Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Batshit Crazy) has gone off the deep end.

[Bunny]

Metcalfe defends harsh talk about vets on climate

<snip>
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican firebrand from Cranberry known for controversial remarks, yesterday refused to back down on comments in which he suggested a group of veterans were "traitors" for promoting a message about climate change.

The group, called Operation Free, was on the Pennsylvania leg of a 21-state bus tour when Mr. Metcalfe leveled the accusation in an e-mail. The veterans had invited him and other elected leaders to attend a visit to Pittsburgh that took place last night.

"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!" Mr. Metcalfe said in his e-mail response.

"Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda. Drill Baby Drill!!!"
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Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09294/1007086-113.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz0UZoSxBTQ

:eyes:

[JPZenger]

1. He was the only vote against spouse abuse bill

Recently, there was a bill to recognize a week to reduce spouse abuse. Metcalfe was the only person to vote against it, because he said it furthered "the homosexual agenda."

Source: Allentown Morning Call Capitol blog about a week ago

[livetohike]

2. Who elected this idiot?

And how can we get rid of him :shrug:.

[Bunny]

3. He's from Butler County, which is heavily Republican.

But even most of the Republicans that I know there think he's just good 'n crazy.

[Bunny]

4. Some great LTTE's in today's Post-Gazette regarding Metcalfe's comments.

Metcalfe's Remarks About Vets are Astounding

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's ignorance is astounding, his intolerance disturbing and embarrassing ("Metcalfe Defends Harsh Talk About Vets on Climate," Oct. 21).

I am a retired Naval officer and Gulf War veteran who lost a shipmate to terrorist bombing while stationed off the coast of Beirut in 1983. I took the same oath Mr. Metcalfe did to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." I also used to teach U.S. history and American government at the high school level before I joined the Navy.

Mr. Metcalfe seems to have missed the lesson that political opponents in our beloved democracy are not enemies, but rather members of a loyal opposition, always. That's what my Naval career was all about -- fighting to preserve such freedom for all of us. To impugn someone's integrity because you disagree with them (as Mr. Metcalfe has done to the vets associated with Operation Free) is what is un-American.

Since he holds office as a state representative, he should set a far better example for his constituents, both young and old.

LT. CMDR. MICHAEL SHEPPERD
U.S. Navy (Ret.)
Cranberry

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Resignation in Order

Ashamed. That is the one word that describes how state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe should feel about his comments suggesting that veterans who believe that climate change exists are somehow "traitors" ("Metcalfe Defends Harsh Talk About Vets on Climate," Oct. 21). Mr. Metcalfe owes it to all veterans to resign.

In addition to a resignation, a logical explanation is in order. He has given an explanation but it is hardly logical. I think most people would agree that if you want to compare service members, past and present, to American villains such as Benedict Arnold, you had better explain it well. Mr. Metcalfe has failed miserably in that effort.

One of the reasons I served in the Army (including a combat tour in Iraq) was to earn my right to have an opinion. While Mr. Metcalfe has done the same, he must be accountable for his words, and as a veteran, I believe the only way he can truly express his regret to his brothers and sisters in arms (many of whom have sacrificed much more than he has and whom he has labeled as "traitors") is by resigning his post.

JESSE SHAFFER
Shadyside


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Unworthy of Office

I have to say that Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has crossed the line ("Metcalfe Defends Harsh Talk About Vets on Climate," Oct. 21). I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy and the view that he expressed calling members of the U.S. armed forces traitors shows he is unworthy of a seat in public office.

I am not a constituent of his (fortunately), but if I were, I would fight with every breath to have a man like him unseated. To call a veteran whose opinion differs from his "a traitor" is a disgrace. From what I have read of his military record, he was a "paper" soldier. That fact does not surprise me.

But after his most recent comments, I looked into past votes and discovered that he also voted against an anti-domestic violence resolution because he was concerned that it might apply to homosexual couples. He is what is wrong with this country and state. He is an individual who bases his opinions on idiocy and a state representative who does not appreciate all of what this country is about -- freedom of religion, freedom of choice, freedom period.

