Monday, September 29, 2014

Sen. race: Siler, Briggs spar over Republican's military 'uniform code'

Siler
In what appears to be one of those "look before you leap" situations, 7th District state Senate candidate Cheri Siler, the race's Democrat, pretty much accused her Republican opponent, Richard Briggs of "playing fast and loose with the ethical rules that should guide campaigns.

In an email that I received while I was sleeping cause I got the day off, Siler noted:
While I have the utmost respect for his service to our country and his personal sacrifice to protect our freedom, I am troubled by his disregard for the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UMCJ) in Briggs’ repetitive use of military photos in his campaign. According to the Department of Defense UCMJ, a candidate must have a disclaimer statement on military photos used for campaign purposes. Alarmingly, we see no such disclaimer on any of my opponent’s photos used in campaign materials.
She then went on to talk about how Briggs won't debate her, which I'm not getting into because it's bull. The
Briggs
two were on or will be on that other news channel and they'll appear in a week or so on Inside Tennessee.

Anyhoo, Briggs fired back:
My opponent has blatantly made false accusations. The rule applies to ACTIVE members of the military. I am a retired Colonel from the Army earning a Bronze Star fighting for this country and community. This shows that my opponent fails to check the facts before she makes an allegation.

My opponent wants to talk about reaching people, she should consider going to them. our campaign has knocked on over 50,000 doors, made thousands of phone calls, and ran an extremely successful campaign against our opponent in the primary. I would encourage our opponent to stop making false statements and get to work to talk to the voters.
He then talked about Obamacare or something, but I'm tired of hearing about that crap, too.

The irony, or is it coincidence, is that both candidates cited the same link in their argument. Find that bad boy, RIGHT SMACK HERE.

The election is Nov. 4.

As always send me your campaign stuff for publication consideration.
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1 comment:

  1. Mark HarmonSeptember 29, 2014 at 2:28 PM

    This looks more like a case of research before you write. Take a look at Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, Feb. 19, 2008.

    4.3.2. Members included in subparagraph 4.3.1. [which references nominees or candidates not on active duty] may NOT, in campaign literature (including Web sites, videos, television, and conventional print advertisements):
    4.3.2.1. Use or allow the use of photographs, drawings, and other similar media formats of themselves in uniform as the primary graphic representation in any campaign media, such as a billboard, brochure, flyer, Web site, or television commercial. For the purposes of this policy, “photographs” include video images, drawings, and all other similar formats of representational media.

    So, Briggs claim about the restriction only applying to active duty does not hold up to close inspection. A good article about how this provision has been violated in other campaigns may be found at
    http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/disobeying-orders-ex-military-

    Cordially yours, Mark Harmon

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