| In his column in Fairfield County Weekly ("We Don't Need Chris Shays"), Nick Keppler writes that former congressman Chris Shays is "a truly beautiful man", whom Democrats "assailed with negative ads" during the 2008 campaign. A "truly beautiful man"?
Chris Shays is the guy who, though he dodged the draft when his number was called at the height of the Vietnam War in 1969, and claimed to be a conscientious objector when he again was called in 1972, nonetheless had no qualms about serving as George Bush's chief cheerleader for the hideous and senseless invasion of Iraq. That "beautiful man" sent more than thirty six thousand young Americans to be killed and wounded in Iraq, including more than three hundred from Connecticut, and hundreds of thousands more to be afflicted with PTSD, many for the remainder of their lives. It was that "beautiful man" Chris Shays who contended for years that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, even after it was proven that both assertions were utterly false. It was that "beautiful man" Chris Shays who dismissed the horrific torture and humiliations inflicted upon Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison as nothing more than the activities of a "sex ring".
It was that "beautiful man" Chris Shays who in 2005 served as one of George Bush's earliest and most enthusiastic supporters for his effort to dismantle Social Security and divert savings into stockmarket accounts instead. Where would Americans be today if he and Bush had been successful in funneling our savings into the collapsing stockmarket? It was that "beautiful man" who sat by for two decades and refused to push for federal assistance for our commuter rail system as its rolling stock became decrepit, or for more federal funds to repair our highways as our transportation system became even more sclerotic. And it was that "beautiful man" Chris Shays who insisted that it was just natural for Connecticut to receive less federal funds back from Washington per tax dollar paid out than all but two states; we just make too much money, according to Shays.
And let's keep in mind what one of those "negative ads" was with which Mr. Keppler says Shays was "assailed". It pointed out that Chris Shays had stated on September 1, 2008, literally hours before the beginning of America's worst financial collapse since 1929, a meltdown that almost brought on another Great Depression, that "The fundamentals of our economy are strong. No one can disagree with that." Don't voters deserve to be told that Shays, who for years had served as the vice-chairman of the House Financial Services Committee that had done nothing to stop the burgeoning disaster of unregulated mortgage debt obligations, had absolutely no clue what was happening? Is it wrong to point out that Chris Shays had demonstrated once again that he was absolutely oblivious about an issue about which he claimed to be an expert? Shouldn't voters who are asked to vote for him this year either for governor or congressman understand that he was asleep at the wheel of the most important committee dealing with financial regulation while this disaster was building?
Not only is Chris Shays not a "beautiful man", he is responsible for some of the ugliest failures of our government in its history. Voters have a right to be told the truth. |
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