Alaskan teabagger hero Joe Miller ran away again when questioned about his service-connected disabilities, this time after a Sunday evening TV debate held at the Alaska Native Heritage Center Museum in Anchorage. The Republican candidate for Senate continued to ignore demands that he identify his service-connected disabilities and his official "percentage disabled." How much is Joe Miller earning from the government in military disability money?
When approached at the end of the debate to answer this question, your correspondent was chest-bumped and blocked by Miller goon and high school dropout Mark Fish. An incognito Wonkette operative immediately intervened, allowing your correspondent to slip away and follow Miller, who pushed through several people as he made his initial escape.
Five times the question was posed to Miller, and five times he fled. Multiple witnesses expressed shock at the cowardice of the Tea Party favorite, who ran away from the same question last week after a meet-and-greet event.
Miller publicly revealed his status as a service-connected disabled veteran in a candidate questionnaire published by the Anchorage Daily News last week. In response to a question about the Veterans Administration, Miller wrote: "As a service-connected veteran, I personally know that there is a great need here in Alaska for more VA medical facilities."
Miller could be collecting over $4,000 a month tax free, depending on the percentage of his disability. Of greater concern is the root of his disability. If Miller is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, then a taxpayer funded job in the U.S. Senate might not be a good fit.
Other questions regarding his military service have also come to light. Miller graduated with the West Point Class of 1989, paying for his education with a five-year active duty commitment as an Army officer. According to his discharge papers [PDF], Miller served only three years, three months and seven days. The separation code under which he left the Army (known as the "FND") is defined only as "miscellaneous reasons." Miller has not released the reasons, nor has he released amendments to his discharge papers that would detail his years in the Army Reserve.
What is wrong with Joe Miller? Are his problems physical, mental, or both?
That's right, and we're not talking about just 25%. Candy-ass things like hypertension can be considered a disabling condition, even if it's well controlled. It's amazing how an officer can be receiving walk-on-water performance reviews one month, and retire with crushing disability the next, with a nontaxable pension, at age 42, ready to work for a government contractor for another 20 years.
Wikipedia says Bachelor of Science in Political Science, with honors, in 1989. So, Teabaggery Studies.