Mean Jean Complains that She's the Victim

Even less becoming than her comments on the House floor last Friday, are Jean Schmidt's protests that she is the one who has been victimized. The Washington Post describes her first comments since she incited a firestorm by flinging the word "coward" at decorated war veteran John Murtha:

Judging by her words yesterday -- the first after avoiding the public for three days -- Schmidt doesn't understand what the fuss is about, and sees herself more as victim than villain. "I am amazed at what a national story this has become," she said in a statement. "I have been attacked very personally, continuously since Friday evening."

Complaints of victimization are particularly puzzling coming from members of our country's ruling party. After five years in power, conservatives continue to display a capacity for complaint that seems at odds with the power they wield. This is what Schmidt said last Friday:

"A few minutes ago, I received a call from Colonel Danny Bubp. 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."

Colonel Bubp, a Republican member of the Ohio state legislature, said in the Cincinatti Enquirer that he never mentioned Murtha by name:

WASHINGTON - Three days after Rep. Jean Schmidt was booed off the House floor for saying that "cowards cut and run, Marines never do," the Ohioan she quoted disputed the comments.
Danny Bubp, a freshman state representative who is a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve, told The Enquirer that he never mentioned Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., by name when talking with Schmidt, and he would never call a fellow Marine a coward.

For her part, Schmidt claims that she didn't realize that Murtha, a 31 year veteran of Korea and Vietnam, had served in uniform:

"I wrote down what he was saying," she said in the interview. "He did ask me to send a message to Congress, and he also said send a message to 'that congressman.' He did not know that congressman's name, but I did. Neither one of us knew he was a Marine."

Honestly? Is there an article anywhere from last week that didn't mention Murtha's war record? If so, I haven't found it.

(Photo: The Cincinatti Enquirer)