God forbid the day that men like Mr. Metcalfe have actual power in this country. Down with bigotry!

DANIEL REARICK
Braddock Hills


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Earth to Metcalfe

To paraphrase Barney Frank, "What planet does Rep. Daryl Metcalfe live on?" How is it that the good citizens of Cranberry can send this clown to the state House? Who in the world does he represent?

His view that somehow talking about climate change as a national security issue is a leftist plot is so far outside the realm of reason that it would make rational people question his mental health ("Metcalfe Defends Harsh Talk About Vets on Climate," Oct. 21). To call war veterans who take the time to discuss the climate issue with the public "traitors" goes beyond words.

Climate change has been the subject of studies by planners in the Pentagon for years because it does represent a threat to national security. James Woolsey, former head of the CIA and certainly no leftist, has been speaking out that climate change will impact us all at the level of national and international security and stability. Apparently, Rep. Metcalfe gets all his information while wearing a tin foil hat and channeling Flat Earth Society broadcasts.

JOSEPH BUTE
Pine


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His Latest Fallacy

There's a section in logic textbooks in which Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's picture should appear. It's called "logical fallacies." When he took the logic course, Mr. Metcalfe evidently skated past chapters on valid reasoning and chose instead to focus on the use of emotional triggers to obscure fallacious reasoning. His latest fallacy: He called a group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans "traitors" because of their educational campaign linking energy policy, global warming and national security. The veterans expressed objection to Mr. Metcalfe's hateful tone. His conclusion? Because they objected to his name-calling, they are really traitors and their educational endeavor is really just "leftist propaganda."

Uh ... no, the veterans objected because his use of the term "traitor" is simply another example of his festering hatred of anything that doesn't match his warped worldview -- and because it has nothing to do with their educational campaign.

Although Mr. Metcalfe's scientific credentials have never been revealed, he stridently disagrees with the world's best scientific minds about the dangers of global warming. He's certainly allowed to take the uninformed view -- even in public. Yet he feels that his Army combat experience -- in Kansas -- earned him the right to call the Operation Free veterans "traitors." Wrong again, Mr. Metcalfe.

It's the Constitution that gives you the right to spew ignorant hate in public -- the same Constitution that allows intelligent patriots like those Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to work toward an America that's clean, free and safe, and in which, alas, even unpatriotic bigots can find their way into public office.

REID JOYCE
Middlesex


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Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09295/1007409-110.stm#ixzz0UfwyDCHp

[Number9Dream]

5. Those are excellent!

Metcalfe's opponent should try to get LT. CMDR. MICHAEL SHEPPERD, and other vets to do campaign commercials.

[Bunny]

6. Today's editorial in the P-G:

Metcalfe's Mouth: Now It's Veterans Who Are Targets of a Reckless Rep

<snip>
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe can't seem to help himself when it comes to embarrassing his long-suffering constituents in southern Butler County. Long known for intemperate comments that he sometimes has to provide "context" for later, Mr. Metcalfe has distinguished himself more as a gaffe machine than an effective leader.

Instead of insulting Muslims or homosexuals this time around, the Cranberry Republican had in his crosshairs a group of veterans who are traveling the country to raise awareness about climate change. During the Pennsylvania leg of a 21-state bus tour, Operation Free, a group composed of military veterans, invited Mr. Metcalfe, a fellow veteran, to meet with them.

His response: "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!"

Wait, there's more: "Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda. Drill Baby Drill!!!"

His stooping to quote Sarah Palin aside, one could argue that disagreeing with veterans -- or anybody -- on an issue debated in public is fair game. The problem with Mr. Metcalfe is that instead of engaging the substance of the topic, he said that a veteran holding the opposing view is a "traitor."
<snip>



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09296/1007662-192.stm#ixzz0UlJbeQRo

[livetohike]

7. "long suffering constituents" ...hopefully they will unseat him n/t