[Y]you seem to feel the First Amendment freedom of speech
does not apply to the very service people who fight for
that freedom unless they support your agenda....
....We in the military are proud to protect the rights
guaranteed Americans by our Constitution, but both sides
of the war argument share those rights. It is unfortunate
that you feel that veterans and Gold Star parents have no
right to voice their opinion unless it is against the War.
"You" being the MSM of course.
An open letter to Nick Coleman
Posted by Scott
Power Line
Lt. Col. Joe Repya -- now serving his third tour of wartime duty on behalf of the United States -- has sent us a copy of his open letter to Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman (which I have slightly edited):
<<< Dear Mr. Coleman:
I'm an active duty Army Officer who recently returned from Iraq and must respond to your columns attacking Iraqi War Veterans and Gold Star Parents. I'm troubled that you have been both dishonest and blatantly partisan. Let's start with last Sunday's column.
While attacking the honesty of Iraqi service veterans you "conveniently" failed to mention the truth about your major "nonpartisan" source, Paul Rieckhoff, of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Rieckhoff was a delegate to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, a state Chairman for Veterans for Kerry and in 2003 delivered the Democratic Party Saturday counter radio response for one of President Bush's radio addresses. You also mislabeled ex-Governor Jesse Ventura, an IAVA board advisor, as a "nonpartisan." Who do think you're kidding?
No, the war is not going "swimmingly," but most service members who have recently been in Iraq will tell you we are winning. I'm not sure what poll Mr. Rieckhoff was quoting in your column but the Military Times 2005 Iraq Poll of our service members (released January 2006) has some interesting results. The Poll found that 73% of the respondents believe it's likely the United States will succeed in Iraq. Four of every five respondents said they believe media reports often are "inaccurate." However you seem to feel the First Amendment freedom of speech does not apply to the very service people who fight for that freedom unless they support your agenda.
What angers me the most is how in your Friday column you turned really nasty with attacks on the Gold Star families in the second ad.
In your world stepparents -- some who actually raised the fallen service member -- have even less right to speak their minds than veterans. By implying that a fallen soldier's stepmother was not his "mom" is viciously ignorant and hateful on your part. Perhaps you should also stop using the radical Daily Kos for your material or identify them as your source.
Let's debunk your "Big Lie" while we are at it, that we went to war only because of WMD's. The Congressional authorization to use force in Iraq was a bipartisan vote of 77 Senators and 296 US House members listing 16 reasons they were approving military action. WMD's were only one of those 16. Many nations believed the same intelligence we did.
The bottom line is most of us in the military know what is at stake in the War on Terror and believe radical liberals like you can't be trusted with our National Defense. We in the military are proud to protect the rights guaranteed Americans by our Constitution, but both sides of the war argument share those rights. It is unfortunate that you feel that veterans and Gold Star parents have no right to voice their opinion unless it is against the War. This is the real disservice to our troops and our fallen heroes. Shame on you Mr. Coleman, you appear to be a very hateful person!
Respectfully,
Joe Repya
Lieutenant Colonel, US Army
101ST Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Fort Campbell, KY
A veteran of Vietnam, the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom >>>
Col. Repya's letter refers to Coleman's attack on the second Progress for America ad for presenting M.J. Kesterson in a context that would cause viewers to conclude she was Erik Kesterson's mother when she was in fact his stepmother. From an interview with Bill O'Reilly, it appears that Erik "for the most part" lived with and was raised by his father and M.J. Kesterson. Erik Kesterson's mother Dolores is an opponent of the war in the mold of Cindy Sheehan. For Nick Coleman's nutty Daily Kos source (as well as for the at least equally nutty Nick Coleman), "the Dolores Kesterson issue" is key to the alleged falsity of the second Progress for America ad.
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