TX : GOP Congressman Calls for Nuking Syria (WTF?????)

[rainbow4321]

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/01/1520234

In Washington, Republican Congressman Sam Johnson of Texas has recommended to President Bush that the U.S. consider attacking Syria with nuclear weapons. Johnson recently told a church gathering, "Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."


http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/005024.html


Apparently, the gentleman from the third Congressional District thinks we should nuke Syria, and that he himself is the man for the job.

Now we know where Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) thinks the weapons of mass destruction are buried: in Syria, which he said he’d like to nuke to smithereens.

Speaking at a veterans’ celebration at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas, on Feb. 19, Johnson told the crowd that he explained his theory to President Bush and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) on the porch of the White House one night.

Johnson said he told the president that night, “Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on ‘em and I’ll make one pass. We won’t have to worry about Syria anymore.”

[mattclearing]

1. Yeah. Anyone who advocates for the use of nuclear weapons on people

is a horrible person and deserves neither votes, nor attention, nor sympathy.

Let's make him own this statement next election.

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Deserves to go up before the ICC, you mean!

[mattclearing]

9. No...that would be someone who USES nuclear weapons on people.

Sorry Truman.

That said, advocating for it is free speech. Horrifically awful speech, but protected speech nonetheless.

I defend his right to say it, but I also hope we make him regret it.

[rainbow4321]

12. Nuthin' like a nice lil' TX church git- together, huh?

Smack in the middle of deep red repuke Collin County...UGH, I hate this fucking county.
I'm also sending this to the TX forum so people in the area he reps can have a little word/email w/ him.

[tanyev]

13. I sent an email to the church yesterday

expressing my profound disappointment. (It's just down the street from me.) No reply yet.

[rainbow4321]

15. Here is his contact info...

DISTRICT OFFICE:
2929 North Central Expressway
Suite 240
Richardson, Texas 75080
tel-[phone]
fax-[phone]

WASHINGTON OFFICE:
1211 Longworth House Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20515
[phone]

http://www.samjohnson.house.gov/Contact/

[Skittles]

23. yup, I'm here with you rainbow

Collin County sucks the big one

[gcole]

21. Johnson is my congressman. Yippie-ta-ya-f'ing-yay!!!

I just love it here in Plano...basking the the glow of the reddest county in Texas.

Memo to self: GET OUT!!!!

[rainbow4321]

33. Dallas Whoring News now has an article about his comment...

Wow...I'm surprised the rightwing rag even acknowleged the problem.


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/030405dnnatjohnson.191a9.html

Still, some of Rep. Sam Johnson's constituents apparently were surprised when the Plano Republican said he'd like to take care of the problem – by personally dropping a couple of nuclear bombs.

Someone was offended enough to play a recording of the Feb. 19 remarks for Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper that first reported them this week. Mr. Johnson said he's "absolutely" surprised that anyone took it seriously, adding that he's never advocated a nuclear attack on Syria.

He told the folks in Allen that he had shared his plan with President Bush and Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, during a recent White House visit. "President Bush knew I was joking," he said Thursday

"I was kind of joking. You know. We were talking between veterans," said Mr. Johnson, an Air Force fighter pilot in Korea and Vietnam, where he spent 7 ½ years as a prisoner of war. "We were swapping sea stories – things that we'd done in the military."

[tanyev]

34. Great!

It's one thing for Joe Freeper to pop off something stupid like that, but an elected official, who actually has the power to give a vote of approval on dropping a bomb, needs to held accountable for saying such ridiculous things.

Thanks to the internet, they're getting away with it less and less!

[Horse with no Name]

37. Sooooo if they were sharing about what they did in the

military, I wonder if he took any of shrubs comments seriously about doing drugs and going awol?
Seriously, what kind of "sea" stories does * have to tell and I have to tell you that I seriously take offense about * being classified as a veteran.
He was an awol drunk junkie.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
I wish real veterans would rise up to this type of nonsense.

[patrice]

2. God help us! n/t

[EFerrari]

3. Wait -- I thought they were in deep tunnels in Iran?

Calling Dr. Strangelove.

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Maybe he is angling for a Cabinet position

[BlueEyedSon]

7. Ooooh, you're good.

[MidwestTransplant]

29. Thanks!

[Stand and Fight]

5. Keep this kicked!

I have got to read this later... Man, POW or not, this guy is bat-shit fucking nuts!

[Wright Patman]

10. Typical suburban GOP

congresscritter in Texas. And he is no more insane than McCain, a fellow inmate of the Hanoi Hilton.

If you walked his district, you would find that he just gained five percentage points in the polls, at least. He knows exactly what he's doing. I understand a lot of his constituents have lost their jobs in the telecom bust, so they want revenge on ... A-rabs.

See, the A-rabs had lots of money to keep the dot com bubble inflated, but noooo ... they just let it crash on us and now all the high-tech jobs are gone. Damn Mooze-lums.

