Allen West's Military Record Attacked In New Ad: 'Faced 11 Years In Prison'

[DonViejo]

WASHINGTON -- The gloves are officially off in the race between Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) and his Democratic challenger, Patrick Murphy.

Less than a week after West's campaign released a brutal ad featuring Murphy's mugshot from a 2003 arrest for disorderly intoxication, Murphy's campaign hit back on Tuesday with an ad highlighting West's illegal actions in the military that ultimately led to him being relieved of his command.

"You need the facts about Allen West in 2003," says the narrator in the Murphy ad, which begins by showing a clip of West's ad from last week.

"West was criminally charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and relieved of his command. The final Army report: West 'performed illegal acts ... merited court martial ... faced 11 years in prison,'" continues the narrator. "Allen West. He just isn't who he says he is."

Ominous music plays throughout the ad, and an image of West snarling appears toward the end.


read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/allen-west-military-attack-ad_n_1932571.html

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. Like! n/t

[avebury]

2. K&R nt

[SDjack]

3. What we have here is a failure of the military justice system.

If those sitting on his court martial had done their job, West would have gone to prison and never been considered for political office. Now, we have this criminal in the US House.

[joycejnr]

4. No big surprise here, just another conservative criminal...

...in a gang of criminals. Everything they do hurts the people, and except for some recent candid announcements of their true belief, that the rich should rule the 98%, everything they say is a lie or a distortion of the truth. There oughta be a law...

[Scurrilous]

5. K & R

[RockaFowler]

6. So glad Murphy went here

West never should have brought up the 2003 arrest of Murphy. Especially after Murphy talked about it in length. It wasn't something Murphy was hiding. This, on the other hand, is something West wants all of us in District 18 to forget. I won't forget. My Brother-in-law was in Iraq at this time. West seems to forget that he could have caused irrepairable harm with his actions. He doesn't care. As long as it makes West look like the tough guy - that he's not!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. My problem with this? No joke.

I have to dip my toes in the urine pond of our opposition. We have to keep track of what they say, what crap they pull, and the lies they spread. I receive many daily mailings from the ultra-right, including TeaBaggers. Pruden thinks I am a teabagger too. Riiiiight.

But, the problem with the neocons, the TeaBaggers, and the PNAC people, is that they LIKE TORTURE. They will view West as a hero for doing the right thing, even at personal risk to himself.

Yes, that is truly a fucked up, upside-down approach, but I would never accuse a TeaBagger or Neocon of being rational. There are easier ways to insult them, in far simpler terms that even they can grasp.

[bluemarkers]

15. you are right about that

but... and it's a big one .... the teabaggers have a short memory - not to mention an inability to think logically - so I'm hoping that this will hurt him since the gop opinion of the war has now changed. Heck, I bet they can't even remember PNAC.

[RBInMaine]

17. This is a great counterpunch ad. When hit, you hit back HARDER ! Glad Dems are FINALLY learning it !

[ChairmanAgnostic]

34. No question about that, and I, too, am glad for it.

But there are a core group of neocon teabagger crazies out there who like the whole idea of torture. at the same time that they claim to be christians.

[Qutzupalotl]

35. Agreed, but the words "merited court martial"

undercut one of West's perceived strengths, his military service. The freepers may like torture, but they also like military service to be honorable.

[Lint Head]

8. A big YES!!!!

[ellie]

9. God, I hope West loses

He is a lunatic.

[ewagner]

10. He'll call it a lie

But it's about time we told the truth about this guy.

[Dawson Leery]

11. Dishonorable service! It is about time this matter was confronted.

[BlueStreak]

13. Did he get an honorable discharge? What is his status?

[Dawson Leery]

20. He was given a "less than honorable" discharge.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/rep-west-discharged-from-army-for-abusing-an-iraqi-tells-obama-intimidation-is-wrong.php

[BlueStreak]

21. Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see that at the link you supplied.

[cecilfirefox]

23. I'm under the impression he was relieved in a manner that wasn't a dishonorable discharge-

But would otherwise read as a forced retirement?

