Nathan Fletcher was raised in Arkansas, played college baseball in California and enlisted in the Marines as a reserve in 1997. He saw combat in 2004, based in the Sunni Triangle in Iraq.
One day Fletcher’s unit went to relieve a convoy and was, in turn, ambushed by insurgents with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. According to his military records, the unit “attempted to break through the enemy line of resistance several times in order to relieve the convoy, each time coming under heavy, sustained fire, during which Sergeant Fletcher never wavered in his determination to engage the enemy.”
As detailed in fine reporting by Craig Gustafson of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Fletcher was awarded an achievement medal with a Combat “V” for Valor.
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/opinion/brooks-a-moderate-conservative-dilemma.html?pagewanted=print
April 2nd, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Here’s a comment I made on the NEW YORK TIMES David Brooks’ ode to Nathan Fletcher — a slobbering piece praising San Diego mayoral candidate Fletcher to the skies for his opportunistic departure from the GOP.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/opinion/brooks-a-moderate-conservative-dilemma.html
I ran into a commonly reported problem — the NY TIMES website would not accept my comment. I tried several times, but it never appeared. But hundreds of left wing comments WERE posted by people who wrongly assumed Brooks had a clue about this story. Unlike the WS JOURNAL, the NY TIMES does screen comments — apparently for message as well as the usual reasons.
Judge for yourself if my comment is somehow offensive — and offensive to whom.
——
RIDER COMMENT:
It’s sad that the NY TIMES chooses David Brooks as the voice of the “reasonable” GOP. But not surprising, I suppose.
In this piece, Brooks writes about a San Diego political contest that he knows nothing about. But his factual ignorance doesn’t keep him from making grandiose judgments in the race.
Brooks claims that Nathan Fletcher is all about pension reform. He is not. He was afraid to back the groundbreaking GOP pension reform measure, waiting until a week before it was qualified for the ballot before putting forward a token effort in support. Carl DeMaio and the GOP did the heavy lifting.
If you want to know Fletcher’s position on city pension reform, ask the local public employee labor unions. They like Fletcher, though most of the unions will support rabid Democrat Bob Filner. But the police officers’ union has already formally endorsed Fletcher.
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/SD-Police-Officers-Association-Endorses-Nathan-Fletcher–132198723.html
Then Brooks labels GOP competitor and front-runner Carl DeMaio an “orthodox conservative.” I guess that’s similar to being an Orthodox Jew, or Greek Orthodox — a stereotyped extreme social conservative.
But DeMaio is gay, and openly considers himself in a “committed relationship” with Jonathon Hale. DeMaio’s views on social issues range from moderate to occasionally libertarian. It’s on fiscal issues that DeMaio is “conservative” and concentrates — he’s a bulldog representing the taxpayers.
“Orthodox conservative”? In what parallel universe?
Apparently the only source Brooks used in this ode to Nathan Fletcher was — Nathan Fletcher. This is blatant propaganda — even by Brooks’ abysmally low standards.
April 2nd, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Here’s a thought. I was a Libertarian taxpayer activist for many years, and thus I could not write for FlashReport. I had no problem with that — it’s a private blog and, as such, can set whatever rules it wants. I took no offense. Now I’m a card-carrying Republican (not sure where the card is, but it’s what I am).
But since Fletcher is no longer a Republican, why is he still allowed to post self-serving blog items — outright propaganda — on this website?