Are Environmentalist Veterans A Bunch Of Traitors?

By Ken Kupchik Air America

A group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans working to create public awareness of the dangers of global warming were called traitors by a Pennsylvania state lawmaker who compared them to Benedict Arnold. He stopped short of calling the ozone layer a terrorist group.

Republican State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe sent out an e-mail harshly criticizing a group of veterans working under the name Operation Free. The coalition of soldiers is on a 21-state bus tour alerting the public about global warming, and the implications to United States national security.

Metcalfe predictably ended the e-mail with a favorite quote from chanting angry mobs in last year’s presidential election.

"As a veteran, I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took to defend the Constitution of our great nation! Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda. Drill Baby Drill!"

Metcalfe stood by his statements after he was questioned by normal people, and went so far as to reiterate that “if the type of policies that an individual promotes undermines the Constitution and the law of the land in our country, then they are not patriots.”

What Metcalfe fails to mention: the national security risks that Operation Free is warning folks about, such as the potential of global warming to aggravate those nagging "social issues" like poverty and class tension–not to mention the fact that ineffectual leadership leads to weaker political institutions, which in turn threaten national security.

Metcalfe’s positions on other issues strongly mirror those of many far-right radio talk show hosts. He has refused to support Domestic Violence Awareness month because there was a reference to domestic abuse suffered by men, which Metcalfe considered part of a “homosexual agenda.” He even opposed to vote to honor Muslim groups in his state, because “Muslims don’t recognize Jesus Christ as God.”

We sometimes wonder how long it will take before some Republicans start arguing with the basic tenets of biology and evolution. Oh…

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