"24" As A Campaign Platform

Digby notes this piece on the "Jack Bauer Republicans" running for office in GOP primaries this year.  I've got another name for them:  War criminals.  It's especially disturbing to see this happening in my home state.

Last week, Ilario Pantano won the Republican nomination in North Carolina’s 7th District, setting up a challenge to incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre in November. In 2001, immediately following the 9/11 terror attacks, Pantano, a veteran who had previously fought in the Gulf War, left his career as a successful producer and media consultant in his native Manhattan to rejoin the Marines and was eventually deployed to Iraq. In April 2004, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees, twice unloading his gun into their bodies and firing between 50 and 60 shots in total. Afterward, he placed a sign over the corpses featuring the Marines' slogan “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” as a message to the local population.

As Digby points out, the fact he put 50 rounds into an unarmed man apparently makes him a stronger GOP primary candidate.

Funny how the only time the right reveres the legal system's protections is when it's protecting war criminals. Indeed, the article goes on to say that he's actually running on the incident, making it the center of his campaign. But then, he's considered something of a "good guy" by people as disparate as Michelle Malkin, James Carville and Jon Stewart.

His defeated primary opponent, also an Iraq war vet, is so offended by the whitewash that he's continuing to speak out against him:

“I’ve taken prisoners in Iraq and there’s no excuse for what he did,” Breazeale told The Daily Beast. “To shoot two unarmed prisoners 60 times and put a sign over their dead bodies is inexcusable.

In case you wonder whether this guy might just be a "good guy" yourself, it's important to keep in mind that he was "inspired" to run for office because of calls to prosecute people for torture.

Yeah, and we can't have that kind of lunatic fringe in America.  After all, the lunatic fringe we have already might take it the wrong way and put 4 dozen bullets in somebody.  Jesus wept.   Look, I'm not happy with the Democrats right now, but I know these are the kind of people the Republicans want to see dominating Congress and all levels of government.

You want to send the Democrats a message, vote for better Democrats, not worse Republicans.