N.J. Lawmaker Targeted for Iraq Comments

[cal04]

New Jersey Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen is among eight Republican congressmen targeted by a liberal advocacy group for criticizing a call for American troops to immediately withdraw from Iraq.
Television ads featuring the congressmen were to begin airing nationally on Thanksgiving Day, and then will run in each of the lawmakers' home districts a few days later.

Last Thursday, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., called for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. The next day, the Republican-controlled House hastily arranged for a vote on Murtha's resolution. Democrats accused Republicans of orchestrating a political stunt that prohibited thoughtful debate on the issue, and nearly all voted against the measure. The final tally was 403 against Murtha's resolution, and 3 in favor of it. Frelinghuysen and the other congressmen are out of step with the American people, who want a change of course in Iraq, Tom Matzzie, the Washington, D.C., director of MoveOn.org Political Action, said Tuesday.

''Frelinghuysen basically said Murtha was helping the terrorists,'' Matzzie said. ''The debate that day was about repudiating John Murtha.'' But Frelinghuysen said his comments were not about Murtha, whom he described as a friend and an ally. The two, both Vietnam War veterans, serve on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee. ''My comments had everything to do with how we look after our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' Frelinghuysen said. ''I did not invoke his name in any way, and nothing was aimed at him. My feeling is we need to reach some sort of common ground on how we support our troops and get them home after we accomplish this good work.''

In his remarks last Friday on the House floor, Frelinghuysen called the immediate withdrawal of troops ''a recipe for disaster, a dangerous defense policy, the wrong message for our soldiers and Marines who are truly doing the work of freedom.'' ''Frankly, I am concerned that such talk will only embolden the terrorists and demoralize our war fighters,'' he added. ''Our only exit strategy from Iraq should be victory,'' Frelinghuysen said. ''Anything less than that virtually guarantees the next battleground may be closer to home!'' The MoveOn.Org ads are scheduled to air nationally from Nov. 24 through Nov. 30. They will air 16 times on local cable networks in Frelinghuysen's district starting Nov. 28, Matzzie said. Frelinghuysen represents all of Morris County and parts of Somerset, Essex, Sussex and Passaic counties.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Iraq-Frelinghuysen.html

[Kire]

1. Ficus for Congress

http://www.commondreams.org/news2000/0426-09.htm

[woldnewton]

2. When I saw "campaign strategist and filmmaker Michael Moore"...

I almost thought the whole piece was conservative satire.

If this is true (I'm still skeptical) -- not sure how Moore is going to help his candidacy in such a red district, but it's nice to see Moore getting more directly involved. It looks not only like Ficus clearly wants Moore's endorsement, but Moore obviously is backing this guy, which he didn't for Kerry, which in and of itself would have been a mixed blessing had he.

BTW, good luck e-mailing Moore at [e-mail]. That mailbox at his AOL account is almost perpetually full.

[Kire]

3. this was an episode of "The Awful Truth" in 2000

"Ficus" was a real tree. Michael Moore was the campaign manager. It was hilarious.

[Kire]

4. might have been '98

I think that was it, because I remember I lived in Morristown where they had their campaign office in the back of a pizza shop, I lived two blocks away but I didn't know it was there until I saw the episode years later