0 constantly. the army was a safe place. the fact that he had been described to me as a highly effective and a motivated noncommissioned officer that performed very well and, you know, he thrived. he was very proud to serve our country. the shooting on that day just it took away a safe place. he had nothing he could find no peace after that day. i just wish that more had been done to help him. scott, let me bring you in. you heard howard say his son could find no peace. he took his own life february 13th, 2013. there are others who still can t find peace. they re here and they are struggling to get the benefits they and so many others including lawmakers believe they deserve. we re watching this circus atmosphere around hasan and the trial while they struggle if he ll cross examine them and this continued hardship you ve reported on, scott. right, tamron. we interviewed howard for our stories. we ve interviewed other family members. we hear the same thing. they re frustrated wi
getting routed by the tea party. and many have not fought back, they don t want to be the next dick luger or mark castle or bennett. in the war for the republican party establishment, which is still a very conservative establishment at this point in time seems to be getting the upper hand. house budget chairman paul ryan is a great example of this. voting for the fiscal cliff deal, which many hard core republicans opposed. and talked others out of their brinksmansh brinksmanship. he objected on the way the electoral votes are won in wisconsin, in order to make it easier for republicans to win presidential elections there. so the way i look at it, principled prudence. we have to exercise our principles in a prudent way, with realistic expectations while being reasonable, and doing what we think is right.
and many have not fought back, they don t want to be the next dick luger or mark castle or bennett. in the war for the republican party establishment, which is still a very conservative establishment at this point in time seems to be getting the upper hand. house budget chairman paul ryan is a great example of this. voting for the fiscal cliff deal, which many hard core republicans opposed. and talked others out of their brinksmanship. he objected on the way the electoral votes are won in wisconsin, in order to make it easier for republicans to win presidential elections there. so the way i look at it, principled prudence. we have to exercise our principles in a prudent way, with realistic expectations while being reasonable, and doing what we think is right.
exercise like bruce babbits that may have prevailed in a more sober era, but not in ours. he went back to his state, won re-election by 35%. in 2006, the year of the big democracy takeover in both houses of congress, democrats didn t even bother to field a candidate against dick luger, so he won re-election with really, 87% of the vote, 87%, with the other 13% going to libertarian, through all the time, he was a really reliable republican, not the most conservative guy in the world, he supports assaults weapons ban, but he supports stimulus and dodd frank and science and votes against tax increases and all the rest of it, if you are a major political party, dick luger is a first round draft pick for you. he is the kind of guy you want in the senate seat. you want him in the senate seat because he does a very important thing, he does not lose senate
back, in 1982, won re-election by 8 points, in 88, by 36 points, in 1994, lucky number 36 points, a huge landslide victory. and then in 1996 he decided to run for president, but didn t win that race, perhaps because of ads he put out like this one. i believe in the second amendment and our right as americans to own a gun, for self-protection, to hunt and to collect. but there is no right to sweep a playground with an assault weapon. i parted company with senators graham and dole, i did what i felt was right. dick luger. you know, being a conservative doesn t mean you have to lose your common sense. not such a hot strategy in the republican primary. he was regarded as a worthy exercise like bruce babbits that