Ol' Yella Belly
Chris Shays, a Republican congressman from Connecticut,
told the New York Post that he wouldn't attend the New Year's Eve bash in Times Square because of fears of a terrorist attack. "I wouldn't go to Times Square. That is my opinion. It is one based on the reality that the government has declared a Code Orange ... I wouldn't be flying from Europe to the U.S. in an airplane."
The Wall Street Journal's
James Taranto offered Shays a sliver of comfort: "Maybe his mommy can fix him a nice warm cup of cocoa, which he can drink while clutching his teddy bear and watching the ball drop on television. Nah, come to think of it, that would probably entail staying up past his bedtime."
The Connecticut fraidy cat's comment didn't sit well with some New Yorkers. Today, the New York Post
labeled Shays a "Chicken Little Politician" and reported scathing rebukes from city leaders:
The mayor pointed to Shoshana Johnson - the Iraqi war veteran who joined Bloomberg to lower the ball in Times Square last night - to challenge Shays. "She was a woman who was fighting to protect the congressman's freedoms," Bloomberg said on NBC. "She was captured and wounded in Iraq. Maybe he should call her and learn a little bit about courage."
Johnson also ripped Shays. "With all due respect to the congressman, I didn't appreciate the comments," she said yesterday. "We were fighting to protect the freedom of these people and it makes me feel like I didn't do a good job."
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly also blasted Shays, saying his comments were "a classic case of letting the terrorists win ... You can't run your life like that," Kelly told CNN. "I don't know what information he has, [but] it's irresponsible for him to say that."
The Post goes on to question Shays' "guts," pointing out that during the Vietnam War he applied for "conscientious-objector" status. (Conscientious-objector, by the way, is just a bullshit, politically-correct euphemism for draft-dodger.)
If Shays wanted to dodge the draft, he could've made it much easier on himself by applying for a medical waiver. After all, the Army doesn't accept invertebrates.
