Why is Blue Dog Walt Minnick meeting with the gun-slinging Paulbots who run Boise's 'Tea Parties'?
Jeez. On the same day that one of their leaders and key organizers is arrested for pulling a gun on an elderly man, the folks who run the Tea Parties in Boise got to announce that Blue Dog Democrat Walt Minnick would be meeting with them.
Now that's what I call timing.
The Political Game has the details:
What is even more unconscionable than Republicans lying about reform efforts to keep average Idahoans from supporting any of those efforts is the fact that Congressman Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) is going to speak to those who have halted civil discourse across this nation--teabaggers. Our one and only "Democratic" congressman, Walt Minnick, conducted a telephone town hall last night and will again on the last day of this month, but has otherwise avoided meeting with average constituents throughout his district (he's happy to meet with business leaders and corporate interests) who have real concerns about health care reform. The sting of Minnick's conservative positions and opposition to health care was made exponentially worse today when the Statesman reported that on Saturday Minnick will speak to TEA Party Boise at the Owyhee Plaza.
Congressman Minnick is willingly going before a potential group of extremists who are gun toting, anti-Obama, health care reform obstructionists. He has chosen principles, if he has any, over party. He is catering to the lunatic fringe in ways we haven't seen an Idaho politician of either party do since Congressman Helen Chenoweth.
Well, it's one thing to waffle, but to embrace the people who have been turning our national discourse into a three-wingnut circus is indeed unconscionable.
The ironic thing, as we've explored previously, is that none of these people will ever, ever vote for Walt Minnick. He has a better chance of convincing a rock to vote for him.
Especially the folks who run Tea Party Boise. As we noted, one of their leaders -- a fellow named Challis McAffee -- was just arrested for pointing a handgun at an elderly man whose home McAffee was photographing.
McAfee, as the AP story explains, was a key figure in the recent takeover of much the Idaho GOP apparatus by supporters of Ron Paul. McAffee also runs a Paul-supporting organization called Idahoans for Liberty.
His friends also have a fondness for getting bellicose to the point of being arrested; one of them, a fellow named Christopher Pentico, was convicted of trespass earlier this year when he refused to leave the grounds of the state Capitol building. McAffee, in cohort with Tea Party Boise, organized the Tea Partiers to appear in the courtroom at Pentico's sentencing.
Being a fourth-generation Idahoan myself, I can safely predict that Minnick -- who is likely to lose his seat no matter what -- is doomed to fail by taking this kind of course. He'd do far better to persuade that mushy middle of soft suburban Republicans that he's worth voting for. And playing footsie with his core positions is not how he'll do that.
Those soft Republicans can be convinced to vote for a Democrat if they think he's a person of principle with good bearings -- after all, they voted for Cecil Andrus for many years. They don't need Minnick to agree with them always, but it's far more important that they respect him.
Taking a principled stand on health care would actually win Minnick more respect than it would lose him votes. Because as he'll see this weekend, the folks on the other side would die a thousand horrible deaths before they'd ever vote for a Democrat.
Just do the right thing, Walt. It's easier than you think.
Bot and paid for.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
The democrats never take up for a progressive democrats ,,, but runs to the defense of a Blue Dog and some republicans..
Are they spineless or are they really not who they say they are..
I no longer believe Obama and over 1/3 of the democrats are real democrats ,, But republicans elected on OUR democratic ticket..
Emanuel and other democrat leaders have been recruiting and funding republicans to run on our democratic ticket for some time now..
http://www.truthout.org/article/special-repor...
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That would be...the way the cookie crumbles.
Stop fishing for votes by catering to wacko's that didn't vote for you!!
I look at this BS of Obama and the democrats all the time and think what in the h... did I vote for..
You have to be an idoit to keep kissing the a.. of someone which is kicking you in the ba...
These republicans are really talking a bunch of BS...
If they were serious about fiscal responsiblity then they should have voted democrat after Clinton's administration of cleaning up behind Bush Sr.. instead of voting for Bush which has never been sucessful and any business he tried...
Bush either had his daddy or when Governor use the government to bail him out of his mistakes..
****
Bill Clinton's administration...
Emanuel did not learn a thing from Bill..
Largest Surplus Ever: The surplus in FY 2000 is $237 billion—the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.
Largest Three-Year Debt Pay-Down Ever: Between 1998-2000, the publicly held debt was reduced by $363 billion—the largest three-year pay-down in American history. Under Presidents Reagan and Bush, the debt held by the public quadrupled. Under the Clinton-Gore budget, we are on track to pay off the entire publicly held debt on a net basis by 2009.
Lower Federal Government Spending: After increasing under the previous two administrations, federal government spending as a share of the economy has been cut from 22.2 percent in 1992 to 18 percent in 2000—the lowest level since 1966.
Reduced Interest Payments on the Debt: In 1993, the net interest payments on the debt held by the public were projected to grow to $348 billion in FY 2000. In 2000, interest payments on the debt were $125 billion lower than projected.
Americans Benefit from Reduced Debt: Because of fiscal discipline and deficit and debt reduction, it is estimated that a family with a home mortgage of $100,000 might expect to save roughly $2,000 per year in mortgage payments, like a large tax cut.
