Yesterday, during the House debate over whether to immediately withdraw from Iraq (which though billed as the "Murtha amendment" was notably not), Republicans offered an indication of their true feelings about the American military and its veterans.

The topic of the debate, and the short shrift it was given, were themselves indicative of the callousness with which the GOP treats the military. If Republicans actually wanted to shut down the real Murtha amendment, they would have held extended hearings featuring military experts and scheduled sufficient debate on the House floor to explain why its necessary to continue the war indefinitely. Instead, they offered minimal debate over a sham of a bill in an effort to reap short term partisan gain rather than improve American policy towards Iraq.

Just as Republicans' true motives about Iraq came to the fore yesterday, so too did the Republicans' real feelings about veterans. And no one better exemplified the malevolence that certain elements of the GOP has for veterans of the military than the most junior member of the House, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH).

In the waning moments of the House debate yesterday, Schmidt reprised some of the tactics she used this summer in her special election against Paul Hackett. Think Progress has both the transcript and video of her comments, which were later withdrawn from the record.

Yesterday I stood at Arlington National Cemetery attending the funeral of a young marine in my district. He believed in what we were doing is the right thing and had the courage to lay his life on the line to do it. A few minutes ago I received a call from Colonel Danny Bubp, Ohio Representative from the 88th district in the House of Representatives. He asked me to send Congress a message: Stay the course. He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do. Danny and the rest of America and the world want the assurance from this body - that we will see this through. [emphasis original]While some Republicans are willing to call a decorated Marine veteran like John Murtha a "coward," the Democrats have a different idea of how veterans should be treated: supporting their runs for Congress.

From today's House Race Hotline: "DCCC Exec Dir. John Lapp, in a chat 11/17, lists all the declared Dem candidates who are military veterans. They are:

Chris Carney (PA 10): LtComm in the U.S. Naval Reserve; from '03 to 8/04, served as Special Advisor to the Ass't Sec/Def for Special Ops; activated for Operation Enduring Freedom and Noble Eagle
Andrew Duck (MD 06): Intel. Liaison Officer and Intel Staff Officer in Iraq; one of 17 children
Tim Dunn (NC 08): in U.S. Marine Corps Reserves; in '95, established his own law firm
Jay Fawcett (CO 05): Awarded Bronze Star after serving in first Gulf War
Steve Filson (CA 11): retired from Navy in '94
David Harris (TX 06): Deployed to Iraq in 2/03, spending 14 months there as a Logistics Officer. Now Ass't Prof. of Military Science at UT-Arlington.
Bryan Lentz (PA 07): commanded a civil affairs unit in Iraq responsible for reconstruction in Mosul
Eric Massa (NY 29): Served in Desert Storm, and as Spec. Ass't to Gen. Wesley Clark, served as staff on Armed Services Cmte.
Patrick Murphy (PA 08): Served in Iraq, awarded Bronze Star in 2/04
Joe Sulzer (OH 18): Vietnam veteran, and later mayor of Chillicothe, OH
Tim Walz (MN 01): A Command Sergeant; served overseas in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom
Mike Weaver (KY 02): Joined Navy at age of 17, served for 4 years

Already, 12 veterans have chosen to run for Congress on the Democratic ticket, not to mention the vast number of incumbent House members who defended their country in the military prior to their service in Congress. What's more, the party is trumpeting each of these candidates, regardless of their position towards the Iraq War. What a contrast to the Republicans' treatment of veterans.