Worst part of the House debate? It’s a tough call

June 16, 2006

I’ll have more on the [tag]Kabuki Dance[/tag] on the House floor yesterday a little later, but in the meantime, I can’t help but wonder which of the following Republican statements was the most offensive. They’re all pretty over the top, so I’m having trouble deciding.

Choice A: “America’s response started high above a corn field in rural Pennsylvania. Brave men and women armed with nothing more than boiling water and dinner forks and broken bottles stood up as Americans always do when our freedom is in peril and they struck back…. We in this Congress must show the same steely resolve as those men and women on United [tag]Flight 93[/tag], the same sense of duty as the first responders who headed up the stairs of the Twin Towers.” — House Speaker [tag]Dennis Hastert[/tag] (R-Ill.)

Choice B: “Many, but not all, on the other side of the aisle lack the will to win. The American people need to know precisely who they are. It is time to stand up and vote. Is it Al Qaeda, or is it America?” — Rep. [tag]Charlie Norwood[/tag] (R-Ga.)

Choice C: “I understand the faithful visitation that [Jack Murtha] does routinely. So I say thank God for his big heart. I say thank god for his compassion. Thank God for his visits to the wounded. Thank God for his ministering to grieving families. But thank God he was not here and prevailed after the bloodbaths at Normandy and in the Pacific or we would be here speaking [tag]Japanese[/tag] or [tag]German[/tag].” — Rep. [tag]Louie Gohmert[/tag] (R-Texas)

One could really make the case for any of them. Hastert essentially equated his rivals with terrorists and made himself out to be a hero for defending “[tag]stay the course[/tag].” Norwood was more explicit in his with-us-or-against-us mentality, and strongly implied that critics of the war are siding with [tag]al Queda[/tag]. And Gohmert, whose gall is rather breathtaking, thanked God that a decorated war hero wasn’t in WWII.

So much stupidity, so few vulnerable incumbents….

June 16, 2006 at 11:11 am

I think Pvt. Gohmert Pyle’s quote takes the cake. While the others were 100% Republican boilerplate BS, Gohmert reached way up his ass for that piece of crap quote. Hell hath no mendacity like a draft-dodger scorned. Are there any Republicans left with any honor and dignity intact?

B: Norwood. He thinks more than half the country is like al Queda? Norwood’s a reminder of why Democrats shouldn’t even bother to try and get along with Republicans. They think we’re terrorists.

petorado writes: “Are there any Republicans left with any honor and dignity intact?” Sadly, the answer to your question is probably “no”, unless a Republican raises the point in the debate that these speeches are breathtaking for their stupidity, evil and lack of understanding of what a democracy is about.

For that matter, where is the Democrat who will call these outrageous people out for what they are? And will there be any political hell to pay? Will there be credible, aggressive challengers for these assholes who will be armed with well crafted messages to show their constituents who is representing them in Congress–thick, draft dodging shitheads who don’t want a fair debate about sending others’ to kill and be killed or dismembered in Iraq? Will there be any commercials that remind their constituents that Iraq wasn’t a factor in the attack on the U.S., that we have squandered our ability to fight Al Qaeda and that their moronic representatives are part of the problem?

Again, sadly, the answer will probably be “no” as the Democrats can’t even get it together to invent a cliche slogan for their version of the Contract with America. I despair every day as to whether we will ever be rid of this cancer in our government. We truly are living in The Dark Ages II where ignorance is celebrated and rewarded.

Did you see the comments poster over at Atrios’ site? (I’m guessing they were real quotes).

Basically, some Republicant’s called for amnesty for those who have attacked our troops.

Apparently, amensty for those coming to our country to try and make a better life = bad, while amnesty for those who try to kill our troops = good.

I really do wonder what color the sky is in the world most on the right live in, because it sure as hell ain’t blue.

They’re just slowly laying the groundwork for the future arrest of their political opponents. I vote C, though someone posted Murtha’s reply and it was a beauty.

Got to be C. I would have thrown in a comment about that no-legged coward Max Cleland for a grand finale. I think all these speeches need to become campaign material.

I vote for C, but B is a strong contender due to its brevity. Could someone please post Murtha’s reply? Tell me he called him out on the floor and asked him to “step outside”.

I vote for C. It’s far more explicitly offensive than A or B. I’m suprised A is even on the list. Perhaps I lack context but A doesn’t sound like unusual or even offensive rhetoric.

That Cornfield in Pennsylvania–Hastert was planning to option it for a shopping center.

