Mugwump, Illinois (AP) 10 July 2012 Congressman Joe Walsh, R-IL, a Tea Party Freshman from Illinois’ 8th Congressional District, recently in the news for claiming that his Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth, a double amputee who lost her legs and partial use of one arm in Iraq while a co-pilot of a Black Hawk helicopter pilot is not a hero and is using her military service for political purposes. Specifically, Walsh is quoted as saying “She is nothing more than a handpicked Washington bureaucrat. David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel just picked her and dropped her into this district.” http://chicagoist.com/2012/07/10/rep_joe_walsh_cant_stop_talking_abo.php http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2297618 After learning of this and similar statements, the Hispanic Veterans of Illinois (HVI) announced that they had awarded Congressman Walsh with the Orden de la Embarcación Rápida, Primera Clase, with Tenía Otras Prioridades clasp and the Él Nunca Sirvieron en las Fuerzas Armadas campaign ribbon. The citation read, in part, “in spite of suffering numerous painful paper cuts and having accidently stapled himself to an incoming subpoena for non-payment of child support, Congressman Walsh demonstrated his leadership by directing his staff to work overtime to handle the spin concerning his statements and promptly left the office for the weekend. This was followed by a series of descriptive adjectives which, while sincere and enthusiastic, are inappropriate for use in this venue, although HVI members considered them apropos. Congressman Walsh’s office was unavailable for comment.
