Letter from Massa’s father - will Kuhl apologize?
Will Randy Kuhl apologize?
Eric Massa’s father - 80 years young Emiddio Massa (Captain, USN ret) submitted a letter to the press over the incident in Corning where Randy Kuhl insulted Congressional Candidate Eric Massa’s parents. I received it via email no link (yet).
You said this to WETM on August 21st: “That’s not the way I was raised. Unfortunately, there are people who didn’t have the luxury of having wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect.”
It is obvious that you meant that my wife of 56 years and I did a poor job raising our son Eric. We are both deeply offended by your attack on our family and our values.
[snip]
Eric’s mother Mae and I were raised in the church and taught about faith and respect from a very early age. We worked hard to instill the same values and faith in our children. I also learned the meaning of respect
by putting my life on the line in the US Navy for 30 years. I saw far too many friends pay the ultimate price for our nation. I learned and lived honor, service, duty and respect the hard way. My son learned these same values from us and by serving in the United States Navy for 24 years.
The entire letter is below the fold
Representative Kuhl,As you no doubt have seen by now, I have made a public request for you to make an apology to my 79 year old wife and my family for insinuating
we were unfit parents.You said this to WETM on August 21st: “That’s not the way I was raised. Unfortunately, there are people who didn’t have the luxury of having
wonderful parents like I did who taught about parental respect.”It is obvious that you meant that my wife of 56 years and I did a poor job raising our son Eric. We are both deeply offended by your attack on
our family and our values. I’ve seen the video on the internet, and I saw what happened. My son did not interrupt, distract, or draw attention
to himself during your press conference. Eric waited until it was over and then he tried to speak to you outside of the room where it was held.
You responded by attacking Eric’s mother and me. I just don’t understand how these two things are related.Eric’s mother Mae and I were raised in the church and taught about faith and respect from a very early age. We worked hard to instill the same
values and faith in our children. I also learned the meaning of respect by putting my life on the line in the US Navy for 30 years. I saw far
too many friends pay the ultimate price for our nation. I learned and lived honor, service, duty and respect the hard way. My son learned
these same values from us and by serving in the United States Navy for 24 years.While you and Eric may not always see eye to eye, that doesn’t give you the right to attack my wife, myself, our faith and our values. While I
was serving our Nation flying combat missions in Vietnam, my wife Mae had to raise our children by herself. I am proud of her, and I am proud
of my children. We faced challenges and overcame adversity, but we held together as a family. I am saddened that you have decided to disrespect
the sacrifices that Mae and I made for our family.Attacking family members should be off limits in political campaigns. This is not a high school playground where adolescents throw insults
around about people’s heritage – this is a race for the United States Congress and you sir should be ashamed of your behavior. Serving America
requires that you respect those that you serve, even when you disagree with them.Again, I believe you should show some respect to my wife and my family by issuing a public apology. Additionally, I hope that you will show
some respect to your voters by behaving with more dignity in the future.Regards,
Emiddio Massa
Captain, US Navy (ret.)
I took mine down. Weird — they were so similar that when I saw yours, I thought it was mine.
This is ridiculous and petty. The “your mother (fill in the blanks)” and “don’t you say that about my mother” stuff should be over with by the time you enter third grade. Can’t the campaign move beyond this? How about some big ideas and big plans for the future, instead of small complaints about a small stupid statement, blown up by the campaigns?
This is simply more fallout from the situation in Corning as it runs its course.
The issue here is lack of debate commitment. Scheduled dates, locations. Sure, as commenter Elmer pointed out, some TV and newspapers have independently scheduled dates but without confirmation from Randy Kuhl.
It is not in Randy Kuhl’s best interest, as an incumbent, to debate his challenger candidate Eric Massa. Of course it is in Massa’s best interest to debate Kuhl every day.
The focus needs to be on getting both parties on to a stage and allowing them to address the issues.
I agree. the focus needs to be back on the issues, the “incident” needs to be put aside by all.
[...] We told you earlier about a second letter that Eric Massa’s father wrote, asking for an apology from Randy Kuhl. Now, Channel 13 is asking the question as well: The interaction was nothing short of intriguing, and while many politicos are going to draw their own conclusions - the only one I’m willing to hang my hat on is the fact that these candidates don’t like each other. I’ve covered them both closely for the better part of 4 years and I think I can say, without reservations, that neither has much respect for the other’s politics…and often, that extends to their personalities. (Yes, this does explain why I often dangle, poke, bait, and entice some sort of reaction from each on the other’s campaign - the animosity exists just below the surface at times, but it’s there.) [...]