When news broke of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's release, several Republicans in Congress digitally offered their heartfelt prayers to Bergdahl's family and words of praise for America reclaiming one of its own. Only, you won't find any of those sentiments anymore online, for such words of prayer and praise have been scrubbed.
Case in point: Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV), who could not contain his excitement upon hearing the news:
Even better, the
statement made by Representative Lee Terry (R-NE), which was later scrubbed from his website:
"A grateful nation welcomes the news of the return of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. I have the pleasure of regularly speaking with our nation's active duty military and veterans and I know that there is nothing more solemn than the pledge to never leave one of their own behind on the field of battle.
"Sgt. Bergdahl is a national hero. It's my hope that once he ultimately retires from active duty service, implementation of reforms to our nation's VA hospitals are made so that he will have access to the long-term care he has rightfully earned from the horrors he endured."
And then there's Joni Ernst,
now poised to be the Republican candidate fighting for Senator Tom Harkin's Senate seat in Iowa, retracting thoughts and prayers. (When does a Republican retract prayers?)
It's almost as though these GOP officials were responding to a coordinated messaging effort to turn this prisoner release into the next Obama controversy.
Either that, or they simply changed their minds about the value of America saving one of its own.
Yep – it must have been the latter.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.
Author's Note:
This article was edited to reflect Ernst's Republican primary victory last night.