Fred Thompson has joined the battle over Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" remarks with this blog entry. Here's Thompson:
Congressional Democrats are trying to divert attention from insulting our military leader in Iraq and pandering to the loony left by attacking Rush Limbaugh. He is one of the strongest supporters of our troops, yet Democrats claim he is not being strong enough. I wonder who General Petraeus and his troops think is most supportive?
By my count, Thompson is the third GOP presidential candidate to wade into the controversy. The first was John McCain, who had this reaction to Limbaugh:
Any American who risks his or her life to defend us has earned the respect and gratitude of every American citizen, irrespective of their views on this war. If Mr. Limbaugh made the remark he is reported to have made, it reflects very poorly on him and not the objects of his offensive comment. I expect most Americans, whatever their political views, will have the same reaction. He would be well advised to retract it and apologize.
Note the clause in bold: If Limbaugh really was saying that any soldier or veteran who is a critic of the war or the administration is a "phony soldier," then McCain is right and Limbaugh was out of line. Except that doesn't appear to have been what Limbaugh was saying at all. If you read the transcript, it's clear Limbaugh is suggesting that some soldiers and veterans who are critics of the war or the administration have been exposed as phonies. That's an important distinction--a distinction which shows that Limbaugh's comments were not out of line.