SPECIAL ALASKA FOCUS: Diane Benson For Congress

I want to re-emphasize something I wrote before: my enthusiastic endorsement of Diane Benson for Congress in the August 26th primary and on to the general election. This is a repeat of a diary I wrote back in March. My support for Diane Benson has only grown since then.



I met Diane Benson, Congressional Candidate in Alaska, about a month ago and was very impressed. But I only got to hear her speak as a candidate tonight. Again I was impressed. Diane is a genuine American who has worked hard all her life to get an education and to better the life of her son. Often she and her son have worked hard for our country and for their community. She has the confidence of someone who worked their way through school driving trucks while raising her son. She has the confidence of a woman who worked in the male dominated workers camp on the Alaskan pipeline. She has the confidence of someone who has had to work for everything, being given nothing easily. The contrast with the spoiled brat who inhabits the White House is about as striking as you can get.

Among those who came out for Diane was as diverse a group of Democrats you can find. Avid Hillary supporters rubbing shoulders with avid Obama supporters, both writing checks for Diane and THANKING her for her running. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney was among the strongest voices supporting Diane with both enthusiasm and a bit of awe. Also there were former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, our next Public Advocate Norm Siegel, Captain Jon Soltz, Veteran of Kosovo and the Iraq War and founder of VoteVets.org, fellow Daily Gotham writer Dan Jacoby, and City Council Candidate Steve Behar (if I left anyone out, please let me know!). I also saw members of two Brooklyn Democratic clubs, IND and CBID, and the current CBID president, Chris Owens, was on the host committee. Quite an interesting collection of Democrats.

Captain Jon Soltz introduced Diane Benson. Soltz has an amazing story of his own, volunteering for military service as part of his dedication to both America and Israel, serving honorably and bravely, only to discover when he returned home that the very government that sent him to war treated him like dirt. His discovery of the lies that got us into Iraq and his realization that Bush ran away from the fight with al-Qaeda, the enemy that attacked us, and his witnessing the closing of VA hospitals by Bush inspired Soltz to found Vote Vets.org Jon Soltz summed up George Bush this way: "This guy [George Bush] is the worst commander-in-chief in the history of our armed forces."

Soltz's introduction of Diane Benson was about the most heartfelt and passionate endorsement I have heard. This is because Diane Benson is running for office precisely on the same issues that politicized Soltz: the blundered Iraq War, the failure to secure America, the neglect of our soldiers, the neglect of our veterans. There was a bond between the two that went beyond what any of us who have not experienced first hand the pain of this war can quite understand.

Among the things that really stuck in my mind was the Republican neglect of our troops. Diane described having to buy her son military socks so he'd have some to wear. What, America can't afford to properly clothe our troops? Is THIS what Republicans mean by "supporting the troops." We know the Republican dominated government failed to provide adequate body armor and forced soldiers to pay their own way to visit home on leave (until people like Al Franken and Air America Radio embarassed them into changing their policy by raising frequent flyer miles to give to our troops). But they didn't even give our troops adequate socks??? And Jon Soltz reminded us about Bush closing VA hospitals, the series of events that led to Soltz becoming politicized and forming VoteVets.org. Diane has been dedicating herself to helping our troops, greeting them when they get home, visiting them in the hospital, helping them adapt back to life in the states...before they all too often get sent back. The lies surrounding the war, the failure of our leadership, the neglect of our soldiers, the neglect of our veterans...THESE are the reasons Diane Benson is running.

It's about the WAR, stupid. We are mired in a war that was based on lies, which has been full of blunders, STILL lacks an exit strategy and in which victory is not even defined. Diane Benson knows first hand the cost this war has had on our soldiers, our Veterans, and their families. Her son, Sgt Latseen Benson, served in Iraq. He volunteered after the 9/11 attacks, something that struck a chord with us New Yorkers because he chose to serve because of the attacks on our city. He was scheduled to come home when he was stop-lossed (yet another abuse our troops have to suffer at the hands of a callous, negligent government...also called the "backdoor draft"). Thirteen days after he should have come home, he was severely injured, filled with shrapnel and losing both his legs and part of a hand.

At the center of all the blunders in the Iraq war, at the center of all the neglect of our soldiers and veterans, is George W. Bush and his allies, John McCain and Don Young. And again, Diane Benson and her family saw first hand the callousness, the utter lack of any sense of empathy shown by George Bush. When her son was recovering from severe injuries while serving in Iraq, he was fitted with prosthetic legs to replace those that got blown off. While learning to use them, and while still recovering from his other injuries, he remained mostly in a wheelchair. George Bush came to visit the hospital where he was recovering. In an elaborate photo op where the wounded soldiers were practicly mere props, her son was lined up with the others, standing on prothetic limbs he wasn't yet used to. Bush came down the line, shaking hands with these soldiers he had sent to war with no logic, no reason, no plan...no body armor...Shaking hands with Sgt Latseen Benson, George Bush asked, "So how are those legs working out for you?"

Face to face with a brave soldier who had lost his legs serving in Bush's Big Blunder in Iraq, George Bush asks, "So how are those legs working out for you?"

Just in case you forgot, let's remember what Bush was doing at that age:



The fury Benson and her son felt at that insult from the Chickenhawk in Chief was quite obvious as Diane told the story.

THIS is why Diane Benson is running: because the Republicans who are sending our troops ill equipped into a war with no purpose or goal don't even care about those troops. They are pawns in a game about oil and props for photo ops and their injuries boil down to: So how are those prosthetic limbs that replace the legs you were born with and got blown off working for you?

Ending the war and holding our politicians accountable for the blunders are focal points of Diane's campaign. But her campaign is about even more than that. It is about values and service. She comes from a Native American tradition of strong family and community values, and the record of service Diane and her son have puts us all to shame. Latseen gave all he could serving in Iraq. Diane has served her community all her life, volunteering with senior citizens at Ketchikan Hospital at the age of 12, and although often homeless, worked a variety of social service oriented jobs with the underprivileged and the elderly until she took a position with the Fairbanks Native Association. She has worked to stop child abuse, was a proud member of Local 959 - Teamster Union, serves on Anchorage Chamber of Commerce’s Military Appreciation Committee, on the Healing Racism Steering Committee, was a two term President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, Camp 87- Anchorage, and is an active member of the National Organization of Women.

I think simply put, Diane Benson is the ideal woman to send to Congress from any state...Alaska just happens to be lucky enough to have her running. By contrast, the Republican incumbent is a wealthy lawyer with no understanding of working class or middle class Americans, no record of support for our troops or Veterans, and is perhaps best known for a record of corruption as long as they get. So the choice Alaska has is between an out of touch lawyer best known for corruption, or Diane Benson, known for her genuine record of service to her community, to Alaksa, and to American's troops and Veterans. If you want to help elect Diane to Congress, you can donate at my Alaska Act Blue site. If you really want to shake up Congress, sending a tough, working class woman and mother of a disabled Iraq War Veteran is the way to do it. For those who haven't had a chance to meet her, let me introduce you: