Republican leaders in the House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to strip Rep. Christopher Smith (R-NJ, 4th Dist.) of his chairmanship of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. This move, according to NJ's Star Ledger newspaper, was "prompted by the New Jersey lawmaker's failure to follow the party line and his insistence on increasing spending for veterans." Literally beloved by veterans' groups, many of which (Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of American, Vietnam Veterans of America) immediately denounced his ouster, Smith also was dropped from the veterans committee entirely--an extremely rare move in Congress--from a seat he has held for 24 years.
The full text of today's article appears here. Yesterday's Star Ledger article provides a bit more detail, and Salon also has a take on this.
Although Smith generally is not my cup of tea, to say the least, he has a reputation here in NJ as a dedicated servant to veterans. I am the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and am quite interested in veterans' affairs and have always found his positions in this area to be respectful and responsible.
The ouster of Rep. Smith from his Chairmanship and his seat on this committee supports three separate Republican frames, which Democrats should repeatedly highlight:
Republicans Love War but Hate the Military. I know many diarists have been compiling seemingly unending evidence of Republicans' shameful, cavalier usage of our troops and negligent, ungrateful treatment of our veterans, not to mention ignorant disregard of the advice of the professional and retired military. When a champion of those who risked their lives for our country is removed from his post precisely for championing those who risked their lives for our country, the Republican party lends further credence to this frame.
Republicans Reward Failure, Punish Success. When you are actually good at your job, or even attempt to be good at your job, in the Republican party under the Bush administration, you are ignored, humiliated publicly, and fired or forced out. See Colin Powell (a Secretary of State trying to be a statesman), Christie Whitman (an EPA head trying, at least nominally, to protect the environment), Paul O'Neill (a Treasury secretary championing fiscal responsibility), Chris Smith (above), and probably loads of people I am forgetting. But when you are a complete, uncontested failure at your given responsibilities, you are promoted, awarded the Medal of Freedom, canonized, fed individual peeled grapes by hot waitpersons, given a ten-year, $250-million contract with the Yankees, etc. See everybody left standing, starting with the Chimp himself. Upward failure, as un-American a concept as there is, is the standard for this party.
Republicans Value Party Before Country, Party Before Ideals, Party Before Every-damn-thing. Republicans are loyal to only one thing: the Republican Party. The Republican Party feels that veterans do not deserve being fought for. Chris Smith fights for them. Chris Smith is not a loyal Republican. Chris Smith is fired.
Chris Smith's public humiliation is a kick in the pants to him, to veterans, to the ideal of honoring those who have fought for us. Republicans should be ashamed of themselves, but they have no shame. So we should shame them. If this move is not getting any play outside of NJ, we should give it some.