toledoblade.com --

WASHINGTON - Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) found herself in political hot water yesterday after Republicans blasted her for remarks in which she seemed to compare Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to America's founding fathers.

Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh excoriated her on his nationwide radio show yesterday and both the Democrat and the Republican on CNN's Crossfire criticized her, as did the No. 2 House Republican leader, Rep. Tom DeLay (R., Texas).

Lucas County Auditor Larry Kaczala, who is likely to challenge Miss Kaptur next year as she seeks a 12th term, wrote on his campaign stationery that her remarks comparing terrorists to America's revolutionaries were "the most outrageous and sick comparison I have ever heard."

He called on her to resign.

Miss Kaptur, who has been outspoken in her opposition to a war with Iraq for months, told Blade religion editor David Yonke in a story published Saturday that religious fervor is a strong element of modern terrorism.

It is similar, she said, to the "nontraditional American revolutionaries" such as the Green Mountain Boys, a Vermont militia group, and religious groups that had fled religious persecution in Europe and were determined to be free.

"One could say that Osama bin Laden and these nonnation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown."

She is scheduled to appear today at 10 a.m. at a workshop for Catholic leaders titled "Preaching and Teaching Peace in the Face of War" at All Saints Church, 628 Lime City Rd., Rossford. Miss Kaptur is a member of Little Flower Church in Toledo.

The Rev. Martin Donnelly of St. Martin de Porres Church, a coordinator of the workshop, said he expected Miss Kaptur to show up, and he defended her.

"For anyone to read those remarks and think that Marcy Kaptur equates [the terrorists] with the founders of the country is totally unbelievable.

"I think her point is a legitimate one. We have to understand that folks on the other side of the equation are driven by religious fervor. That is not to legitimize by any means what conclusions they draw. In general we're unfamiliar with the intense religiosity of the Islamic community. I think Marcy wants us to be well informed about all aspects of this important issue."

As for her future political prospects, Father Donnelly said, "She's been elected 11 times. Don't tell me we were off the mark for 22 years. Those who will find fault will find fault with anything."

In response to the furor, Miss Kaptur released the following statement:

"It appears my statement has been purposefully taken out of context. Partisan political maneuvers, at this serious moment in history, serve neither America nor our quest to conquer this dangerous enemy of free people.

"My comments were intended to point out that what faces us is a rising revolution being felt across repressive regimes of the Arab and Islamic world. That revolution is aimed at casting off the existing order. Not to recognize the magnitude of the fervor that is being turned against America is to ignore the real enemy.

"The American people understand the power of revolution. It is in that context that I referred to the American Revolution. World powers have been born out of revolution. Terrorism in the name of revolution is not acceptable. Ever."

Miss Kaptur, 56, who consistently has won her district with as much as 75 percent of the vote, is the senior Democratic woman serving in the House and has long been considered an independent spirit in Washington.

She was at loggerheads with the Clinton White House over the North American Free Trade Agreement he signed and she has publicly taken President Bush to task over the same issue. A few weeks ago she launched a quixotic bid for minority leader of the House, knowing she could not beat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), but determined to make a pitch for a Democratic "reform agenda."

Bernadette Noe, chairman of the Lucas County Republican Party, said she considers it her top priority to try to oust Miss Kaptur from office.

"I've thought for years she is vulnerable [to defeat]."

Ms. Noe said she could not believe her eyes when she read Miss Kaptur's comments in The Blade on Saturday. "I am an American Revolutionary War buff. I have studied these people. For her to compare people like George Washington with Osama bin Laden, well, it just struck my being as an American.

"I was hoping she didn't mean what she said, but she hasn't retracted her words; so I guess she stands by what she said."

Ms. Noe said the National Republican Committee has been in touch with her about helping a Republican candidate run against Miss Kaptur. "I know they are very interested in Larry [Kaczala]," she said.

Mr. Kaczala, 46, a lawyer and former Toledo city councilman who has been auditor since 1993, said he was going to decide whether to run next week but that the decision has been pushed back a few weeks. Nonetheless, he said, "It looks like it [as if he will run]."

He said that when he read the paper Saturday, "I thought, ‘No, she couldn't possibly have said this.' I think her comments will hurt her. What will happen now should have happened a long time ago. People will pay attention to what she says."

He added, "She disagrees with everyone. I think it loses and lowers her credibility. She not only fights with Republicans, she fights with Democrats. I don't think she has any credibility left in Washington. Well, after this, she won't have any credibility. That doesn't do us [in Lucas County] any good."

Miss Kaptur has been insistent that war with Iraq will worsen relations with 1 billion Islamic followers in the world.

"I think that one thing that people of faith understand about the world of Islam is that the kind of insurgency we see occurring in many of these countries is an act of hope that life will be better using Islam as the only reed that they have to lean on,'' she said.

Few Democrats could be found yesterday to defend her remarks. Paula Ross, the Lucas County Democratic Party chairman, was traveling and did not respond to calls.

Mr. DeLay put out a press release saying that Democratic leaders were looking "the other way despite the outrageous utterings" of Miss Kaptur.

Paul Begala, an avid Democrat and former political aide to Bill Clinton when he was president, said on CNN's Crossfire on Wednesday night that he found her remarks "disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. ... I just can't defend it. I never will - the notion that anybody could compare this murderer [Osama bin Laden] to our founding fathers is insane."

Tucker Carlson, who takes the Republican point of view on the show, said Miss Kaptur "has gone completely off the deep end." He noted that Miss Kaptur "is an actual member of the Democratic caucus in the House of Representatives. Let's hope that ends very soon."

- ANN McFEATTERS

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