Curt Weldon, M.D.

You might remember Curt Weldon from his theory that if the government had listened to him, the terrorist attacks wouldn’t have happened. (Essentially.) He’s also said that Osama Bin Laden is dead. He gets all this through “secret sources.”

Fair enough. He’s a member of the U.S. House, though. Tell me one House member who hasn’t done anything wild and wacky in their careers. The one who hit the cop or the one who just resigned in disgrace? Then again, neither of those House members have — at least not recently — criticized an upcoming election opponent for staying with his daughter while she was in the hospital.

Weldon’s November opponent is Joe Sestak, a native of Springfield, Pa., and a three-star general in the Navy who retired Jan. 1 after 31 years. Of course, when he got back he was only renting a home in Pennsylvania while continuing to have a residence in Virginia.

That might be something to bash, except that Sestak was staying with his daughter. At Children’s National Medical Center. Who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor last summer and was given three to nine months to live. He kept living there because her condition improved, and she might’ve beaten the cancer.

This is a time when you call your opponent up and tell him you’re thrilled with the news. But, oh, not Curt Weldon:

Weldon attacked Sestak’s decision to continue owning a home in Virginia while only renting in Pennsylvania and questioned why Sestak did not move back to Pennsylvania when he was working at the Pentagon. Weldon commutes from Pennsylvania each day.

Weldon also suggested Sestak should have sent his daughter to a hospital in Philadelphia or Delaware, rather than the Washington hospital. Sestak said that as soon as doctors give his daughter the all-clear, he’ll buy in Pennsylvania.

He told his opponent he should have moved his daughter, who had a malignant brain tumor, to a closer hospital because… you know, it doesn’t even matter why he said it. He told a newspaper — so this wasn’t like an offhand remark, either — that a father should leave his daughter with a malignant brain tumor.

Joe Sendak has, of course, responded, and he does a nice job of it. Although, to be fair, he could have released a video of himself pissing on a photo of Curt Weldon and he’d still be the classier candidate.

Sestak’s battles — naval, familial and political [The Hill]
Joe Sestak’s Daughter Had a Brain Tumor [Eschaton]
March 15: Mr. Perfect he ain’t