{ Pete Stark } Congressman questions DOD presence

AP via SFGate ^ | 5/16/8 | ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- An anti-war Democratic congressman is demanding to know why there were uniformed Defense Department personnel watching House proceedings from a public gallery Thursday, who they were and what they were doing.

"If they were here on official duty, this was an abhorrent misallocation of our military resources at a time of war," Northern California Rep. Pete Stark asserted Friday in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Stark, an 18-term incumbent known for his liberal positions and outbursts of temper, said he observed the contingent of 20 or so officers, apparently Army generals, in the gallery for a couple of hours while the House debated and voted on an Iraq war spending bill.

"At a time when our nation is at war, our troops are overextended, and the administration is literally asking for emergency military spending, what good to the 'war on terror' is having U.S. generals and other top-ranked officers — who were likely accompanied by staff and escorted by their chauffeurs — spending hours sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives?" Stark asked.

The query drew a stinging response from a Pentagon spokesman.

[Road Warrior ‘04]

DemocRATS do have cans of whoopass don’t they?

Pretty sure they don't, but they definitely have a bunch of dumbasses!

[Road Warrior ‘04]

It is essential that our armed services know the enemy.
That's why uniformed officers observe Congress.

Truer words of wisdom have never been spoken.

[Robert DeLong]

He looks like a jerk even.

[notaliberal]

I wonder if that dirtbag went on any junkets this year

[SmithL]

Well, that was painful.

[PA Engineer]

Does this guy know what a toothbrush is?

[mkjessup]

so let me get this straight....active duty military personnel CANNOT sit in the gallery but Code Pink can????

In Pete Stark's diseased mind, apparently so.

[bvw]

I looked a while on google images for a good shot of a turkey vulture. I mean that is what came to mind when I saw the photo of the honorable Rep Stark. I’ve seen them feeding up close — a few feet away. Dopplegangers.

[El Gato]

DemocRATS do have cans of whoopass don’t they?

Nope they have warehouses full of asswhoopings though.

[headstamp 2]

“If they were here on official duty, this was an abhorrent misallocation of our military resources at a time of war,” Northern California Rep. Pete Stark asserted Friday in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates.”

Like you actually give a crap about that, Fartney.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Is this guy crazy?, you ask.

Yes Pete “Stark Raving Mad” Stark is one of those far-out closet marxists who has been betraying America since the 70’s. He has a nice record of supporting communist fronts and causes from the Communist Party front, “The National Legislative Conference on Chile”, July 14-16, 1975, to Medical Aid for El Salvador (aid to the communist FLMN), and several others.

The military cadets were actually watching how the Democrats are stabbing them in the back and betraying America, an America they will soon be going out to defend in the real world, as the risk of their lives.

A hundred Pete Starks are not worth the life and honor of one of these soldiers.

[Marathoner]

Imagine what it's like to live here in CA and be "represented" by Senators like Boxer and Feinstein. The CA GOP has been dead for at least 15 years, playing at being "socialist lite" instead of standing up for conservative principles. The public union-welfare voting machines in the big cities simply overwhelm voters in smaller population regions of the state.

Since I live in the People's Republic of Illinois, I know the feeling all too well.

[Bernard Marx]

Since I live in the People's Republic of Illinois, I know the feeling all too well.

My sympathy! People love to hate CA but in truth there are several states that are as bad off or worse. Vermont comes to mind, and what about Massachusets? Despair...