Sunday, August 13, 2006

Was Juan Garcia a Jet Pilot or a Swift Boat Commander?

Gene Seaman, the Republican incumbent Texas HR district 32 representative, said Juan Garcia, naval aviator, is not a jet pilot. My response to Gene Seaman is just this:

So What!

No one ever said he was.

Oh, I see, Clean Gene is addressing the fact that he is pictured, on his campaign website, giving a smooch to his wife with a jet in the background. Well, actually he said this:

"He is not a fighter pilot even though he takes his picture behind a jet."
Does that statement even make sense? In the photo, which is also part of the background on his campaign website, Juan is laying a rather huge smacker-oo on his wife, Denise. You don't see him holding a camera. But somehow he took a picture behind a jet. I've seen that picture Gene, and it looks like Juan and Denise are beside a jet. Gene, it is pretty foolhardy to position yourself behind a jet.

So let me autocorrect for you.

Juan Garcia posted a picture of himself kissing his wife and there was a jet in the background.

Implying what?

That he flies that jet? Folks, I have a picture of myself standing in front of the USS Constitution. Does that picture imply that I am the ship's captain?

On his campaign website, Gene Seaman has a picture of himself standing in front of a military version of what looks like a Piper Cub. Is that the plane that you flew during your term of military service, Gene? A Piper Cub? Is that why you think that Juan Garcia is falsely claiming that he flew jets? Because you had a picture taken of you standing in front of your plane?

By the way, nice job in your choice of military service to your country. You and The Prez, have something in common. You joined the National Guard during the Korean War and had fun not going overseas. Dubya joined the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, and had fun doing the same thing.

Obviously Seaman is taking Bob Perry's money, and a page from his Swift Boat Campaign strategy, and trying to besmirch the military record of an accomplished P-3 Orion driver. You think that flying a propeller driven plane isn't as sexy as flying a jet? Consider this Gene:

Propeller driven planes are slower than jets. They make easier targets.
Juan Garcia, naval aviator, flew one of these flying targets. Used in a variety of missions, it can be a tool in anti-submarine warfare as well as gatherer of battlefield intelligence. P-3 Orions not only carry weaponry, they carry equipment to gather very valuable battlefield intelligence:
"The Harpoon Stand-Off Land Attack Missile (SLAM) launched from the P-3C Orion aircraft provides commanders with the ability to immediately deploy a long range responsive platform that can remain on-station for extended periods of time,
retask targets in flight, and deliver up to four over-the-horizon precision weapons in minutes. The same aircraft can then remain on station and continue to target other platforms' missiles by the use of its Electro-Optical, Rapid Targeting System (RTS) and real time data link capabilities."
The Piper Cub, I hear, has an unique ability to drop spitwads on the elusive enemy.

Gene Seaman, you're an idiot.

Anyone who doesn't see through this weak attempt to besmirch the war record of Gulf War and Balkan War veteran Juan Garcia, is likewise, an idiot.



Treat yourself to Juan Garcia's video. It was released last month. I just get all weepy and proud every time I watch it.

And by the way, you can send a message to Clean Gene Seaman by contributing to the Juan Garcia campaign through TexRoots. Click on the icon on the left and leave a few bucks off. Shane Sklar and Hank Gilbert also need support.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually, Juan Garcia DID fly fighter jets. His campaign manager, Marc Duchin, told me yesterday that Juan's current assignment is as a teacher. As a teacher, he flies the student planes - p-30s. However, in other assignments he did fly fighter planes including the Tom Cat which was featured in the movie Top Gun.

Gene Seaman is wrong on all counts. Including the points that you have made.

Meg

Hal said...

I stand corrected.

Anonymous said...

There used to be a code of honor among veterans that you took each other's word for claims of service records, unless someone was obviously making false claims for personal advantage, which insulted all veterans. You were also expected to tell the truth yourself so as not to digrace other Veterans.

Chris Matthews was interviewing Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune on TV and made the mistake of calling Page "a Vietnam Veteran." Page immediately corrected him, "Vietnam ERA Veteran." That's the code of honor in action.

Anonymous said...

I flew with Juan Garcia in his first squadron. We were junior officers on the same aircrew, and flew MANY hours in P-3s together. That airplane he is standing in front of while kissing his wife is NOT a jet at all, it is a P-3, which is driven by turboprop engines. He most likely just got done flying that airplane back from a deployment - as I've seen similar pictures from many of my friends.

It was most likely mistaken, by those not familiar with the P-3, as a jet because from the angle the picture is taken, it looks like a jet. The openings at the back of the wings are the exhaust for the P-3's Alison T-56 engines, which use a jet engine to drive a propellor shaft. If the picture had a wider angle, you'd also see the propellers.

How stupid of any opponent to think Juan, a distinguished naval officer and accomplished lawyer, would misrepresent himself! Mud in your face, Gene!