Warlady
09-15-2001, 04:38 PM
U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan had police guarding his Lowell office yesterday after comments he made critical of President Bush's leadership prompted an angry reaction nationwide.
In an interview published in yesterday's Herald, Meehan questioned the White House response to suggestions that Bush stayed away from Washington too long during the terrorist attacks - and publicly doubted that Air Force One was a target of the hijackers.
``I don't buy the notion Air Force One was a target,'' he said. ``That's just PR. That's just spin.''
But yesterday Meehan said, ``The reality is I fully support the president and I have fully supported the administration from the beginning of this crisis.'' The congressman did not dispute the accuracy of the quotes attributed to him in an interview with two Herald reporters, but said they were taken out of context.
But that did not blunt the wave of angry calls, threats and disfavor from colleagues that was fueled by radio talk show hosts, who gave out his office number on the air, and the popular Web site ``Drudge Report,'' which carried the story prominently. Also the target of stinging criticism was U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield,) whose office received hundreds of calls after he was quoted in the same story.
In the Herald story, Neal was quoted as saying of Bush's public remarks on the terrorism crisis, ``It's not a question of what he's saying. The content is fine. But the blandness with which it is delivered has caused considerable reaction.''
Yesterday, Neal said, ``I can disagree about speech delivery but not substance. I can't emphasize enough my overriding support of the president's policies.''
The congressmen were bashed on the airwaves - including conservative Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio broadcast. And they were scolded late yesterday by the state's junior senator, himself a possible Democratic candidate for president.
``I think it's unfortunate,'' said U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry. ``I don't think the timing is terrific.''
Sources in the state's congressional delegation said Kerry isn't alone, that the comments caught the eye of many congressmen and the White House. The congressmen violated the first rule of wartime politics, to always rally around the leader, sources said. Both Meehan and Neal were on the phone to the White House early yesterday to tell administration officials their side of the story.
On WRKO's airwaves, callers to former Congressmen Peter Blute's program were particularly harsh to Meehan - calling him ``Rambo'' and asking the last time he put himself at risk. Calls were brisk to both offices all day and one Meehan aide said the threats were being treated as ``credible.''
``The callers were angry, as you would expect,'' Blute said. ``Sniping at the president on unimportant matters while the country is literally at war is self-indulgent at best and potentially harmful to people as they pull together.'' Fellow Republicans joined Blute in targeting Meehan.
``The best way we can honor our country and those whose lives have been sacrificed . . . is to reserve judgment about our government's response until all the facts are in,'' said JoAnn Sprague, a Walpole state senator and Republican nominee in the 9th District congressional race.
``As elected officials and citizens, we owe our president the benefit of the doubt in the short term.''
Article (http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ausmeeh09152001.htm)
In an interview published in yesterday's Herald, Meehan questioned the White House response to suggestions that Bush stayed away from Washington too long during the terrorist attacks - and publicly doubted that Air Force One was a target of the hijackers.
``I don't buy the notion Air Force One was a target,'' he said. ``That's just PR. That's just spin.''
But yesterday Meehan said, ``The reality is I fully support the president and I have fully supported the administration from the beginning of this crisis.'' The congressman did not dispute the accuracy of the quotes attributed to him in an interview with two Herald reporters, but said they were taken out of context.
But that did not blunt the wave of angry calls, threats and disfavor from colleagues that was fueled by radio talk show hosts, who gave out his office number on the air, and the popular Web site ``Drudge Report,'' which carried the story prominently. Also the target of stinging criticism was U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield,) whose office received hundreds of calls after he was quoted in the same story.
In the Herald story, Neal was quoted as saying of Bush's public remarks on the terrorism crisis, ``It's not a question of what he's saying. The content is fine. But the blandness with which it is delivered has caused considerable reaction.''
Yesterday, Neal said, ``I can disagree about speech delivery but not substance. I can't emphasize enough my overriding support of the president's policies.''
The congressmen were bashed on the airwaves - including conservative Rush Limbaugh's syndicated radio broadcast. And they were scolded late yesterday by the state's junior senator, himself a possible Democratic candidate for president.
``I think it's unfortunate,'' said U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry. ``I don't think the timing is terrific.''
Sources in the state's congressional delegation said Kerry isn't alone, that the comments caught the eye of many congressmen and the White House. The congressmen violated the first rule of wartime politics, to always rally around the leader, sources said. Both Meehan and Neal were on the phone to the White House early yesterday to tell administration officials their side of the story.
On WRKO's airwaves, callers to former Congressmen Peter Blute's program were particularly harsh to Meehan - calling him ``Rambo'' and asking the last time he put himself at risk. Calls were brisk to both offices all day and one Meehan aide said the threats were being treated as ``credible.''
``The callers were angry, as you would expect,'' Blute said. ``Sniping at the president on unimportant matters while the country is literally at war is self-indulgent at best and potentially harmful to people as they pull together.'' Fellow Republicans joined Blute in targeting Meehan.
``The best way we can honor our country and those whose lives have been sacrificed . . . is to reserve judgment about our government's response until all the facts are in,'' said JoAnn Sprague, a Walpole state senator and Republican nominee in the 9th District congressional race.
``As elected officials and citizens, we owe our president the benefit of the doubt in the short term.''
Article (http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/ausmeeh09152001.htm)