Well, it was only a matter of time. Rick Noriega, who honorably served our nation in Afghanistan, and is running against Bush-crony Senator John Cornyn, has the Republican Party of Texas trying to cast doubt on his service.
In a letter to Rick's campaign (PDF), the party asked him to sign a waiver to release all of his military records to them. It was a petty political move. A full release of records would include the names and personal information of a number of other people who want no part of a political campaign, a number of things that may compromise security, and Rick's own personal information (like social security number, etc). They knew he couldn't and wouldn't sign their waiver, and any JAG would tell him that he shouldn't. So, what we're left with is a political stunt - when he rejected their request, they could start with, "What is Rick Noriega hiding about his military record?" The Swift Boating would be on.
Rick is standing up to this, forcefully, and you should join him in slamming this slash and burn campaigning that the Texas GOP wants to engage in. Click here to join Rick's petition.
As he explains in post at VetVoice.com , Rick will release all of the records he is allowed to release, to all the people of Texas. There's a lot to be proud of in his record, and I think it will help for the people of Texas to examine it and see what a patriot he is. But, today, Rick Noriega put his foot down and refused to be bullied by political hacks who want to smear one of our great veterans, in favor of a guy who never served a day in his life, like John Cornyn.
Stand up for Rick, and for all the veterans who have answered the call of their nation again, by running for public office.