Hodes gets hammered back home
By Liz Mair, Section News
Well, well, well. Usually when we're hammering New Hampshire Democrats at this site, the focus tends to fall on loony Carol Shea-Porter. But this weekend, the Union Leader is reporting that Paul Hodes has got himself in a spot of bother. Money quotes from the Leader, re: a Paul Hodes meeting with some constituents:
Family members of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan poured out their anger and frustration at U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes yesterday... One woman stormed out of the session; several questioned Hodes' commitment to the troops while supporting a troop pullout deadline...[...] Sue Peterson of Weare, whose son Alex is a member of the 3643rd Security Force in the Army National Guard now in Iraq, said mixing money for the war with farm and other products was a disservice to the troops. "I am so outraged and I'm trying to be calm listening to everybody," she said. But lumping everything into one bill was to "compare Alex and all the other soldiers to milk, peanuts, fish and spinach."[...] (more below the fold)
When Hodes started talking about military health-care facilities, Robert Hodges of Wolfeboro interrupted. "Don't try to divert us to another area," he said, telling Hodes he had two sons serving in Iraq, Andrew and Danny, the latter suffering a concussion while serving with the 94th Military Police. "To have you people pull the rug from under them is unconscionable," he said.[...]
Gail Giarrusso, whose nephew served two tours in Iraq, wants Congress to unite behind the troops. "While they're serving this nation in harm's way 24-7, you get to take vacations," the Stratham woman said. "You should be in Washington until this is resolved, until they have the support that they deserve while they're at war. You should not be paid until this is resolved." [...] Nearing the end of the session, Hodes looked to get in a few sentences. "I've let you folks shout at me for nearly an hour," he said. Nice!
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