we are here today."

The crowd of about 150 people gave Jones a standing ovation after he gave an emotional speech in which he talked about three Marines he had visited at Walter Reed Army Hospital who had their lower bodies blown away. At one point during his talk, he held up a poster of an enlarged photograph of a Marine veteran in a wheelchair, with his family.

"We don't understand the cost of war," Jones said. "Never again should we send our young men and women to fight unless we declare war."

Jones' activism has grown out of what he has said was his mistake in voting to approve the war in Iraq after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. At the time, Jones was among the most gung ho, proposing the french fries served in the Congressional cafeteria be renamed freedom fries, because the French were not supportive of U.S. efforts in Iraq. But Jones said he has since learned that he was lied to about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

He has since signed 10,456 letters to family and extended family members of soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Jones' participation in the rally drew criticism from his GOP primary opponent in the 3rd district, Frank Palombo, who said Jones "continues to conspire with left-wing liberals and others who would destroy our military."

Jones, Price, Miller and Republican Howard Coble of Greensboro were among the 87 members of Congress who last Friday signed a letter to the president to "express our support for the administration's announcement on February 1st that the United States will complete combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of next year."

Price praised Jones and Democrat Jim McGovern of Massachusetts for authoring the letter to make the exit strategy "more explicit and more ironclad."

As the country draws down troops, Price said the United States is obligated to make a diplomatic effort to help Afghanistan create parliamentary institutions.

Miller said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not like past wars, in that they are not being fought by the entire society. Instead, the U.S. is relying on an all-volunteer force, with few drawn from the upper middle class.

"The kids we are hiring are not the kids that most members of Congress know," Miller said. "They are not the children of their friends.

Other speakers included Matthew Hoh, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy; state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, Democrat from Chapel Hill; and state Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Democrat.

Congressman Jones Once Again Aligns Himself with Liberals

Frank Palombo called Cong. Walter Jones a hypocrite for claiming he supports our military while once again aligning himself with liberal left-wing groups. According to an article in the News and Observer today, Cong. Jones is the only Republican slated to speak at an “all Democrat” rally at the State Legislative Building.
“Cong. Jones claims to support our military, yet he continues to conspire with left-wing liberals and others who would destroy our military,” Palombo said. “It is unconscionable that any member of Congress would sign on to such a thing as this, especially one whose district is directly involved to such a large extent with the US Armed Forces and who claims to be their champion.”
According to records obtained by the Palombo for Congress committee, Cong. Jones has never visited our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“As a veteran, I am appalled that a Republican Congressman who has been so adamantly opposed to our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan for eight of the last ten years has never taken the time to visit our troops in country so that he can see for himself what they are truly facing and how they feel about their mission as they defend our freedom,” Palombo said.

And in related news, National Journal ranks Walter Jones the least conservative Republican member of Congress. Look who ranks more conservative:

233. Charlie Bass, N.H.-2 (R)
234. Dan Boren, Okla.-2 (D)
235. Chris Smith, N.J.-4 (R)
236. Tim Johnson, Ill.-15 (R)
237. Justin Amash, Mich.-3 (R)
237. Mike Ross, Ark.-4 (D)
239. Ron Paul, Texas-14 (R)
240. Steven LaTourette, Ohio-14 (R)
240. Jim Matheson, Utah-2 (D)
242. Jason Altmire, Pa.-4 (D)
243. Mike McIntyre, N.C.-7 (D)
244. Joe Donnelly, Ind.-2 (D)
244. Tim Holden, Pa.-17 (D)
246. John Barrow, Ga.-12 (D)
246. Collin Peterson, Minn.-7 (D)
248. Henry Cuellar, Texas-28 (D)
249. Ben Chandler, Ky.-6 (D)
250. Jim Cooper, Tenn.-5 (D)
251. Walter Jones, N.C.-3 (R)

Jones ranks only slightly more conservative than Heath Shuler and Larry Kissell.

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Prior to the 2010 primary, I was told by several FReepers (including some whose opinion I had long respected and still respect) that Justin Amash (who, BTW, started running for office almost immediately after graduating from law school) was the true conservative choice in MI-03, since he had cast fewer disappointing votes in his one-year-and-change in the state house than Bill Hardiman (a Vietnam War veteran and businessman who didn’t run for office until he was 45 and served as mayor of Kentwood before running for the state legislature) had cast over his 7+ years in the state senate. I was nowhere close to convinced, but MI-03 Republicans were, and Amash’s connections with the De Vos family money carried him to victory.

Amash has turned out to be a turd sandwich, casting ridiculous, Ron-Paul-type votes to “make a point,” thus giving liberal Democrats ammunition to claim that “even conservative Justin Amash agrees with us” or “the bill was so extreme that even Republican Justin Amasjh voted against it.” I hope that he doesn’t cap off his embarrassing first term by finding a way to lose one of the most Republican districts in Michigan.

>> I remember the Amash boosters, and also the those that warned he was Paultarded. We see now who was right. <<

Heh. I don't even remember this primary (or taking a stance on it) but clicking on his bio I see his family is Palestinian and he's a big Ron Paul guy. That would have been a big red flag for me that he's probably horrible on Israel.

