Rep. Allen West made 2003 an issue with an ad he released last week about Patrick Murphy, who was in college then, and got in trouble for a bar fight. That ad brought on this answer from Murphy, a new ad about how West's military career ended in that same year.



"You need the facts about Allen West in 2003," says the narrator in the Murphy ad, which begins by showing a clip of West's ad from last week. "West was criminally charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, found guilty of three counts of aggravated assault and relieved of his command. The final Army report: West 'performed illegal acts ... merited court martial ... faced 11 years in prison,'" continues the narrator. "Allen West. He just isn't who he says he is."

West campaign spokesman Tim Edson responded by calling Murphy a "terrible person" for attacking West for trying to protect his troops. "What kind of man who has never worn the uniform attacks an honorably discharged combat veteran for acting to protect the lives of his soldiers?" Edson said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "A desperate man and apparently the same kind of man who calls a decorated combat veteran a coward, gets into drunken bar fights, verbally assaults police officers and then uses his family's connections to get out of trouble. Patrick Murphy is a spoiled brat and a truly terrible person."

To which Allen West's campaign responded with a "that's really mean" whine-fest.One could ask what kind of man betrays his uniform, his troops, the Military Code of Justice, and all bounds of morality. The answer, of course, is a man like Allen West. But even a violent, unstable ex-military guy can have hurt fee-fees.

So, Patrick Murphy, you're a "truly terrible person" for making Allen West have a sad over the fact that he was almost court-martialed for torture and was forced out of the military for being a really, truly terrible person.

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