[BlueStreak]

24. I think that's correct. He "faced" a dishonorable, but didn't get it.

This article talks about him "facing" a dishonorable discharge but then said he retired with full benefits.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/allen-west-military-attack-ad_n_1932571.html

West's campaign manager said he had an honorable discharge.

It really makes one wonder how a person can do all that and still walk away with an honorable. I guess it was a negotiation. The Army was probably afraid that Cheney had ginned up the public so much that they would treat West as a hero for what amounts to war crimes.

[stevenleser]

27. There are a lot of potential discharges between honorable and dishonorable.

I used to remember them all but among the discharges, there is a general discharge, discharge under less than honorable conditions, bad conduct discharge, etc. I think I am missing one or two.

All of those are automatically upgraded to honorable after designated periods of time.

Only the dishonorable discharge is a permanent discharge at that level.

I am guessing that West received under less than honorable conditions and was upgraded after a year or so.

On edit: I think one of the discharges I forgot was discharge in lieu of courts martial. that might be what he got. As I said, all discharges, including that one are upgradeable to honorable after time except for dishonorable.

Also, a dishonorable discharge can only be given to someone after a courts martial conviction, specifically a general courts martial. Many people do not know this but there are three levels of courts martial in order of severity of the incident, there is a summary courts martial, special courts martial and general courts martial.

[Heather MC]

12. wow that makes being drunk and disorderly in 2003 not such a bad thing

I guess Allen West forgot about his record when he was attacking his opponent

[kimbutgar]

14. Wow that video scared me

Great nasty picture of that piece of jerk at the end

[RBInMaine]

16. GOOD ! Kick the CRAP out of this ROTTEN HORRID MONSTER. Get him OUT of the Congress.

[samsingh]

18. Recommend.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

19. I'm sick of Dems being "nice" and this is a classic 30 second political spot that hits hard.

[cecilfirefox]

22. That race is going to get downright NASTY. nt

[NBachers]

25. I like it, but isn't there a better- voiced narrator available?

[hay rick]

28. Subtle. Like a falling safe.

So much for the turn the other cheek theory on attack ads.

[brooklynite]

29. This ad is a waste of money...

...and I say that as someone who's given Patrick some.


For better or worse, voters made a judgement on West when they elected him in 2010. Just as "vetting" President Obama is doing nothing for the Romney campaign, rehashing West's past isn't going to help Murphy. There's enough outrage about West's two years in office to frame some decent ads. This isn't one of them.

[cecilfirefox]

30. I think the point is more to take the wind out of the sails of West's ad-

By, simply, diverting attention to the fact that West has also had a not so glamorous run in with legal issues.

[hay rick]

31. West is running in a new district.

So this is not a rehash for many voters in Martin and St. Lucie Counties. The context for the ad is the attack ad which West unleashed a couple of days ago. West's ad used a mug shot from Murphy's arrest outside a nightclub in 2003 and contrasted it with a picture from the same year of West in uniform preparing to leave for Iraq to serve his country. Video here:

This ad counters West's ad and prompts voters to take a closer look at Allen West. I don't like the tone the campaign has taken, but there is no doubt that West started this and he's getting what he deserves. FWIW- Murphy was 19 when he was arrested outside the bar. He was arrested but not charged. West was 42 when he went to Iraq.

[brooklynite]

32. I don't want him to "get what he deserves"...

...I want him to get what's going to make him lose. I don't think either of these ads are going to make a difference.

[hay rick]

33. I'm ambivalent.

First, let me say that I have been volunteering on this campaign for months, so I have a lot invested in this race and it's difficult for me to be objective.

I don't like the ad because it is unnecessarily harsh and that will alienate some voters. On the other hand, West's ad couldn't be ignored- a correction to the record was definitely called for.

I wish I believed that this kind of advertising didn't make a difference, but all my experience leads me to believe that these two ads will have a considerable effect on the outcome. It would be nice if the two ads offset each other and the race was decided on the basis of issues, but that's wishful thinking.