Re last night’s debate a buddy and NRO fan who has served much time in the Middle East over the last decade emailed: “Edwards just said rich pay less taxes than those fighting in Iraq. Those fighting in Iraq pay NO Income Taxes.” I’ll assume this is the case. If so, add another claim to the distortion file.
And by the way, why the heck did Edwards call the murderers of U.S. soldiers “insurgents”? I know others have, and that it’s the media’s favorite term for our enemies, but here’s the word’s primary definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law: “a person who rises in revolt against civil authority or an established government; especially: one not recognized as a belligerent.” In other words, some minding-his-own-business citizen who gets so provoked/outraged by the government that he gets martial. “Insurgent” implies some degree of innocence, and provocation. It also implies that those insurged against (excuse my verb-ifying the word) deserve what they get. Would it kill the man who wants to be VEEP to refer to those who are killing U.S. soldiers, and murdering innocent people, on the streets of Iraq as “terrorist scum.” I’ll settle for just “terrorists.”