[rainbow4321]

14. Jobs gone, house foreclosures up in his area

Much, much easier for him to do a let's-go-bomb speech than it is for him to address the problems in his own back yard..gee, who does THAT sound like..he's learned well from chimp.
Irony of it is, his county/area raked in a shitload of $$ and business during the 90's w/ a Dem WH. Once the repuke regime started, the county went bust. So it's no shock that he is going around locally banging the war drums...gotta keep chimp's diversion, you know.

[cecilia]

44. Jobs vs. war

From the very beginning I knew that Bush wouldnt/couldnt create any jobs. In fact, they may have created a slow economy..well they DID..by doing what-ever they did to the twin towers......soooooooo..

It has been the intention to run the military as the main job for young men with little education. And it worked so well...for Bush's propaganda. Dan Rather stopping every night to tell the story of another "Fallen Hero".. THEY DIDNT STUMBLE ON A ROCK>>>THEY ARE DEAD!! At 20, 22 years of age. And they arent "heroes", either.

They just needed the money....
They went to a country that is totally destroyed and they got killed.

That isn't "heroic". So this idiot is just following the one in the White House...Do you know, he may have said that deliberately...in a very public place. They know what they are doing. How does that sound to a southern redneck, who hates the world, especially people of color....that sounds pretty good to some ol boys. Its all in preparation for the attack on Iran. Getting people used to the idea that the Iranians 'deserve' it....

WE REALLY NEED A BRIGHT GROUP TO DO INDEPENDENT PROPAGANDA......
and beam it to areas of Texas, Arkansas, ect.
You could play great progressive Country music and give real solid advice about how these politicians are smiling and joking while sending young men to die! I wonder how much it would cost to set up an indie radio station!!

PLEASE BE THERE ON THE 19TH WORLD WIDE DEMONSTRATION..
Ghandi: "nonviolence is stronger anyday than any army!"
And bring, at least, fifty friends with you!

Cecilia
www.fromheretoiraq.com

[atommom]

8. Good ol' Cowboy Democracy in action!

The scary thing is that Bush may well reward him for statements like that. Maybe he'll even get a nickname.

[RedstDem]

11. Wish We Could Drop Him Over Syria !

F*king Wack Job

[rainbow4321]

18. His excuse for the comment....

Yeah, sure...I'm thinking more along the lines that it's a glimpse of chimp's regime trying to drum up support from their base on a local level for the next move---invading Syria.



http://polemic.enduphere.com/?p=720


Johnson’s chief of staff, Cody Lusk, told HOH to keep in mind that the Congressman was a fighter pilot in Korea and Vietnam. And he was a POW for seven-and-a-half years. “Once a fighter pilot, always a fighter pilot,” Lusk said.

He added that, the Congressman??s comments aside, Johnson “obviously does not believe” that nuking Syria is the answer to eliminating weapons of mass destruction. “He was just speaking to a crowd of veterans,” Lusk said.

[quaoar]

16. That's right! Hot damn, let's nuke em till they glow

And then we can give the place to Israel and we can pump Iraqi oil directly to Israel.

What a great idea!

[DemoTex]

17. "I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass .."

Sam Johnson is trading on his POW-hero status as a 7+ year guest in the Hanoi Hilton after his shoot-down in an F-4 in 1966. But his is a fairly typical fighter pilot mentality. We called it the "one pass, haul ass" attitude. In other words, unless they get shot down and caught they never have to deal with the consequences of their actions. I guess some of these blood-thirsty hawks (McCain included, especially since his support of Gonzalez for AG) never learned that when you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8).

I'm sorry Johnson got shot down and spent all that time in a North Vietnamese POW camp. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But assholes like "Duke" Cunningham, John McCain, Jeremiah Denton , and Sam Johnson are way to crazy for public office.

[FreedomAngel82]

26. Shouldn't people like him

know about war more then anything? Sad these people wanna just go nuke people. :(

[Skittles]

27. do you ever think about it, Mac?

the consequences? You're such a good guy. I'm reminded of that MASH episode where the pilot had that mentality - until he saw Hawkeye operating on a little girl injured in a bombing raid. The pilot asked whose side did it and Hawkeye said it didn't matter; the pilot says IT DOES TO ME and Hawkey said NOT TO HER. The pilot broke down and Hawkeye told him he thought the pilot was a good guy - too good to go on believing there was any such thing as a "clean war".

[Kitsune]

19. Damascus being eradicated is one of the conditions for the Rapture, right?

I'm not exactly up on my eschatological lore but I seem to recall that Damascus has to cease to be before the end of the world can kick off.

Am I talking out my ass or what?

[Rainscents]

20. OMG... WTF???

This guy is insane!!!:nuke:

[TexasLawyer]

22. He should either make clear that it was a very un-funny joke

and beg for the world's apology, or he should resign.

[FreedomAngel82]

24. And here I thought

those WMD's were in Baghdad and Rumsfeld knew exactly that. :eyes: And he's preaching war in a CHURCH?! Ugh. Disgusting.

[nickgutierrez]

25. Give an idiot a big enough gun, and he thinks he rules the world... n/t

[gcole]

28. Yep, that's our Sam. Same Sam who called Kerry "Hanoi John"

Called Kerry "Hanoi John" on the floor of the house last year.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040422-110723-4274r.htm

Whadda guy!!!

