Barbara Boxer: Serving in Uniform Just Like Being a Politician

During a campaign stop in Inglewood, California this past weekend, Barbara Boxer’s disrespectful attitude toward our armed forces was on full display when she equated the experiences of Members of Congress with the experiences of those who have put their lives on the line serving our country in uniform.

Boxer said this, at an event during which she was supposed to help break ground on new housing for homeless veterans:

“We know that if you have veterans in one place where they can befriend each other and talk to each other. You know when you’ve gone through similar things you need to share it. I don’t care whether you are a policeman or a fireman or a veteran or by chance a member of Congress. Maxine and I could look at each other and roll our eyes. We know what we are up against. And it is hard for people who are not there to understand the pressure and the great things that go along with it and the tough things that go along with it.”

She followed this up by appearing later in the day at a campaign fundraiser featuring none other than “Hanoi Jane” Fonda.

Barbara Boxer has never been loved by the military, veterans, their friends or family. She has a history of voting against troop funding and opposing military missions undertaken abroad. She voted against condemning MoveOn.org’s disgraceful, full-page New York Times ad that attacked the integrity of General David Petraeus. More recently, of course, she dressed down a brigadier general on national television, insisting that he call her “senator” instead of “ma’am.”

But her suggesting that the rigors of campaigning for public office and sitting through Committee hearings on cap-and-trade are on a par with being shot at offers a fresh insight into her distorted worldview. On the one hand, she’s sufficiently out-of-touch with reality to think this is a message that would be well-received at an event focused on veterans. On the other, she’s sufficiently uncurious to ponder the patently absurd nature of her comments.

There are a lot of reasons why Barbara Boxer is not well-loved by her constituents. However, for members of the military and veterans, she added to them this past weekend.