Hell hath no mendacity like a draft-dodger scorned

Gohmert’s language is reprehensible, but he himself, to be fair, is no draft dodger. His official bio says that he was a captain in the Army; the VFW website elaborates that “Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) served in the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps at Fort Benning, Ga., from 1978-82,” after he finished law school.

Could someone please post Murtha’s reply?

Hi Edo. Here’s the video of Murtha challenging Gohmert. It’s pretty good, though Murtha no doubt had to keep his emotions in check.

Man, I’m not one for physical violence but if I were on the floor I don’t know how I’d stop myself from wailing like a banashee and diving across the aisle with clenched fists.

Sometimes I really hate that they make me hate them so.

Murtha’s reply:
Rep. Gohmert: Let me close by saying some have not had nice things to say about our colleague Mr. Murtha, and others wanting to pull out of Iraq quickly. I understand the faithful visitation that he does routinely. So i say thank god for his big heart. I say thank god for his compassion. Thank god for his visits to the wounded. Thank god for his ministering to grieving families. But thank god he was not here and prevailed after the bloodbaths at Normandy and in the Pacific or we would be here speaking Japanese or German. Thank you.

Rep. Murtha: Was the gentleman at any of those locations? Either at Normandy or any of those locations?

Rep. Gohmert: You want to know which locations?

Rep. Murtha: Yeah. Normandy?

Rep. Murtha: I say were you there?

Rep. Gohmert: No, sir. I wasn’t.

Rep. Murtha: Were you in Vietnam?

Rep. Gohmert: No, sir.

Rep. Murtha: Iraq?

Rep. Gohmert: No. I have been over there. I haven’t been fighting.

Rep. Murtha: Boots on the ground?

Rep. Gohmert: I do admire the gentleman’s compassion and all he has done for our wounded. He has done a great service that would be you, Mr. Murtha.

Ok, not to water this down by calling out the Dems, but seriously – and I hope I’ve misjudged and this really has happened already — isn’t there one single Dem who is going to step to the microphone and boom out a passionate “Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Gohmert wasn’t in the Army, he was a fucking lawyer wearing a costume. The TV show to the contrary, JAG weenies haven’t been called JAG weenies for 50 years without cause.

Not one of the other of those draft-dodging cowards masquerading as “patriots” even got as close as our graduate of Podunk U Law School’s Night Division did.

Gohmert’s language is reprehensible, but he himself, to be fair, is no draft dodger.

Frankly, that makes it worse. Why do the Republicans hate the military?

I heard Dumbya on NPR yesterday discussing this debate and he said,

“If we pull out before the mission is accomplished, the world will be a more dangerous place.”

And my immediate thought was his conclusion was hardly a foregone one;
if his daddy had pulled out before his mission was accomplished the world would sure as hell be a much safer place.

(ok, so once i got over being snarky I more seriously thought someone should call him on the fact that, according to his PR banner, the mission had been accomplished long ago.)

“So much stupidity, so few vulnerable incumbents….”

Says it all. Republicans are born assholes. Others (Dems) have to work at it but they’re getting there.

The worst part of the debate is that in the end, 42 Democrats voted in favor of the resolution.

That is so far beyond unacceptable…

Gohmert wasn’t in the Army, he was a fucking lawyer wearing a costume

I still think you have to distinguish between people who were in the service (Gohmert, Murtha, Kerry, McCain, McGovern, whoever) and those who truly avoided it (Bush, Clinton, Cheney, Rumsfeld). Al Gore was a Vietnam veteran, for instance, not a cub reporter wearing a costume. There is a difference.

Thanks for restoring confidence in my analysis of the quality of the politicians serving the US in our nation’s capital. Maybe we better start giving them riot helmets and batons when we swear them into office. And forego any expectations that a real “debate” occur. Too bad the Republicans did not keep their pledge to term limit themselves.

Sometimes I really hate that they make me hate them so.

I’m relieved that I’m not the only one with this sentiment. I’m trying to not let the hate build, but I care about the future of this world.

I think that, since they are our employees, we ought to force them to entertain us. Start with pillow fights and fart contests, then work up to Roman gladiatorial contests.

Ed,

I don’t think a fart contest is fair! Have you seen Hastert lately? The man is 100 lbs over weight and a gas bag to boot. He alone would blow them away! Of course some of them are such tight-asses a fart might render them incapable of resting on their laurels.

And yet, where are the Dems who who should bel calling them out on their stupidity?

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