Breaking AP: Dan Gordon military records show no Iraq service, no Purple Heart

According to an AP wire story that just moved, "Military service records for a Rhode Island lawmaker who has blamed a string of legal troubles on combat stress he suffered in the 1991 Gulf War indicate he never served in the Middle East." Go read the story.

Comments

There is no pleasure for me in seeing this particular tea-party republican bite the dust, even though I probably vigorously disagreed with nearly all of his opinions. I feel sad for those who voted for him and sad for those constituents (like me) who didn't. I feel sad for him too; there is no pleasure for me in seeing a person so obviously suffering and dysfunctional.

In a case like this I am more unhappy with those who endorsed his candidacy than I am with the candidate himself. I am also sad because the subject of "they should be doing a better job vetting candidates" is frankly not a new or partisan issue. Sadly, for an eternity, it has not been easy for any party to get enough qualified candidates to fill the available slates, and too many times any "warm body" willing to run for office has been able to slide onto the slate.

If I have any reason to not be sad it is a little spark of hope that this incident might encourage all parties to, at least next time, be a little more investigative in their vetting of candidates.