Those of you who follow local politics closely have no doubt seen the controversy between Republican representative Randy Kuhl and Democratic challenger Eric Massa over Massa’s in-person challenge to a debate of last week. To me, it all seems like pretty harmless stuff, until Kuhl decided to make parentage an issue for the campaign.
It seems Kuhl decided to make a passing reference to what he regarded as Massa’s rudeness and that it may have been as a result of “the luxury of having wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect.”
Well, it looks as though Eric Massa’s father has decided to personally respond to the attack on his parenting skills:
While you and Eric may not always see eye to eye, that doesn’t give you the right to attack my wife, myself, our faith and our values. While I was serving our Nation flying combat missions in Vietnam, my wife Mae had to raise our children by herself. I am proud of her, and I am proud of my children. We faced challenges and overcame adversity, but we held together as a family. I am saddened that you have decided to disrespect the sacrifices that Mae and I made for our family.
Try for a moment to block out the idea of what Randy Kuhl’s statement literally says: that Massa should show Kuhl “parental respect.” Try to block out the idea of Kuhl as patrician. What kind of politician makes an attack this personal over what was really just a small political stunt? Based on what I know of Kuhl’s aversion to cameras, I’m guessing its a very insecure man for his position.
But perhaps Kuhl or his campaign has another opinion? Full transcript after the fold:
Representative Kuhl,
As you no doubt have seen by now, I have made a public request for you to make an apology to my 79 year old wife and my family for insinuating we were unfit parents.
You said this to WETM on August 21st: “That’s not the way I was raised. Unfortunately, there are people who didn’t have the luxury of having wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect.”
It is obvious that you meant that my wife of 56 years and I did a poor job raising our son Eric. We are both deeply offended by your attack on our family and our values. I’ve seen the video on the internet, and I saw what happened. My son did not interrupt, distract, or draw attention to himself during your press conference. Eric waited until it was over and then he tried to speak to you outside of the room where it was held. You responded by attacking Eric’s mother and me. I just don’t understand how these two things are related.
Eric’s mother Mae and I were raised in the church and taught about faith and respect from a very early age. We worked hard to instill the same values and faith in our children. I also learned the meaning of respect by putting my life on the line in the US Navy for 30 years. I saw far too many friends pay the ultimate price for our nation. I learned and lived honor, service, duty and respect the hard way. My son learned these same values from us and by serving in the United States Navy for 24 years.
While you and Eric may not always see eye to eye, that doesn’t give you the right to attack my wife, myself, our faith and our values. While I was serving our Nation flying combat missions in Vietnam, my wife Mae had to raise our children by herself. I am proud of her, and I am proud of my children. We faced challenges and overcame adversity, but we held together as a family. I am saddened that you have decided to disrespect the sacrifices that Mae and I made for our family.
Attacking family members should be off limits in political campaigns. This is not a high school playground where adolescents throw insults around about people’s heritage – this is a race for the United States Congress and you sir should be ashamed of your behavior. Serving America requires that you respect those that you serve, even when you disagree with them.
Again, I believe you should show some respect to my wife and my family by issuing a public apology. Additionally, I hope that you will show some respect to your voters by behaving with more dignity in the future.
Regards,
Emiddio Massa Captain, US Navy (ret.)
