Vet from Moran town hall appears on Fox & Friends

Thursday night Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran (8th Congressional District) was conducting  a town hall meeting when he was asked a question by a disabled military veteran. Moran's disrespect and rudeness in responding to the vet were captured on videotape and spread by Rush Limbaugh, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, and Fox News.


This morning the military vet was a guest on Fox & Friends as he talked with anchor Steve Doocy about the incident. Wayne Tunick, a 27-year U.S. Navy veteran, attended the town hall to ask why Congress was on the verge of a shutdown that would stop paychecks to military men and women including active troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also questioned why Moran was conducting a town hall instead of being in DC working on a resolution to the budget crisis.


When Moran commented that Tunick was making "caustic" remarks,  Tunick took exception and told the Congressman so. That resulted in Moran telling the veteran to be quiet and sit down.


Another town hall attendee taped the entire episode and it quickly went viral on Friday. I wrote about it at the Washington Examiner as well as others who called attention to the exchange.


Moran's office responded to the incident by saying there were people waiting in line waiting and they couldn't disrupt those wanting to ask questions. When asked by Doocy about that, Tunick said there were not a number of people in line behind him ... there was one person.


His motivation, he said, was the ultimate leadership lesson he learned from the military: number one is you always take care of your troops. The troops, he told Doocy, did not need to worry about a government shutdown cutting off their paychecks with their spouses wondering whether they would be able to pay the bills.

With a late-night deal struck with Congress at the eleventh hour Friday, there will be no government shutdown.

Busy writing day ... 3 new posts at WaExaminer

Wow, the gloomy, rainy day on Friday was actually conducive to writing since I spent much of Thursday outdoors enjoying the warm, sunny day. With three posts published, I can continue researching another that I've been working on for several days and then turn my attention to something new.

It's either feast or famine when it comes to writing, at least, for me. The stories either flow out of my fingertips onto my laptop, or I'm stymied or distracted or just can't find anything that interests me to write about.

In 2006, after volunteer editing various groups' newsletters for 20 years, I was introduced to blogs and jumped in for political purposes, using the platform to promote candidates and conservative causes. It was a different world, kind of a sink-or-swim, Katy-bar-the-door environment that chewed up bloggers and spit them out.

Somehow I survived with the help of fellow conservative bloggers in the SWAC area, all over Virginia, and beyond. They were kindred spirits who had been bitten by the political bug and were willing to dodge the darts and barbs shot at them from the opposite side of the aisle, and even willing to sling some of their own.

Add that to the posts at SWAC Girl where I like to put up photos of the mountains, spring flowers, fall leaves, and anything else I see through my window on the world. It's cathartic to write, something I've enjoyed since sixth grade when my teacher, Mrs. Booth at Bon Air Elementary School, encouraged me to continue writing, saying she would one day read my stuff in the Reader's Digest.

The next year my seventh grade teacher, Mr. Withoeft at Thompson Middle School, encouraged the class to use adjectives, descriptions, and the senses to expand our writing and make it interesting and more readable. That led to short stories, longer essays, research papers, and poetry. Eventually, however, there wasn't time for writing with life and children and home schooling. I poured all that energy into my family.

I truly enjoy freelancing with the Washington Examiner and still like it just as much as the first day when I submitted a post about the Blue Ridge Parkway. Since then, there have been posts about the mountains, travel stories, human interest stories, and most of all ... politics. Sometimes I feel as if I live, eat, and breathe politics which is pretty remarkable for someone who is strictly a volunteer. I'm grateful for the day an email arrived from a young WaEx editor who asked, "Would you be interested in writing for us?" Little did he know that he added a new dimension to my world. So here I am, still writing, and still loving it.

I didn't quite make the Reader's Digest, as Mrs. Booth -- rest her soul -- had hoped but I think she would be pleased that I made it to the Washington Examiner. She personified the saying, "To teach is to touch the future." Here's to you, Mrs. Booth, with my thanks for the encouragement to reach for the stars.

Below are the products of Friday's attention at the keyboard ... three posts about distinctly different subjects. Enjoy!

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell for President?
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is enjoying a 66% approval rating in the latest Roanoke College poll that was released on Thursday, up from 57% in December. After a landslide win in November 2009 and after more than a year in the top position, he has been highly praised for his leadership ability. Read more here.

Jim Moran's caustic exchange with military vet
In yet another embarrassing incident, Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran was videotaped Thursday as he responded in a disrespectful and rude way to a 27-year disabled military veteran at a town hall meeting. Read more here.

