Marine’s father: Get out of Iraq

Benjamin Grove

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 | 8:13 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic grass-roots operation Moveon.org collected 400,000 signatures on petitions urging their lawmakers to back a timeline for pulling troops out of Iraq by 2006.

Petitions were delivered this week to 244 congressional offices nationwide, including to each of Nevada's three House lawmakers.

Among those delivering the petitions was Las Vegas resident Kevin Acosta, 44, whose son Adam, 19, is a Marine who has been serving there for three months, Acosta said. He helped Moveon.org deliver about 620 signatures of voters in the 3rd Congressional District to the Henderson office of Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.

Acosta, himself a four-year Army veteran and seven-year veteran of the Illinois Army and Air National Guard, said he had supported military strikes in Afghanistan and those aimed at al-Qaida, but not Iraq.

Acosta said his son knows his father is opposed to the war in Iraq, but the two have not discussed their views much.

"He didn't want to debate it, and I didn't press," Acosta said.

Adam Acosta has long wanted to join the Marines. As soon as he turned 18, he did. Acosta said he respects his son's decision.

"He's just serving his country and following orders," Acosta said.

Acosta said he had opposed invading Iraq long before Moveon.org launched a petition drive.

"They're trying to tie all this to terror," he said. "Well, yeah, we have created a terrorist magnet there now. But it wasn't initially."

Porter respects Acosta's opinion but intends to leave troop pullout timelines to military commanders, Porter spokesman T.J. Crawford said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., 61, and ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, 56, share more than a name. Their birthday was Friday. (Nevada's Gibbons spent the day in Washington where House votes were scheduled.) They have more in common. The conservative GOP gubernatorial candidate plays guitar. And the veteran rocker behind the songs "Got Me Under Pressure" and "Rough Boy" plays Republican -- ZZ Top performed at Bush inauguration events in 2001 and 2005.

(However, Gibbons is the only member of the Texas trio who is not Republican, band publicist Bob Merlis said. His mother was a Democratic activist, Merlis said. ZZ Top typically isn't politically active, although it agreed to play the inaugurations. "You know, they're from Texas," Merlis said. "Billy is a sport.")

The two are not related. But they randomly crossed paths once in Washington's Reagan National Airport, where the lawmaker recognized the longbearded frontman, Jim Gibbons aide Amy Maier said. The two chatted briefly, she said, mostly small talk about their travels. But they didn't swap birthday wishes -- they didn't know they shared the sign of Sagittarius.

The U.S. government's top printer -- Nevadan Bruce James -- sent out about 2,000 personal Christmas cards befitting a man who has spent decades in the printing business.

This was no cheap portrait postcard. The front of the thick-stock glossy card features a photo of snowy Lake Tahoe, taken by James' wife, Nora, and folds out to reveal a photo of their Lake Tahoe home. Also inside are shots of the couple on adventure this year: at the San Francisco Ballet, at the Biltmore Mansion in North Carolina, at the U.S. Capitol for President Bush's inauguration, in Elko for the Cowboy Poetry gathering, in Sicily, at the White House. On the back is a breezy description of the couple's busy year, in a tasteful sans-serif font.

So who does the CEO of the Government Printing Office rely on for his personal printing?

He won't say. Revealing that could be viewed as an endorsement, which would be inappropriate under government ethics rules, GPO spokeswoman Veronica Meter said. James hired a Washington-area private commercial printer and paid for the job himself, she said.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., is heading to Iraq for a congressional delegation tour, and he has penciled in four to six shows for his congressional rock band, the Second Amendments, to play for the troops. Porter (keyboards) is leading the lawmakers and his classic-rock ("Takin' Care of Business," "Wonderful Tonight") band mates: Reps. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo. (drums); Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich. (guitar); Collin Peterson, D-Minn. (vocals); and Dave Weldon, R-Fla. (bass). Non-band member Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., is also making the trip.

The tour will stop in Europe, Iraq and Afghanistan between Christmas and New Year's. The media has been asked not to publish its exact itinerary, to discourage autograph hounds. Kidding -- itineraries are often kept under wraps for security reasons.

The lawmakers will be meeting with troops and commanders. Porter also plans discussions with military medical personnel to discuss nursing shortages.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., spent last Monday night bunking in the belly of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, docked off the coast of Southern California, saying he was struck by the crew's professionalism and high morale. Ensign, a member of the Armed Services Committee and chairman of its military readiness subcommittee, said he wanted a look at daily life aboard the nuclear-powered war ship.

Ensign said the carrier was an example of how U.S. military readiness, due in part to increased defense spending, has generally improved in the four and a half years.

Ensign said he declined an offer to stay in the ship's VIP quarters and instead slept in a bunk room for enlisted personnel, claiming a middle rack (Navy talk for bed) in a three-high stack.

Porter plans to give the $11,000 he netted since 2000 in campaign contributions from disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., to Goodwill of Southern Nevada. Porter had announced he would give the money to charity, but had not immediately decided which one, after Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors. Cunningham resigned from Congress Nov. 28.

Goodwill is grateful, despite the reason behind the donation, the charity's president Steve Chartrand said. The money will be used for job training and placement for the disabled, he said.

Benjamin Grove can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at grove@ lasvegassun.com.