[cecilia]

43. Nuking Iran (surreeee..big talk..lets send him to Iraq!)

For a brief moment I thought I might spend the time composing a letter which he would not forget.

But you know what he'd would probably do with it!!!
He's a crude pig. What kind of people elected him?
Or was his office just bought?

Please spead the news...to all. I dont know how to post a general message..Im not allowed yet..on probationary status.

PLEASESSSSSSSS tell everyone to COUNT on being somewhere BIG on March 19th. Civil disobedience is our right! Its our duty!
It should be a day of great fun!
Im sure there will be more later.

from Cecilia at www.fromheretoiraq.com
need comments over there too! Will be updated on March 19th tomorrow about 6:30 Pacific Time. take a look.
Cecilia

[McCamy Taylor]

30. WTF?

[DARE to HOPE]

31. See what Howard Dean is saying?

This is TOTALLY EVIL.

[tanyev]

32. Update: received a reply from the church

My email:

I just read this account of Sam Johnson's appearance at your church to speak to a veteran's group and it disturbs me greatly.

Speaking at a veterans' celebration at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen, Texas, on Feb. 19, Johnson told the crowd that he explained his theory to President Bush and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) on the porch of the White House one night.

Johnson said he told the president that night, "Syria is the problem. Syria is where those weapons of mass destruction are, in my view. You know, I can fly an F-15, put two nukes on 'em and I'll make one pass. We won't have to worry about Syria anymore."

The crowd roared with applause.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/003628.html

I completely agree with the person who wrote this commentary. It's hard to say what's more disturbing: that Rep. Johnson said such a thing, that he said it in a church, or that the crowd roared with applause.

I live just down the street from your church. I watched with interest as you built your lovely new building. I very nearly applied for the part time music position you posted on the Chorister's Guild website, but I hesitated because I have been a lifelong Lutheran and I really want to find a music job at a Lutheran church. Now I'm glad I did not, because I don't think I could be a part of a congregation that has such a cavalier attitude toward dropping nuclear bombs.

What Would Jesus Do? I don't think he would drop a nuclear bomb on any country. And I think he is very saddened by this kind of cowboy rhetoric that does nothing to help us solve the problems of hatred and prejudice in this world.

Sincerely,
tanyev


Rev. Baskin-Ball's response:

In response to the article that appeared in Roll Call concerning the Veteran's Celebration that was held at Suncreek UMC: the event occurred on a Saturday morning and not during worship hours; the event was a community wide ceremony that was attended predominantly by veterans from the area; the Senior Pastor, Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball did have an opportunity for closing remarks, a portion which is printed below.

"It is the Apostle Paul who says that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope -- hope in the Lord. And so as I listen to these stories of suffering, in particular, I know that in the midst of it all is the hope that God gives us that one day we're going to know peace. It was Ms. Charlotte (the oldest veteran present at the event) who said to me this morning, "just pray, Kathleen, that some day we'll stop killing each other." I believe that that is God's will, and that some day the killing will stop -- and so as all of us work for peace in military service, and in our church life, and in our faithful lives, may we hold out on the knowledge that one day peace will reign."

It is the prayer of Suncreek UMC that we will learn to live together in peace and that unity will bless our global life in shared love.

It appears to be a blanket response. I wonder if they've gotten a lot of complaints?

[sniffa]

35. this guy's an idiot

the WMD's are in Lebanon.

shouLdn't this be a statement brings him down?

[Bridget Burke]

36. I wonder what his Muslim constituents think about him?

Two Muslim/Islamic Associations have Plano addresses in this list of Texas Mosques.

www.psntonline.com/Mosques.htm

Some may not yet be citizens, but others have no doubt been naturalized. And an increasing number are native-born Texans.

I don't know any Syrians (down here in Houston) but do know some Iranians. They have no love for the current regime back home. But they still have family there & fear a US invasion.

[paineinthearse]

38. Remarks were made at official church event with sr. pastor present

"Nuke Syria" was invoked at an official church event attended by the senior pastor. See details at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x15068

[dhinojosa]

39. Hey what was the name of the cowboy in Dr. Strangelove?

Didn't it sound something like Sam Johnson?

[dhinojosa]

40. Oh nevermind...I was way off.

Maj. T.J. 'King' Kong

[Zhade]

41. KICK

KICK

[calimary]

42. Hmmm... sounds like someone's overcompensating...

What's the matter, Mr. Johnson? Something a little - uh - lacking about your "mr. Johnson?" Maybe he had a fight with his wife the night before, and she won.

[eiba]

45. a voice from Syria

I am sorry to hear that. We ( in Syria) don’t share this fanatic his view (ie . we don’t wish any one to bomb the
I am wondering what kind of person is he, I have never heared any one in the churches or streets of Syria wants to bomb the US
I think that you have democracy in your country, I think you can vote to kick him out

[tanyev]

46. Hi, eiba!

Welcome to DU! :hi: