Bob Casey, Jr. Owes America An Apology

The BobCaseyBlog is apparently so confident of a win that they spoke with Markos Moulitsas of the upcoming election in Pennsylvania. Not content to simply brag, they felt compelled to lavish praise on Moulitsas.

Markos came off as intelligent, affable, and a great leader, with a willingness to defer to others and to respect differing opinions. I got the sense that he would be a great party or corporate leader someday.

Bob Casey Jr. might want to come out of the shadows long enough to learn about Scott Helvenston, Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, Mike Teague and Wes Batalona. Those are the four brave Americans with multiple service awards prior to becoming civilian contractors, one the youngest ever Navy SEAL, who were mutilated, hung from a bridge and burned by terrorists in Iraq.

As is widely known by most anyone who follows politics and events in Iraq with any depth, Moulitsas response to that atrocity was "Screw 'em." He also denounced them as mercenaries. They were acting as guards for a convoy of food for American troops at the time.

He's not even elected yet and already Bob Casey through his blog has managed to embarrass Pennsylvania and insult patriotic Americans everywhere. What a disgrace.

LEESBURG - One of the four American contractors killed in Iraq and mutilated by a mob was a former Leesburg resident who served with the Navy SEALs for 12 years.

Two of the others were identified by their families as residents of Ohio and Tennessee. All four worked for Blackwater Security Consulting, a subsidiary of Blackwater USA of North Carolina.

A family spokesman said Thursday night that Scott Helvenston, 38, died with three other civilians Wednesday. Their vehicle was hit by rocket-propelled grenades in a rebel ambush in Fallujah.

A mob dragged bodies through downtown Fallujah and hung two bodies from a bridge over the Euphrates River.

Helvenston was born in Jacksonville and lived in Gainesville, Winter Haven, Orlando and Leesburg before joining the Navy when he was 17. He served until 1994 and then began a career as a fitness promoter, starting a company called Amphibian Athletics. He also was an actor and stunt man for movies such as Face/Off and G.I. Jane, according to a company Web site.

Also killed was Jerko "Jerry" Zovko, 32, an Army veteran from Willoughby, Ohio.

Zovko joined the Army in 1991 at age 19 and spoke five languages fluently: English, Croatian, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. He had been a member of the Special Forces in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., said his brother, Tom.

"My brother was an exceptional individual," Tom Zovko said. "He did what he thought was right."

Zovko's mother said she and her husband had suspected their son might be among the dead, but their fears were confirmed Thursday morning when the president of Blackwater USA knocked on their door.

"It was the hardest day of my life," Donna Zovko said during an interview in her suburban Cleveland home.

"Jerry was a man with a principle, an idea," his mother said. "He loved people. He wanted the world to be without borders, for everybody to be free and safe."

Zovko's family wouldn't say whether he was married or had children.

Another victim was Michael Teague, 38, of Clarksville, Tenn., a 12-year Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star for service in Afghanistan and also served in Panama and Grenada, his wife, Rhonda, said in a prepared statement. She called her husband a "proud father, soldier and American."

"I, his son Brandon and his friends and family will miss him without measure," her statement said.

Teague had worked in the security business since he left the Army six years ago, but he joined Blackwater Security only two months ago, WTVF-TV of Nashville reported.

Comments

[Purple Avenger]

"a great party...leader someday"

Seriously, I think Chairman Mao would have taken him on as a protege.

[Phoenix]

I have been feeling depressed for days now. This throws me right down into that well of darkness.

[WWU Vet]

I'm not a fan of Kos at all but I've read his blog a few times and one thing that does strike me is the respect and sympathy that he, a vet himself, has shown for other vets. It would disappoint me to learn that he's made such disdainful remarks about these soliders and the sacrifice they made. Of course the disrepect he's shown, if he has at all, pales when compared to the disrespect the administration and the Republican and Democratic congressmen who supported this conflict have shown to this nation's young men by sending them to Iraq in the first place.

[jaime]

"It would disappoint me to learn that he's made such disdainful remarks about these soliders and the sacrifice they made."

Well if you haven't learned anything about Dan Riehl, you should know of his hatred of context. Did you notice he didn't link to what he quoted about Moulitsas? Did you notice what he did quote was two words. Mr. Riehl thanks the lord every day he's got people stupid enough to eat this kind of stuff up without ever researching on their own.

Blackwater is basically a seperate army in Iraq. They do the same duties as our soldiers, but get paid much more and are not subject to U.S. legal jursidiction.

[Terry Gain]

WWU VET

Dan is right and Jaime is bs'ing again. Go to Kos and satisfy youself. He's been cheering for the enemy from the outset.

[Terry Gain]

You'll notice that Dan didn't link to his claim that the earth isn't flat. posted by jaime

[Stephen DeMatteo]

Dear sir,

You would do well to explore BobCaseyBlog a little further. You would therein discover that the website is in no way affiliated with Mr. Casey. Rather, it was established before the PA primary by the editor of keystonepolitics.com as a source for more information on the likely candidate. To suggest that Mr. Casey endorses this website is a distortion of the facts.

N.B. The same holds for Santorumblog.com. This site, although it supports paid advertisement by Santorum 2006, is not affiliated with the Senator's campaign.