Posted on 07/25/2014 6:53:13 AM PDT by cotton1706
Senate Democrats went into full-fledged damage control Thursday to protect embattled Montana Sen. John Walsh, a day after plagiarism revelations that imperil his election hopes this fall.
Despite a mountain of evidence suggesting that Walsh may have obtained a key academic credential improperly, the party leadership, Montana Democrats and members of the rank and file closed ranks behind the appointed senator — arguing that voters should overlook a relatively minor mistake when weighed against his military service in Iraq and career serving his country.
Or, as Sen. Jon Tester put it, “He’s a soldier, not an academic.”
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“It’s a hit, but it’s not a death knell,” said Tester, the Montana Democrat who won a tough reelection bid in 2012. “And I think absolutely, once the facts are out, people will understand it.”
“I think that stacked up against his record, he’s going to run on his record in the National Guard and his service in Montana,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has backed Walsh since the scandal broke. “I think the voters will understand that full picture.”
The revelations in Wednesday’s New York Times report — that Walsh copied substantial passages of his final paper to obtain his master’s degree in 2007 without proper attribution — threaten to derail the Democratic senator’s already-steep climb against Republican Rep. Steve Daines, who is leading in the polls. Montana had long been viewed as a long shot for Democrats in the national fight for control of the Senate, and the plagiarism allegations seemed to make a tough race even tougher.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Yesterday, Walsh’s office put out a statement that he had faced hundreds of IEDs. Two hours later, they came out with a correction that he had been involved with one IED. That makes it look like he rarely left the base camp.
That fellow that killed himself that Walsh says caused him mental problems. Did he die in Iraq during the war or in Montana after Walsh was home?
He was just “sloppy,” like Sandy, “Secret docs in his drawers” Berger. And he was suffering from PTSD as well...yeah, that’s the ticket.
Walsh has admitted that he lied, cheated and stole. He was a full Colonel when he did this. He had years of being in the Montana National Guard. He must have displayed this disregard for ethics earlier in his career. Did the Montana National Guard just look the other way? Why?
This wasn’t in combat or a high-pressure situation. Walsh had plenty of time to write a 14 page paper. His job at that time was only to write a paper. He couldn’t do it. Why?
The veteran killed himself in 2007, more than two years after the Montana unit returned to the states. Apparently, the man died about the time Walsh’s paper was due, so the tragedy is being used as an excuse for his plagiarism.
BTW, the paper was only 14 pages in length and, as a former adjunct instructor at both Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College, it’s a safe bet the assignment was posted weeks in advance. With better time management, Walsh could have easily completed the paper without copying whole sections from the work of other authors.
Walsh reminds me of a few senior officers I’ve met in the guard (and on active duty as well). Paraphrasing the late Chuck Colson, they would run over their grandmother—and anyone else—to reach flag rank. And if Walsh hadn’t been caught pressuring soldiers to join the National Guard Association (as he sought a senior leadership in the post), he would have reached major general, the typical rank for a state’s adjutant general.
There are many damned good soldiers and airmen in the guard, but there are also a lot of political hacks like Walsh. Unfortunately, they are almost never purged from the ranks.
One of my good friends is a retired Command Sergeant Major from the national guard in a northeastern state. He spent a year in Iraq before leaving the guard and later worked as a security contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan (he was SF earlier in his career).
I remember asking him about a southwestern guard brigade that suffered heavy casualties during their deployment to Afghanistan. When I suggested it was because of their AOR, increased insurgent activity and other factors, the Sgt Maj waved me off. “They weren’t properly trained,” he said. “And that goes back to their leadership.” As far as I know, not a single officer or NCO from that unit was replaced because of what happened in Afghanistan.
When I say it doesn’t matter I mean the fact that he’s a democrat means he can get away with it. Look at how many democrat senators there are who are proven liars. Warren is just one of many.
So, both the Soldier and Walsh had been home in Montana for two years before the Soldier took his life. Why would this cause Walsh to claim PTSD? There seems to be more here than Walsh is putting out.
Not so.
At present Montana has a Democrat governor and two Dem senators.
Their constituencies include the usual groups: unions, campus lefties, farmers and old people, as well as the arriviste rich from the coasts.
Walsh has admitted that he is a liar and a cheater and a thief. Any Democrat who sticks up for him is saying that lying and cheating and stealing are OK. Oh, that’s right......Montana’s Governor is a Democrat lawyer.
Oh, and the Democrat lockstep Indian reservations too.
I’m not sure what fallout they’re worried about. It’s not like he had a chance of winning to begin with.
Hardly a blip. Walsh was a goner anyway. All this does is give Reid bragging rights, since he backed the dorky Bohlinger in the primary.
All agreed.
But I do think it matters. I think EVERY little thing will matter in this particular race. It will be hard fought and probably close. The incumbent Dem was recently appointed to the seat after long term Sen. Baucus was appointed ambassador to China.
Montana is one of the those quirky states like the nearby Dakotas which almost always votes GOP in presidential elections, but often elects Dems to the US Senate.
Since the new senator is not deeply entrenched and was appointed, I think this particular issue could very well cost the Dems this seat US Senate seat which they have held on to for 100 years.
Just a little bit pregnant?
There is...Walsh didn’t want to make the effort to produce a 14-page paper to finish his master’s, so he appropriated large sections from other publications. Simple case of plagiarism, and the Colonel-turned-Senator got caught so, in true Dim fashion, he starts flailing around, looking for any excuse. He probably thought the PTSD claim would win him some sympathy points.
Trouble is, there were a lot of combat vets in his class, and I’m guessing some of them suffered from PTSD as well, and several had suicides in their unit. But they still managed to complete their assignments and finish the course.
As I said in another post, Walsh is the prototypical politician that you sometimes find in the senior guard ranks. He probably called in ever favor he could muster to get to the war college and once there, Walsh wasn’t afraid to cut a few corners to finish—figuring he’d never get caught.
I still say the most puzzling part of this episode is who discovered Walsh’s cheating and turned him in. The NYT doesn’t spend a lot of time in the Army War College library...was it one of Walsh’s former classmates, or one of his professors?
One more thing: it’s a bet that the Army will scan every paper for a 3-4 year period, just to make sure Walsh wasn’t part of a wider plagiarism scandal.
Actually, this Senate seat has never elected a Republican since the 17th Amendment was enacted. The legislature last elected one in this seat in 1907.
That number is too low.
“He made a mistake.....” Stabenow said in an interview.
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No, no; he did NOT make a “mistake”. A mistake is when you miss your exit on the Interstate..... when you forget to record a check in your check book. This was NOT a mistake.
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