0 Rep. Joe Walsh's Top 10 Most Awful, Horrible Attacks

Rep. Joe Walsh's Top 10 Most Awful, Horrible Attacks

By Alison McQuade on

September 11, 2012

Campaign rhetoric can be feisty. But when a member of the U.S. House of Representatives – like Joe Walsh - makes personal attacks on his opponent or other public figures, it’s inexcusable. His attacks have been baseless, vile, and completely unrelated to issues in the campaign. Rep. Joe Walsh does not have the content or character or someone who should be representing the people of Illinois – or anyone in the United States.
Here’s a look at some of his most objectionable and recent attacks.

1. Sandra Fluke has already been called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh for advocating for comprehensive health care on behalf of women and families. After she spoke at the DNC, Walsh commented, "Think about this, a 31-32 year old law student who has been a student for life, who gets up there in front of a national audience and tells the American people, 'I want America to pay for my contraceptives,'" Walsh told the crowd. "You're kidding me. Go get a job. Go get a job Sandra Fluke."
2. Joe Walsh’s opponent is war hero and wounded veteran, Tammy Duckworth. Walsh couldn’t have been more dismissive or insulting to Tammy’s service to this country, “What else has she done? Female, wounded veteran. ehhh." Eh? Losing both your legs while serving in the military deserves our respect, not Walsh’s grunts.
3. When Joe Walsh can’t argue on the issues, he resorts to insulting Tammy. In attempting to dismiss her service record again, Walsh claims she is not a “true hero.” He says, "Now I'm running against a woman who, I mean, my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes - the men and women who served us - it's the last thing in the world they talk about." It can’t be said enough that veterans deserve our respect and gratitude – both of which Walsh sorely lacks.
4. Realizing many consider Tammy’s service record an asset, Walsh tries to undermine and distract voters from the real issues and his extreme voting record. He comments (again) on her military background, "I do believe she talks about her service too much."
5. Joe Walsh voted for Paul Ryan’s budget, which would end Medicare as we know it. When Tammy Duckworth called him out on that, Walsh turned the table and employed the usual Republican misleading scare tactics, "Oh, Holy Cow, I would much rather be standing with a plan than with a president who has ignored Medicare. If you're going to continue down this road as the president is and say, 'I'm just going to ignore Medicare,' you, my dear, are ending it as we know it. And that is so wrong." Not to mention the sexist and patronizing “my dear” comment.
6. Joe Walsh makes clear that he is in favor of allowing employers to decide the type of health care a woman can receive. "This is a slap in the face of every U.S. employer and religious institution. Forcing religious organizations to provide birth control to their employees is un-American and unacceptable."
7. Joe Walsh turns a medical and economic issue for women and families into a religious cause. "This is not about women. This is not about contraceptives. This is about religious freedom." A woman’s health care decisions should be made by the woman and her doctor – not a religious institution, her employer, someone else’s moral, or a member of Congress.
8. Joe Walsh says the 14-15 million people without health insurance is “not a huge number” and thinks young people “don’t need it.” 14-15 million people would be like the entire population of Walsh’s home state of Illinois not having insurance – and then some. But, no, that’s “not a huge number.” Walsh’s complete disregard of the millions of Americans without health insurance - and young people who would like to stay healthy – shows that he isn’t in this to represent all the people, just a small number of them.
9. Ok, this one isn’t as insulting as it is ridiculous. Joe Walsh’s campaign advice for Mitt Romney, “I wish Romney walked around every day in this campaign and said, 'you know what? I'm real successful. Hey you know what America? I'm a rich guy! In fact, you might call me wealthy. That's me, Mitt Romney.'" If you thought Mitt Romney was out of touch with America, Joe Walsh is even further out there.
10. Joe Walsh’s priorities are completely misguided and dangerous for women and families in America. His desire to repeal Obamacare, rather than focusing on issues that matter – jobs, economy, education – is staggering. "If I were the Speaker, starting last year, every month we would have voted to repeal ObamaCare. I would have pulled ObamaCare up on the floor of the House yesterday." We already know how much time Republicans in Congress waste waging their on the War on Women. Walsh just declared that he would add to it.

*BONUS PRESIDENTIAL SLAM*