Paul Hackett and Cindy Sheehan: One Person’s Crystal Ball Needs Adjustment

From an August 20, 2005 entry at Hammer Of The Blogs (scroll to about halfway through the post; HT OH02):

Last night’s return of Real Time With Bill Maher was certainly welcome. I found myself very impressed with Paul Hackett. Hackett was a last-minute substitution for Cindy Sheehan, as Sheehan had to hustle back home to care for her ailing mother. As it turns out, Hackett will prove to have been the better choice anyway. Eventually Sheehan has to go back home for good and try to get on with her life, and the people who are currently so outraged about her will forget her name by Christmas.

Hackett, on the other hand, has a real political future ahead of him — he’s funny, smart, engaged, and unafraid to speak his mind.

Methinks Mr. Hammer, aka J. Heywood, got his wires crossed.

Cindy Sheehan hasn’t exactly “gone back home” –

KILLEEN, Texas — A year and a half after going AWOL before his second deployment to Iraq, a soldier surrendered at Fort Hood on Thursday with a dozen war protesters by his side.

Army Spc. Mark Wilkerson said he was tired of running and sought help from Cindy Sheehan’s protest camp in nearby Crawford, which helps educate soldiers about their rights as war resisters.

Meanwhile, Hackett, who on occasion shows fleeting signs of political maturity, may have ended whatever hopes he might have for political office with his performance on the O’Reilly Factor Wednesday (guest hosted by John Kasich). Hackett went after former Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) spokesman Dan Senor personally, calling him an “unterfuhrer” (HT to Dean Barnett at Hugh Hewitt’s place and Hot Air, which also has a video clip that should be around long after Fox takes down theirs):

PAUL HACKETT: Well, first of all John, suggesting that the whole bottom would fall out implies that somehow it hasn’t fallen out. I mean, to have Herr Senor on your set as a military expert is somewhat of a joke. He knows absolutely nothing about the military, he’s never served in the military, he’s never been professionally schooled in the military.

KASICH: Who are you talking about Paul, is that me?

HACKETT: I’m talking about your guest, little Unterfuerher (sic) of Propaganda, Mr. Senor there who’s an apologist for the failings of the CPA. I mean he ought to be ashamed of his service or lack of service with the CPA, because that’s what got it all started.

Talk about stepping in it (last para at link), Hackett was unaware of this:

Senor, 33, spent a year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and keeps kosher. His mother is a Holocaust survivor, and he related the current psychological conditions of the Iraqis recovering from the horrors they have witnessed to Holocaust survivors like his mother.

Ignoring time-tested advice (”when in a hole, stop digging”), Hackett went on Mark Levin’s radio show and, when handed an opportunity to apologize on a silver platter, said he didn’t regret his remarks (audio available at Hot Air), even in light of Senor’s mother’s wartime experience.

Add the O’Reilly episode and Levin follow-up to the already crowded “Hackett unhinged” file:

• Go to Updates 2, 4, and 5 at this post for past gems.
• Go here for “truth comes out” quotes that probably caused Hackett to lose the 2nd Congressional District Special Election in August 2005.
• And don’t forget that Hackett, in what has to be one of the most under-reported stories of the year, strongly criticized Democrat Congressman John Murtha in June over Murtha’s criticisms of Marines at Haditha, and in general (HT Project Logic) –
  

  Hackett also is irritated at Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a decorated Marine veteran who has been briefed by military officials on the Haditha deaths and has said that U.S. troops “overreacted because of the pressure on them.” Hackett said Murtha is feeding an image of traumatized, out-of-control soldiers like characters in the movies “Rambo” and “The Deer Hunter.”“With one broad stroke, he’s recklessly indicted all those Marines. … I don’t know if he’s gotten addicted to the microphones and the cameras. For him to continue to foam at the mouth, it’s irresponsible, it’s stupid, it’s wrong.”

  Murtha’s office didn’t respond to a phone call seeking comment.