This Week In Thaddeus #7

“When the doctrine of allegiance to party can utterly up-end a man's moral constitution and make a temporary fool of him besides, what excuse are you going to offer for preaching it, teaching it, extending it, perpetuating it? Shall you say, the best good of the country demands allegiance to party? Shall you also say it demands that a man kick his truth and his conscience into the gutter, and become a mouthing lunatic, besides?” Mark Twain, 1884


Once again, we find the Congressman from Livonia loyally obeying the direction from his leader, George W. Bush. On Friday, the House voted to hold Presidential Aides Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in contempt, for their refusal to testify under oath regarding their roles in political firings of US Attorneys by the Justice Department. This of course is only one of the many ways that Republicans and Bush/Cheney have sought unprecedented and unconstitutional levels of so-called "executive privilege" to keep the American people in the dark. Shameful.

McCotter and 162 fellow Republican Congressmen chose to walk out of the Capitol and not vote.

Seriously.

When sought for comment, McCotter rather ironically called the vote "cheap political theatrics". As he got up and staged a rather theatrical boycott.

At the time of Miers failure to honor a Congressional subpoena, John Dean - a former Presidential Counsel and White House lawyer to Richard Nixon wrote:

It was on Thursday, July 12, that Miers was asked to testify before the subcommittee investigating the removal of U.S. Attorneys by the Bush Administration, and did not show. That same day, the subcommittee's Chair, Linda Sanchez (D.CA), undertook the preliminary steps necessary to declare Miers in contempt. By a party line vote of seven Democrats to five Republicans, the subcommittee ruled that there was no legal justification for Miers's failing to appear pursuant to the subpoena.

Notwithstanding this blatant affront to the House Judiciary Committee, Republicans members played their familiar role -- allowing party affiliation to trump institutional responsibility, just as it had when they controlled Congress.

Realistically, however, there is zero chance that Republicans will place their constitutional interest ahead of their partisan interests.

And that is exactly what Thaddeus McCotter does - puts partisan interests ahead of those of his constituents. It's got to be bad when Nixon's lawyer thinks you're shady!

TWIT #6 - The Company You Keep

“Tell me what company you keep and I'll tell you what you are.” - Miguel de Cervantes

Today was the first day of the douchefest known as the Conservative Political Action Conference - an annual gathering of white people who consider themselves important conservative activists, white male elected officials, and Michelle Malkin. At 1:35 PM this afternoon, our beloved Congressman took part in some sort of discussion entitled Is the GOP still lost? Joining Rep. McCotter was Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who has in the past said:

When I ponder our country and its greatness, its weaknesses, its potential, my heart aches for less divisiveness, less polarization, less finger pointing, less bitterness, less mindless partisanship, which at times sounds almost hateful to the ear of Americans.

Which sounds all sweet and dandy when you're crying in the Senate. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank noted:

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) showed exceptional emotional versatility, working a crossword puzzle during the hearing and then choking back a sob while making a prosaic statement about partisanship.

But this is a man also known for:

As a congressman in 1997, Coburn protested NBC's plan to air the R-rated Academy Award-winning Holocaust drama Schindler's List during prime time. Coburn stated that, in airing the movie without editing it for television, TV had been taken "to an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity." He also said the TV broadcast should outrage parents and decent-minded individuals everywhere. Coburn described the airing of Schindler's List on television as "...irresponsible sexual behavior...I cringe when I realize that there were children all across this nation watching this program."

“The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power … Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners? That’s a gay agenda.”

“I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life.”

Which would apparently create some sort of deadly Catch-22 spiral of abortionists and executioners dying, since people who take life should be put to death... Ahh, you could almost taste the hypocrisy in the air there in the Regency Ballroom of the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

But what other fine upstanding members of society have been featured at the Conference?

• President Bush and Vice President Cheney
• Senator George "Macaca" Allen (whom McCotter has attended fundraisers for)
• Senator Rick "homosexuality equals bestiality" Santorum
• The Young Americans for Freedom - who have been classified as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center
• Even Tom f*&#ing Delay is speaking!
  

Sponsors and exhibitors include:

• World Net Daily
• Jerry Falwell's Liberty University
• The NRA
• Grover "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub." Norquist

They are presenting a lifetime achievement award to the author of a book defending Joseph McCarthy! I told you all of that to tell you this - Thaddeus McCotter is no moderate. He is a far-right ideologue, who places all things neo-con ahead of the working people he is paid to represent. He does not work for you - he just doesn't work.