Amy B. Portland, ME..

Raise your huh and add a who cares.

Great Sunday to you...

It seems West doesn't play well with others.

West is by no means a gentleman. In fact he is not much of a man.

West is a typical tea bagger!

Shoot off his BIG mouth first - ask questions later...

None of them bother to consider the ramifications of their actions...

Notice that West didn't send Welch an e-mail calling him "ungentlemanly."

That alone says something, I think.

Although I'm a veteran, my service pales in comparison to that of Rep. West, who served in the U.S. Army for more than 20 years.

Sadly, I cannot imagine that level of sacrifice, patriotism, and devotion to country, based upon my own experience as a soldier.

How many of you can?

Criticize away with regard to Rep. West, particularly those with service to the United States similar to his.

But...

For the rest of you...

Try to keep just a little sense of perspective...?

Just a teeny bit...?

Maybe...?

Matthew & Anna Molly, I believe this is worthy of a reminder about Mr. West!

Looks as if Rep. Alan West is a misogynist at best and a full blown buffoon at worst:

I did a little research and it comes to light that yesterday wasn’t the first time Alan has made a sexist remark against women.

Here are Mr. West’s own eloquent words:

But this isn’t the first time West has stirred up controversy with
comments about women. Given his short time in office and his own accusations of sexism by political opponents,
West has compiled a rather unimpressive record of associating with misogynists,
stereotyping the role of women in society, and engaging in outright misogyny of
his own:

West contributed to a Florida magazine that
called women “oral relief stations”: Before he was elected to
Congress, West was a monthly contributor to “Miami Mike’s Wheels On The Road,”
a biker magazine that billed itself as the “South Florida Biker’s Bible.” The
magazine has featured multiple overtly misogynistic articles, including one
asking readers to imagine having sex with Wasserman Schultz. At other times,
the magazine’s writers referred to women as “oral relief stations,” complained about women
who said “their knees hurt,” depicted women as servants of men, and suggested
that they should wear “slave chokers” as accessories.

West claimed liberal women were “neutering”
American men and causing a crisis of leadership in America: In a
speech to a Women Impacting Nation (WIN) meeting, West blamed liberal women —
“these Planned Parenthood women, the Code Pink women” — for “neutering American men and bringing us to the
point of this incredible weakness.” Such women were fighting “to have our men
become subservient,” West said, before bizarrely adding that this new-found
subservience would continue to make the nation’s debt and deficits grow.

West compared conservative women to
Spartans, asking them to “raise strong men”: In
the same speech, West compared conservative women to the women of Sparta, who
he claimed were the real strength behind the men of the ancient Greek
city-state. The role of conservative women, West said, was to “raise strong men,” just as it was in Sparta.
As Mediaite’s Frances Martel noted at the time, Spartan women had no political
rights and were trained to be strong solely for the betterment of males. West’s comparison to
Sparta implies that he believes “strong women are to raise strong men,” Martel
wrote. “Strong women are not just to be,
the way strong men are

This list, of course, does not include the numerous
policy positions West has taken that would have adverse effects on women,
including his joining the fight to defund Planned Parenthood.

Already, West has begun fundraising off of the instance with
Wasserman Schultz.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/07/20/274274/allen-west-women-problems/

This coming from the guy who participated in ‘mock executions’;

In August 2003, while commanding the 20th Field Regiment, West ordered his
soldiers to pick up an Iraqi policeman, Kadoori Hamoodi, who West's
unit suspected of helping the insurgency. According to Hamoodi's
testimony, he was beaten and threatened, and at some point during
the interrogation, West fired his pistol near Hamoodi's head in a mock
execution. Hamoodi was never charged with plotting against U.S. troops, and
West later admitted he might have been wrong about the Iraqi.

After a hearing, West was fined $5,000 and allowed to retire with full benefits at
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Despite the moment of introspection in the New
York Times, remains unapologetic about the incident, often saying on the
campaign trail that he would "go through hell with a gasoline can"
for his fellow soldiers. The incident in Iraq made West a hero to conservatives
who believed the media was focusing too much on incidents like Abu Ghraib

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegrio.com%2Fpolitics%2Fmeet-allen-west-the-tea-partys-black-jack-bauer.php&ei=T2InToD3HMeBsgK95aA7&usg=AFQjCNGSBWZVjF7TTSKkmfQZc2ZOjNC83Q

Mixed Bag, I missed your point. could you please clarify? Surely, you don't mean Rep West gets a free pass as a politicain because of his previous military record?

Not only that, NorthstarDFL, as I already knew, and as Feistuy pointed out, it seems West's military service wasn't all that 'honorable'. I knew people just like him when I was in the military, we called them 'lifers' . . . and it was not a complimentary term.

Not at all, Northstar-

Condemn Rep. West for any trangression(s) you like...perceived, or otherwise.

I'm simply saying...don't forget to also acknowledge his 20 years of military service on your behalf and mine as U.S. citizens.

That's fair, isn't it?

Don't make this difficult.

The concept is relatively simple.

Matt-

Is your own military service demonstrably superior...in quantity, or quality...to that of Rep. West?

If so...I'd love to hear about it.

Bag Boy: Are you trying to say that you think West may be suffering from PTSD? Because otherwise, how does his military service relate to this?

lol, AM.

No...

I'm simply asking you to consider Rep. West's willingness to give 20 years of his life to military service...to service to you, me and every other U.S. citizen...before issuing a blanket condemnation.

As I told Northstar...don't make this so difficult, AM.

His military service goes to the issue of his character generally, counselor.

All 20+ years of it.

