Rumsfeld's 'Arrogance' Provokes Esch

From the "any press is good press" department, Jim Esch gets some coverage from the Omaha World-Herald for calling Donald Rumsfeld an "idiot" for his comments on Tuesday.

Esch, the Democrat seeking to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Lee Terry in the Omaha-based 2nd District, posted his comments Wednesday on a campaign weblog that appears on his Web site, www.jimesch.org.

"It's time to abandon this failed policy in Iraq," Esch wrote. "I will not stand by and watch another U.S. soldier die, so idiots like Don Rumsfeld can rewrite history."

"Maybe it is a little strong," Esch said when asked about the posting. "But I was a little fired up this morning" after reading Rumsfeld's comments.

Rumsfeld delivered Tuesday what was viewed as one of the strongest Bush administration attacks on Iraq war critics, comparing them to Nazi-era appeasers. He suggested that critics of the war effort "seem to not have learned history's lessons."

Esch said he found those comments infuriating because they typified administration efforts to label anyone who questions the war as unpatriotic.

It's probably not smart politics to call the Secretary of Defense an "idiot." And for what it's worth, I don't think Donald Rumsfeld is an idiot. But there comes a point where you become so detached from reality that you are either a liar or a fool.

For four terms, Lee Terry has been a Republican lapdog in the House of Representatives. He has shown no leadership, no initiative, and no solutions. But he has never faced a legitimate challenge to his seat in Congress.

In 1998, Terry defeated Michael Scott for the open seat 65-34%.
In 2000, He defeated Shelley Kiel 66-31%.
In 2002, He defeated Jim Simon 63-33%.
In 2004, He defeated Nancy Thompson 61-36%.

No candidate challenged Terry on the issues. And, given the showing of the last four challengers that faced Terry, Esch can't help but do better. We are in an environment today where our candidates have to stand up to the Republican incumbents and explain why their policies have been disasters. So, calling Rumsfeld an "idiot" may not be the smartest thing, but it certainly grabbed the attention of the local press, and allowed Esch to speak directly to Rumsfeld's comments in the media.