Donald Trump new owner of Virginia Kluge estate winery
It's official. After months of speculation that sent a buzz throughout Virginia wine country, the Commonwealth has a new landlord in billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump who bought the Charlottesville-area Kluge estate winery and vineyard Thursday at absolute auction. The wine community will still have Patricia Kluge in its midst as well as her new boss who has indicated he will retain her to oversee the winery. Read more here.

Follow-up on shutting down free speech outside Moran townhall

Video and follow-up of the school guard in Northern Virginia threatening to arrest a Moran townhall protester for holding a sign. Be sure to read the comments.

H/T Yankee Phil

Dems say no to U.S. drilling off-shore

Democrat Jim Moran votes against drilling; Republican Virgil Goode votes for it

Despite the fact the Chinese are 50 miles off our coast drilling for oil, Democrats voted in subcommittee Wednesday to deny the U.S. access to that oil "because there are other things we can do."

My response: name it. Name what we can do to provide domestic oil for America.

Here are the ones who voted AGAINST drilling on our continential shelf: Norman D. Dicks (WA), James P. Moran (VA), Maurice D. Hinchey (NY), John W. Olver (MA), Alan B. Mollohan (WV), Tom Udall (NM), Ben Chandler (KY), Ed Pastor (AZ), Dave Obey (WI), Ex Officio.

Here are the ones who voted FOR drilling on our continental shelf: Minority Ranking Member: Todd Tiahrt (KS), John E. Peterson (PA), Jo Ann Emerson (MO), Virgil H. Goode, Jr. (VA), Ken Calvert (CA), Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex Officio.

Note Democrat Virginia Congressman Jim Moran voted AGAINST. Be sure to thank him for your high gas prices at the pump.

Republican Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode voted FOR. Thank you, Congressman Goode.

Glenn Beck covered the subject on his show Thursday, reminding listeners that Bill Clinton shut off oil exploration of those areas. He said:

... the Government estimates that the outer continental shelf, the one they said no to yesterday, has 76 billion barrels of oil in it that are recoverable and that's with today's technology. Let me put that into perspective. 76 billion barrels is enough to replace every single barrel of oil that we import from everywhere outside of North America for the next 34 years at our current pace. That's in the one place, one, that congress said we couldn't go into yesterday. [emphasis added]

The liberal argument that domestic oil will not put a dent in our demand is, once again, proven to be wrong.

But what about the environmental impact that lefties love to dangle over Americans? Mr. Beck covers that, too:

There have been no spills over 1,000 barrels in 15 years of the outer continental shelf drilling. The National Academy of Sciences found that the offshore industry is among the safest industrial activities in the United States. Outer continental shelf operations are more than five times less likely to cause a spill than oil tankers who are importing oil.

It is time for Americans to stop the roadblocks of the liberal environmentalists and drill for domestic oil to make us less dependent on foreign oil.

Drill here. Drill now. Pay less.

Veterans outraged at Jim Moran's "ethnically cleansed" accusation

"Sure there's less violence, but that's because we've ethnically cleansed most of Baghdad." - Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA)

Jim Moran is a walking example of "open mouth ... insert foot" ... and he is an embarrassment for Virginia. Vets for Freedom is outraged that he has made a statement that insinuates that our soldiers are war criminals.

The following is from Vets for Freedom....

Vets for Freedom condemns the recent comments by Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) on the floor of the House of Representatives in which he stated that American troops "ethnically cleansed Baghdad." The United Nations, along with the rest of the civilized world, commonly refers to ethnic cleansing as genocide.

"Once again, Congressman Moran demonstrates how far from reality he has fallen," said Executive Director of Vets for Freedom and Iraq Army veteran, Pete Hegseth. "Jim Moran has a long history of putting his foot in his mouth, but this time he has gone too far. The men and women who make up our nation's military are decent and honorable citizens who bravely serve to fight our enemies who threaten our national security. Insinuating that they are war criminals is outright despicable."

He continued, "I call on all Members of Congress to follow Vets for Freedom in our condemnation of these irresponsible accusations, as well as on the constituents of the 8th District of Virginia to stand up to such nonsense and support the men and women whose very sacrifice allows Moran to run his mouth."

Vets for Freedom is a nonpartisan organization established by combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its mission is to educate the American public about the importance of achieving success in these conflicts by applying our first-hand knowledge to issues of American military strategy.

Help us fight back against these baseless charges: Go here and sign up six of your friends to join Vets for Freedom and make our voices heard.

It's Christmas, our troops are far from home away from family and friends, their families are here without them ... and an elected representative from Virginia makes a blanket accusation against them.

Unbelievable.