In yet another embarrassing incident, Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran was videotaped Thursday as he responded in a disrespectful and rude way to a 27-year disabled military veteran at a town hall meeting.
The verbal exchange between the veteran and the Congressman was aired and written about on Friday by Rush Limbaugh, the Weekly Standard, and Hot Air, and provided another black eye on the 8th Congressional District, showing a congressman who appears to be out of touch with the military members who live there. Despite Moran’s lack of decorum, his constituents have continued to re-elect him for the past 20 years.
The 4:54-minute video that has caught the attention of America begins with the military veteran standing up at the town hall meeting to ask a question (excerpted):
And yet, here we are in the eleventh hour…and the troops are not going to get paid…There are troops that are barely making enough money…[with] their spouses deployed and that’s going to cause an extreme hardship. So, I don’t understand why every person in Congress is not in Congress tonight,” to applause from the crowd.
Moran answered, “I will respond. And, if you served your country in the military for 27 years, I thank you for that service, sir.” There was applause from the audience.
It seemed rather insulting for him to qualify his gratitude for the gentleman’s military service by noting that “if” he had served, he thanked him.
Moran continued by talking about the rules of Congress, and then he accused the questioner of making “caustic” comments and when the commenter objected by saying he took exception to having his comments called caustic, Moran shot back, telling him he had his chance to talk so now he could “sit down” or “leave.”
It’s an interesting exchange between a United States Congressman and a constituent, but it’s not the first time Moran has demeaned the military. During last year’s 8th District campaign, there were several occasions when he was disrespectful to his opponent’s military service.
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air actually answered the questions asked by the veteran as far as Congress being not being in session Thursday night and then went on to say:
That’s the part that is being buried in all the budget talk bruhaha, but it’s a predictable spin job by Democrats and a left-leaning media. The concern is whether Republicans will be able to forge through the land mines of liberal hypocrisy.