I only asked for an acknowledgement of that to accompany the criticism.

You disagree?

No deference to the "big picture"?

You must be REALLY down on President Clinton, AM.

Who's the bigger misogynist, really, AM?

West...or Clinton?

;-)

Mixed Bag, Of course it is simple and fair. I acknowledge all veterans with my tax dollars. I am fine with the GI Bill for education, VA mortgages, VA health system, military pensions. I support those programs.

Sat next to a young man on an airplane last winter who was just discharged. He was traveling from Alaska, thru Mpls to Tampa. He told me all about the skills he learned in the Army, both good and bad. He told me how his grandmother was preparing his favorite meal for him that night. As we deboarded the plane, he was on his cell talking to his friends and excited to see his girlfriend who was invited to his grandma's for the first time. I thanked him for his service and wished him well .

But again this was not the point of the article at the top of the thread.

West's remarks dishonor his military service, they dishonor the U.S. Army, they dishonor the U.S. Congress, and they dishonor America. He is not a gentleman.

Even though I have bag boy on ignore, I was curious to see what he had said, opened his comment and, true to form, he tried to deflect and change the subject. This isn't about me, or my service record, bag boy (love that name AM), it is about Mr. West and his despicable actions. Notice I never even asked you to defend your military record . . . if it even exists?

20 years and Mr. West was only a Lt. Col.? That certainly doesn't sound like a stellar career. Even so, usually when someone is 'encouraged to retire' they get to retire at the next rank up to get the increased benefits. But, evidently Mr. West's military record was not even good enough for that, since only one incident is usually not enough to prevent that.

Now, back to that 'ignoring thing' of bag boy.

Feisty, I would rate a buffoon more honorable than a misogynist, any day. And this guy is a misogynist, which is about 2 or 3 levels lower than whale p00p.

Simply astounding Matthew, isn't it?

Tells me all I need to know about the type of people who are defending his words & actions! ;o)

Mixed bags,

There have been many who have served who then went on to have honorable terms in all levels of public office. They have not, however, dishonored those positions by resorting to petty, childish and inappropriate behavior while holding said offices. This man has shown exactly what is wrong with a certain segment of the new right that now infects this countries governing bodies.

@ Bag Boy ~ I was almost hoping you might say yes. At least that might provide a relevant backdrop against which to consider West's entire ... shall we say, odd ... pattern of conduct, and not just as it relates to DWS.

But just so you know, I did have a few things to say about Bill Clinton, too, back in the day. I suspect you may know I would say that. As you may recall, I had a few things to say about John Edwards and about Anthony Weiner, too, as I have about David Letterman, and even about Bill Maher, based on what those two said about Sarah Palin and her daughters. Rank stupidity and crass, sexist behavior recognize no racial or political boundaries.

Certainly it is important to acknowledge his service, and yours, of course. I think you know how I feel about that. How can you even ask such a question of me?

In any event, this seems a good point for me to back away from this particular dispute. I guess we'll see how it all plays out.

"20 years and Mr. West was only a Lt. Col.?"

Again, Matt...

I served in a theatre of war and can only speak to the rate of promotion that I experienced, personally.

I realize that my views on the matter of Rep. West's service to the country are, in part, anecdotal...

I'm certain that you are far more qualified to assess military promotion rates than I am, Matt.

Therefore, I defer to your views on what promotion rate is appropriate.

Can't agree with you on misogynism, though.

Keith Olbermann and Bill Clinton are far more misogynistic than Rep. West.

Ask Hillary...

She'll give you an honest answer in at least one of my two examples.

PS, Matt-

Don't stop ignoring me.

:-)

I did give you the "wink", AM...here it is again:

;-)

Sorry, sir. I completely missed it.

AND I inadvertently left out Olbermann. Mea culpa.

Have a wonderful evening. :-*

I particularly loved Wests' "courageous" email to Wasserman-Schultz...bet that took balls...calling out a woman and all...in an email...reeeeeaaaaaal B-A-L-L-S balls, I tells ya!

That sucking sound you hear? It's the GOP spiraling down the toilet because of their alliance with the Tea Party, and representatives such as West.

These representatives for the GOP are nothing more than boat anchors, and need to be jettisoned.

As I said Friday, West sent Wasserman-Schultz an e-mail demanding that if SHE had something to say to him, SHE should say it to HIS FACE. What courage West had--he couldn't say it to HER FACE. If he were a democrat, I'd be saying the same thing. His temper, his arrogance, his lack of respect for his colleagues all say he is not fit to represent the good citizens of Florida.

Mr west was in the service for 20 or so years but that don't make him a good Patriot it just make him a 20 year veteran . we would have to see his service record to see what kind of a patriot he was . I was an employee at Toshiba for 26 years but was I a good Employee I think so but does Toshiba? You would have to see my record to know for sure.

I also worked at Precision Rubber Products but does that make me a good employee no it does not and you know what I was not a good employee. I fought Management all the time and they tried to fire me all the time but were never able to. Why/ because of the Union I was in . I didn't do a thing to break the rules of the company but I was always in their face about something that they did wrong that violated our contract . But to them I was not a good employee oh sure I did my job alright, but me and the company were always into it all the time.To them I was a trouble maker. The gave me an early retirement to go to work at another plant to get rid of me and actual helped me get the job . But they did earn their respect of which I see the Supertendent of the company every Sunday at Church and he is a good friend.

That would be the man. He said a few other strange things that simply were not true, but it isn't worth my time looking them up. As you said, the man is a goofball.

That's right, Forrest Grump, West did say that. Shows how little he knows. Goofball definitely describes him.