>> I also recall that despite most of FR hating Ron Paul that his son was favored for the Senate nomination by more freepers than not because the eeeeeeeevil Mitch McConnell was for Trey Grayson and because Jr. Paul was a self-crowned Prince of the Tea Party. <<

The thing Grayson kept getting hit with is he voted for Clinton in '92, which somehow "proved" he was a RINO 18 years later when he had spent years being a loyal Republican. of course, when it was revealed that Rick Perry was out pimping for Al Gore in '88, those same freepers said it was OKAY because Manbearpig was a "conservative" back then. :: rolls eyes::

It's ironic freepers point to Mitch McConnell's support as proof of evil RINO support now, I remember being on this forum when Trent Lott was GOP leader and all they'd talk about is what a heroic conservative leader McConnell is for fighting John McCain and how he should be Senate Republican leader.

>> Amash has turned out to be a turd sandwich, casting ridiculous, Ron-Paul-type votes to “make a point,” thus giving liberal Democrats ammunition to claim that “even conservative Justin Amash agrees with us” or “the bill was so extreme that even Republican Justin Amash voted against it.” <<

As Impy noted, sometimes libertarianism goes together well with conservatism like iced tea goes with lemonade. The problem isn't that Paul and his followers are libertarian (Paul is even better than the "typical libertarian" on some issues like immigration), but that it's a nutty LaRouche style cult and Paulites often hold even more insane beliefs that their godlike idol "Dr. Paul"

Odd that Ron Paul is less popular than dirt here, but so many of his followers get huge freeper and tea party support. Kinda like how everyone hates the Kennedy clan but we're supposed to believe its most famous member, JFK, was a heroic conservative Democrat.

I tend to be pretty wary of candidates being heavily pushed the Paulite "Friends of Liberty RLOVEution" movement these days. Most of them have turned out bad. Even candidates I still consider far superior to the other choices we had, like Peter Schiff in CT, turned out to be a disappointment or dud. (and Schiff turned out to be lousy on social issues despite being much better on everything else)

I think "true conservative" Paulite Bob Conley would have turned out worse than Lindsay Graham if he had elected in '08. He would have handed the RATs a 60 seat majority where they could do even more damage until 2010, and I imagine the guy would actually be attacking Obama from the left on foreign policy now and routinely doing kooky press conferences with Dennis Kucinich demanding we gut the military and "bring our troops home". He probably would have still been solid on some domestic social issues like pro-life, pro-gun, pro-traditional marriage, etc., but Graham already got "A" ratings in those areas to begin with so there'd be no improvement.

>> “even conservative Justin Amash agrees with us” <<

Speaking of Graham, that reminds me of another reason why the freepers who say "At least Mark Kirk isn't as bad as Lindsay Graham" are on crack. Although I feel bad for Mark Kirk personally because he had a stroke and hope he recovers, I'm glad he's not in the Senate right now because the media delights in saying that kind of stuff whenever he gives cover to an issue that is otherwise exclusively supported by the far left. For example, when Susan G. Komen recently cut off funding for planned parenthood, they got a letter from 26 senators, all RATs, demanding the funds be reinstated. Had Mark "so proud of my 100% Planned Parenthood rating" Kirk been in the Senate, the media would have eagerly reported it was a "bipartisan" letter since the "junior Senator from Illinois, a conservative Republican veteran" had added his name.

>> More than a few less than ideal candidates won primaries in 2010 by self-proclaiming that they were the mostest tea partiest candidate. <<

Yep, I was just arguing with a "social conservatives can't WIN!!" freeper about that. He had quite a different recollection of the 2010 elections than me. Claimed "the TEA party ran exclusively on fiscal issues and we had the best election results in a generation as Republicans SWEPT the Senate". I could have sworn the 1994 wins where much bigger and the modest gains in the Senate in 2010 were actually disappointing as a lot of the Tea Party favorites turned out to be poor candidates and were defeated in otherwise winnable races.

Well the 2010 House race was better than 94 but Senate, no.

I suppose we should be pleased with a 6 seat gain especially since we already had most of the seats that were up. But we left wins on the table with crappy “weak tea” candidates in Nevada and Colorado. It would be 51-49.

And of course there was Delaware, not that I’m sad the Maine Twins grandpa Mark Castle isn’t in the Senate. I was an early backer of O’Donnell, long before it was clear she was.... you know. No win situation in Delaware last time.

WA state and West Va. also disappointed though that was not related to idiots being nominated, Raese was not a good choice but no one else ran.

I too remember McConnell use to be well liked when he wasn’t leader, people couldn’t wait till he was. I guess I should be glad Mike Pence wasn’t elected Speaker, he’d be hated by now instead of having people wish he had run for President. ;d

That democrat was better than Graham on one issue, immigration, everything else he was worse or the same and AFAIK he never said he wasn’t for democrat organization of the Senate. His supporters insisted he was only using the rats as a vehicle. No sale.

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