I have been remiss in my posting - my apologies. This past weekend was so exhausting that this is literally the first opportunity I have had to post anything of substance - it's a good one. All of the information provided comes from diarists at Daily Kos with perhaps a bit of my commentary - but the diarists deserve and will get all the credit.

Unless you live under a rock, you are familiar with Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha's call for a six-month plan to draw down troops in Iraq. Murtha, a centrist Democrat,a hawk, a veteran, a man who is widely known to have high-level contacts at the Pentagon and to regularly converse with those contacts, and a combat-decorated marine made his comments last week. To say the very least, his comments were and are problematic for the Bush Administration. His withdrawal of support is very, very visible and although no one is backing an "immediate pullout" (by-the-by, he didn't suggest an immediate pullout - amazing how quickly a message can become skewed), his comments have sparked a shitstorm in Washington on the already incendiary subject of the Iraq war, how we got there, and the mistakes that have been made. Repeatedly.

Again, unless you have been under a rock, you have also likely seen Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt's narrative of a letter she received, read on the floor of the House:

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.

Never mind how numbingly offensive these statements were, particularly coming from her... Never mind that John Murtha would be the last person anyone who is sane would accuse of being a coward... Never mind that Jean Schmidt barely won her seat in her heavily Republican district, having been challenged by Paul Hackett... Never mind all of that. mbw, a diariest at Daily Kos, wrote this diary entitled Who is Col. Danny Bubp?. Good question. Read on and find out.

First, Danny Bubp is an Ohio State representative, not coincidentally from within a district contained within Jean Schmidt's Congressional district. From the diary:

Danny Bubp, a West Union attorney facing retired educator Cy Richardson for the Ohio House of Representatives seat here, believes that's why he'll win.

Bubp, who grew up in Sardinia, calls the 88th district a "good Christian community" that's against abortion and same-sex marriage and protective of its right to bear arms.

"That's the kind of district I want to serve in," said Bubp, 50.

There's a picture circulating the internet, also in the diary, of Bubp standing with none other than Jean Schmidt receiving a "Ten Commandments Leadership Award" for his pro-bono work fighting the removal of the Ten Commandments from public grounds.

The diary also gives Col. Bubp's military record:

Military Service :

1978 - Commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps.

1978-Present - Continues to serve in United States Marine Corps Reserve as a Colonel of Marines.

1997-Present - Serves on the staff at the National Defense University, Washington, D.C. as Team Leader for the Reserve Component National Security Course.

2003 - Graduate of Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island.

2003 - Served on the J-3 Staff at United States Central Command, Tampa, Florida for General Tommy Franks in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

So there you have it. Hardly someone with the credentials to call a decorated war hero and combat veteran a "coward".

So that brings me to the call-to-action. Daily Kos diarist BostonJoe has a recommended diary up entitled Operation Yellow Feather. Go read the diary - but I'll net it out for you in a nutshell. BostonJoe has provided links to four PDF files, as follows:

• Lost Your Chicken Hawk Feather?
• The Chicken Hawk Unit Patch"
• The Classic Yellow Feather (Make sure to explain)
• The Ugly Chicken Hawk (Fill in the voice bubble)

What BostonJoe wants you to do is choose one f these and both fax (if possible) and mail one to both Jean Schmidt and Danny Bubp. Attach a personal note. I chose the second one (simple is best, I think) and wrote a cover letter and faxed it to each of their offices. The signed original will be in the mail tomorrow. The mail and fax information for each is as follows:

Rep. Jean Schmidt
8044 Montgomery Rd. Suite 540
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Fax: (513) 791-1696

Rep. Danny Bubp
77 S. High St
11th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Fax: (614) 644-9494

Many thanks once again to the excellent and aware diariests at Daily Kos, and especially to mbw and BostonJoe.