Power Line blows the whistle on the MSM’s favorite whistleblower Coleen Rowley, who is running for Congress in Minnesota on a platform of advocating “ethical decision-making.”

Her idea of ethical decision-making? Photoshopping an image of her GOP opponent, Rep. John Kline, as bumbling Nazi Col. Klink. Her campaign website replaced Rep. Kline’s military uniform (he’s a 25-year veteran of the Marine Corps) with Nazi-like garb. Power Line has the screen shot from Rowley’s site.

Ed Morrissey dubs Rowley the “Godwin candidate” and reports:

Rowley later took the picture off the website but never issued an apology or even an acknowledgment that it had been posted. Fortunately, others did a screen grab of the site before the cowards at Rowley’s headquarters went into full retreat. If Minnesota Democrats have any sense of honor and respect, they will call for the immediate withdrawal of Rowley from the race. She disgraces not just the Second District but all of Minnesota with this kind of campaigning.

Contrast Rowley’s refusal to accept responsibility for her Nazi-card demagoguery with GOP Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Bill Scranton’s immediate firing of his campaign manager last week for leveling a reckless slur against rival candidate Lynn Swann.

Hugh Hewitt asks:

Where are the Democrats who should be denouncing this? The ones who, rightly, slammed the comments directed at Congressman John Murtha’s service?

A party in free fall cannot pause to summon the moral courage to denounce this repulsive comparison of Marines to Nazis? I guess Dick Durbin was just the first of many Democrats to come clean with their feelings.

Yes.

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Minnesota Democrats Exposed was on the case early yesterday and writes:

This is unreal. Representative John Kline proudly served in the U.S. Marines for 25 years and to have his military service mocked by Rowley’s campaign is unconscionable.

Rusty at The Jawa Report: Maybe, but at least he’s a loveable Nazi

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A reader received this e-mail for Rowley:

From: coleen@coleenrowley.com
To:
Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 07:19:36 -0700
Subject: RE: please…

The image of Rep. Kline as Col. Klink posted on my blog was a mistake. I apologize to Rep. Kline, as well as any other offended person, for my poor judgment. These are critical times, and the people of MN’s 2nd District deserve a campaign about ideas and substance, not doctored photos. For that reason, I will do everything in my power to ensure that type of material does not appear on my website again.

Sincerely,
Coleen Rowley