How these ingrates can possibly say they support our troops and maintain a straight face is unclear. What don’t they understand about actual sacrifice for our nation?

No sooner had her campaign been publicly announced than some apparently illegal group decided to attack Col. Jill Morgenthaler, the Democratic candidate set to run versus freshman Congressman Peter Roskam (R).

I detailed yesterday the many ways in which Roskam and his backers poured vitriol and mud all over Major Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War vet and helo pilot who lost her legs so that those numskulls could exercise their First Amendment right to slime her.

That they’re already slinging the gunk at Col. Morgenthaler is a sign of both how desperate they are to cling to power and how despicably in the gutter their mindset is.

Hiram Wurf notes the subversive conservative mailer is actually a switcheroo: it appears to be an endorsement of Col. Morgenthaler but ticks off a bunch of negative points. Gee, sounds like those nasty, harassing phone calls that got dumped into the 6th throughout the last campaign. On top of that, Arch notes that the group the card is attributed to (”Patriotic Democrats of DuPage”) appears to be illegal since no such group is listed in FEC filings even as the mailer appears to advocate for a Federal candidate. (PS: Nice typos in the text, ya maroons.)

What is the “Patriotic Democrats of DuPage”? A figment of some partisan’s imagination since the group appears to be made-up. (Now, certainly there are a good many patriotic Dems who live in the DuPage Valley … but there is no such legal organization by that name.)

You can view the deceptive postcard content here (jpeg, thanks to Arch for hosting).

Archpundit’s scan does not include the mailer’s indicia — and that could be used to at least track down the mail house that sent it.

The card cites two references for its material. The first goes to what looks to be a personal blog apparently by Col. Jill Morgenthaler herself but last updated on August 14, 2004… I’d wait for confirmation from the Morgenthaler campaign but a quick Google search appears to confirm that it was written by her. The actual “supportusamilitary.org” site was set up by a fellow named Jeremy Jenson of Minnesota as a means for servicemembers to update folks back home and for us at home to support our troops through letters and care packages.

The second citation goes to a 2005 Indiana University School of Journalism article on the military and the media by reporter Suzannah Evans.

Both the blog and article feature much more content than the few cherry-picked, out-of-context bits this deceptive mailer recites. Too bad the conserv-o-partisans only support our troops when the troops agree with their malarkey.

UPDATE 1: Could the cart have been put before the horse here? It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve made a mistake (at least I admit ‘em). Some folks among the progressive ‘roots are beginning to wonder (here and here) whether these cards were sent by rascally Repub-backers or progressives who oppose the war and were firing a warning shot across the bow of the nascent Morgenthaler campaign. The thinking is non-voter registration list names are used (ie, nicknames) and the mailing list seems inordinately small, so it might’ve been some progressive advocate working out of their living room. We may never know for sure what’s what.

Isn’t it sad that Cong. Roskam and his allies ran such a dirty campaign last year that folks naturally presume it to be their handiwork?

No matter who did it the cards look to be illegal given they lack the requisite Federal Election-required identifications and disclaimers, but I’m no lawyer.

UPDATE 2: Rich Miller interviewed Col. Morgenthaler earlier today and she indicates the flier is half-cocked (my word, not hers):

The flier, which was apparently sent to Democrats in the district, damns her with praise, claiming, among other things, that she was the Army’s “go-to” person during the notorious Abu Ghraib torture scandal.

Morgenthaler said this morning that she was indeed the Army’s spokesperson during the scandal and a quick search shows she was widely quoted in the media.

“I was trying to make sure we got the facts out,” Morganthaler said, claiming that the scandal and the lack of leadership “led to a lot of good things being discounted.”

The flier also claims that Morgenthaler was a member of the Army’s Psychological Operations team in Qatar, but Col. Morgenthaler, who is Gov. Blagojevich’s deputy chief of staff for homeland security, said her involvement with Psy Ops was limited to a tour in California back in 1984 and likened her job to “advertising and marketing.”

Apparently, however, somebody is using Psy Ops against her now. Morgenthaler said this morning that, despite the claims made in the flier, she was not recruited by Congressman Rahm Emanuel. She has spoken with Emanuel, she said, but others, including fellow soldiers and Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, who lost to Roskam last year, have been far more influential.

As for progressives’ (and likely conservatives’) interest in learning more about Col. Morgenthaler’s position, she hasn’t yet officially announced so it’s a bit premature to expect well-rounded platforms (though hopefully she’ll do better than Coach Dick Versace when the time comes). But, she did tell Mr. Miller:

As for the future, she doesn’t want an immediate pull-out, but said, “We can’t stay the course either.” She thinks several important voices have been overlooked in a search for a solution, including the British and other regional leaders like the Queen of Jordan, whom Morgenthaler praised for her insight.

Finally, since the hypocritical con partisans kept railing against Maj. Tammy Duckworth for not living in the 6th (her home had been retrofitted by her Army colleagues and other volunteers to accommodate her severed limbs), Col. Morgantheler also says she is currently house hunting to move into the 6th — the exact same thing Peter Roskam did in his first run for Congress years ago. Her current house is close to, but not in, the 6th.