Congressman Skewered

The New York Post continues to stick it to Congressman Shays for saying he wouldn’t spend New Year's Eve in Times Square because of fear over a terrorist attack.

Yesterday the Post ran an article entitled, "Chicken Little Politician Gets Skewered."

According to the Post, Mayor Bloomberg referred to Shoshana Johnson, an Iraqi war veteran who joined Bloomberg to lower the ball in Times Square, and said: "

She was a woman who was fighting to protect the congressman's freedoms," Bloomberg said on NBC. "She was captured and wounded in Iraq. Maybe he should call her and learn a little bit about courage."

Johnson stuck it to shays as well:

With all due respect to the congressman, I didn't appreciate the comments.

We were fighting to protect the freedom of these people and it makes me feel like I didn't do a good job.

There was more. The Post reported:

It isn't the first time Shays' guts have been called into question.

Connecticut pol applied for conscientious-objector status during the Vietnam War and would not have served if called up, according to the "Almanac of American Politics."

For my money, Nikita Demosthenes, at The Command Post, has the best post on Shays' comments. Nikita asks:

What does the annual celebration in Times Square represent if not another year of American freedom?

Congressman Shays is the only one of our leaders to suggest caving in to vague terrorist threats. By his own admission there was no specific threat against the Times Square celebration. His comments were wrong and his refusal to apologize is worse. Cowering and hiding is not the American way.