Forward to about the 13 minute mark in the C-SPAN video, to see Mark Kirk boasting to the House Budget Committee that he was the "Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year, 1998". It must be the Memorial Day weekend because the blogosphere is atwitter over the video, more specifically over what is or is not to be found on the 10th District Congressman's military record. According to the Daily Herald,
Kirk has claimed for years to have received the Navy Intelligence Officer of the Year award for service during the Serbian conflict in the late 1990s. In fact, Kirk recently conceded on his blog that he wasn't honored with that award.A KirkForSenate Press Release is now saying that Kirk's unit was a recipient of the Rufus Taylor Intelligence Unit of the Year award. (Assuming the Navy does issue a Rufus Taylor Intelligence Unit of the Year award, Kirk may have been better advised to just stop his losses and quit while he was ahead.) The presser also calls Kirk's Senate opponent, Alexi Giannoulis, a failed mob banker. Meow! Team-Kirk must be smarting over the fact that someone blew the whistle on them. According to the News-Sun, the Washington Post, who broke the story,
Senate candidate Kirk says award was for his entire military unit
said its inquiries were sparked by complaints from a "representative" of Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulis, the Democratic candidate for senateIt should be no surprise to Operatives that reporters are notorious for rarely ever engaging in any actual hands-on investigative research; whenever a media outlet does break some news, it's because someone leaked them the story. Team-Kirk ought to know that in an age where everyone's secrets are readily available on the Internet, their candidate has an easily verifiable record that stretches back more than a decade. The first rule of oppo research: always oppo your own candidate first!
Kirk admits he listed wrong military award on bio
Needless to say, your LakeCountyEye has been engaged this weekend in some actual hands-on investigative research. Here are 10 more surprises to be found on Mark Kirk's permanent record.
| 10 More Misstatements on Mark Kirk's Political Resume |
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Anyone not affiliated with British Petroleum is encouraged to send their leaks to LakeCountyEye@gMail.com
7 comments:
Regrettably for Kirk, these types of military award blunders do not sit well for veterans.
Considering Kirk is still serving, I have to wonder if he will be issued a letter of censure by his chain of command? Any other service member doing such a thing would either appear before the old man, or be recommended for court martial.
Members of the Armed Forces are held to higher standards, whether fair or not. These types of faux pas do not sit well with veterans and it will take away votes in November. You just don't make more of an award that is not on the citation. Alexi needs to sure to re-hash this and any subsequent punishment Kirk receives from the military chain of command. If his chain of command tries to sweep this under the table because Kirk is a Member of Congress, then that in itself should be be brought to the attention of voters.
Well, not only did he get caught with his pants down, but it seems to me like he broke the "Stolen Valor" law that his hero G.W. Bush passed. Let's see his campaign spin this one.
Back in the mid 60's my best friend sent me a really nice jacket from Vietnam where he was serving. It had all kinds of emblems sewn on it naming various places in Nam. I wore it with pride because my buddy had sent it to me and I was classified as 1Y (meaning that I wouldn't get drafted until after women and children). The problem was, whenever I would be standing in a line or in a crowd, many would thank me for my service. Now, if my name was Mark Kirk or Richard Blumenthal I probably would have thanked them and when they asked where in Vietnam that I served, I would have tried to pronounce names I didn't have a clue about.
Instead, I wrote my buddy, who was still serving, and told him that I appreciated the jacket very much and all that he was doing for our country but I wouldn't be wearing the jacket anymore because by doing so it appeared to be giving ME credit for something that HE was entitled to.
Although I hate to see Illinois lose Kirk's House seat, I would sure like him to take one in the shorts for lying.
Hey, at least Kirk admitted there was an error. You may or not believe him that it was an accident. Has Sexi/Lexi ever admitted to makeing loans to criminals? Has he at least taken any responsibility for the failed bank? Remember, Sexi/Lexi got elected BECAUSE of his banking credentials.
Speaking of being caught with his pants down...
To all the commenters, thanks for the valuable & insightful input. I never served in the armed forces. Hopefully I have a better handle on this particular issue now.
-BB-
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