Media Had Field Day With Blumenthal, Little About Kirk

The so-called “liberal media” went to town about Connecticut Attorney General and Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal’s error in stating he served in in Vietnam, including calls for him to “step aside”. But little has been made about Rep. Mark Kirk’s exaggeration as Kirk seeks to be the next Senator from Illinois. Kirk’s official biography stated that he received the U.S. Navy’ Intelligence Officer of the Year award during the Serbian conflict in the late 1990’s. However, only after The Washington Post investigated and discovered otherwise did Kirk acknowledge that he “misidentified” the award.

Kirk, an Appropriations Committee member, changed his Web site last week to incorporate a different account of the award. Kirk wrote on his blog that “upon a recent review of my records, I found that an award listed in my official biography was misidentified” and that the award he had intended to list was given to his entire unit.

A professional group, the National Military Intelligence Association, gave Kirk’s unit — based in Aviano, Italy — an award for outstanding service in 2000. The association’s Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award celebrates “the exceptional achievements of an outstanding Naval Intelligence career professional,” but the citation does not mention Kirk and instead designates the entire Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.

Kirk, whose campaign has emphasized his military service as a reservist, similarly misidentified the award during a House committee hearing in March 2002. In a remark recorded by C-SPAN, he said, “I was the Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year.”

Kirk is in a tight race with Illinois state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.