The GOP’s ploy got off to a rough start when, as Talking Points Memo reports,

During the debate, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) came on the floor and read a letter purporting to be from a United States Marine which said something to the effect of “Please tell Murtha, cowards cut and run, Marines never do.” The clear ‘feel’ of her statement was that she was calling him a coward. The House burst into yells and pandemonium. Schmidt was forced to come back to the House floor and ask that her remarks be stricken from the record.

Americablog reports Rep. Schmidt is wearing an American flag sweater, solidifying her as little more than a bullshit patriot, especially when the man she attacked on the floor has, according to an emailer to Andrew Sullivan,

“…been visiting our wounded troops weekly at Walter Reed Army Medical Center since the war began.”