Welcome to Chicago politics. The problem here isn’t the idea of veterans going on television and slamming a fellow veteran. That’s obviously been done before. The problem is that Mob Banker Giannoulias was too busy lending money to the mob to serve his country, but now he’s promising compensation for veterans who will go after his veteran opponent.

Furthermore, the attacks from Giannoulias are false. The mob banker says Kirk “lied about going to war in Iraq”. That’s been proven false. Kirk did serve in Iraq, taking part in Operation Northern Watch, a mission to enforce the no-fly zone over the country. Meanwhile, Giannoulias was busy knowingly lending money to felons. Gee, who should we trust?

Kirk has received the backing of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Combat Veterans for Congress. His commanding officer during Operation Allied Force called him, “the finest intelligence officer I have ever served with”. And his Officer Fitness Report from Iraq says he is “one of the most combat-tested Aviation Intelligence Officers in the Naval Reserve”.

But Mob Banker Giannoulias would like to compensate veterans to film a campaign commercial attacking Kirk. The same Giannoulias who never bothered to serve his country. Absolutely sleazy.