Double Digit Growth in Private Investment in Equipment and Software: Lower debt will help maintain strong economic growth and fuel private investments. With government no longer draining resources out of capital markets, private investment in equipment and software averaged 13.3 percent annual growth since 1993, compared to 4.7 percent during 1981 to 1992.
http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/Accomplishments/e...
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People voted for a recovering alcoholic that they wanted to have a beer with. Hmmm. That says a lot about Capital Hill.
Rahm probably told him to do so. Rahm is thinking of
destroyingexpanding the Democratic party to include those who want to kill it (some literally).I know people in Idaho who work hard; some have health care, but others do not. Dave N's sense that these folks will vote for people that they respect synchs with what I've seen, and many younger Idahoans weren't even registered to vote until Obama gave them some hope.
It was nice to see some video without people shouting at each other; the civil conversations were certainly a breath of fresh air.
Doesn't say much for their option when they respect republicans like Bush, Cheney , Rove , Rumsfeld , Ascroft and the others which have used them and destroy our constitution and country..
Didn't these people look at what Bill Clinton did by cleaning up Bush Sr. mess and given Americans one of the strongest economy in our histroy.
Why can they not see beyond the nose the deceit , lies and corruption by Bush / Cheney while they destroy anything which was for the benefit of the American citizens..
No I believe they are not capital of seeing beyond the republicans which screw them... The republicans can not even tell Americans the same story with in the same day...
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Just who are these people which Voted for the worst criminals and destruction to not only our country in the prior 8 years.,,, Worst destruction to our economy in the history of our nation..
*******President Clinton’s Record on the Economy: In 1992, 10 million Americans were unemployed, the country faced record deficits, and poverty and welfare rolls were growing. Family incomes were losing ground to inflation and jobs were being created at the slowest rate since the Great Depression. Today, America enjoys what may be the strongest economy ever. *************
Then along comes Bush / Cheney and the republicans dragging their blue dogs...
This is the problem no one is explaining that the reason we went from a prosperous nation and economy to the worst economy and democracy in our history and it was because of the criminal economic policies of Bush , Cheney and the republicans..
Problem with most of the democrats , looks as if they do not have either the Brains or will to fight for what is right.. Democrats believe they can run from the republicans when ever they shout Booooo and we will still support their BS>> They give up before they even start to fight....
Just like the health reform bill... They had no intentions of putting any public option on the table from the Get-GO...
Why do we need to elect republicans on our democrat ticket if they are voting for the republican policies.
They just slander the democrat's name... I say no matter what happens do not vote for these blue dogs and others which have essentially told the progressives to go to he.. our policies will never be considered in the first place..
How many times are we going to pick ourselves off the floor before we will fight back and really mean it..
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The myth of the independent westerners lives on in their own minds. They amount to the biggest dependency on the federal dole outside the south. Independent my eastern backside!
McAfee pointed his gun at a 51 year-old man. That's not exactly elderly. Other than that minor point, you're 100% correct.
McAfee reminds me of that Bob Dylan song, Only a Pawn in Their Game. Here he is doing repo work for Wells Fargo, who would sell him out of his house in a second. But he's going to show you he's a real man by waving his gun around.
Stupid, worthless piece of shit.
And he'll never vote for Minnick, no matter how blue and dog-like he acts.
Minnick has concluded that the Democrats who voted for him have no other choice than continue to vote for him, so he is going after not just the moderate Republicans but also the wingnut faction. Might work.
But maybe not as he is likely to lose democrats like me who see no value in casting a vote for a blue dog who undercuts the message and agenda of the Democratic Party - and may not offset that loss with the wingnut vote.
he won't 'lose' dems. that's just stupid.
he is scared. it happens. I wonder if all the new found hubris is going to play in Obama's 2nd term with a R congress.
People are fickle. look at the 90's. a guy like Minnick need play both sides of the deck. Its politics.
leave it, and leave him be.
a Brooklyn Dem
What's stupid is voting for a person simply because of a label. Minnick is losing progressive Idaho dems because it is better to have a wingnut republican in the seat instead of a democrat in name only who votes in line with the wingnuts while undercutting the progressive message.
Oldtree, you're clearly an ignorant old coot who doesn't know what the heck he's talking about. I live in Idaho and you've got the place, second home to John Kerry, figured dead wrong. Craig's approval ratings were in the toilet (pun intended, sorry) and Minnick defeated a sitting Republican. You say the KK plagues the state? I say you read up on Tony Stewart, Norm Gissell, Bill Wasmuth, and Morris Dees. Yes, this state is extremely conservative, but it was also home to Frank Church and is home to a lot of decent people. And as the John King video's footage shows, its landscape is God's perfection.
I blame it on the heavy metal poisoning in the water up here in the northern Rockies as a result of a century of mining. That would be the only excuse I have for Max Baucus, since the latest Daily Kos poll shows most Montanans support the public option he is determined to bury in a shallow grave in an Illinois cornfield.
The following two articles give a very good perspective to what we are all facing, particularly we who elected this current administration, an administration that is fast proving to be one of false hope, and no change after all.
(Link to original posting here.)
Obama’s Trust Problem - Paul Krugman
Has Obama Lost the Trust of Progressives, as Krugman Says - Glenn Greenwald
Do you know Boise? I have family there. It is so freaking red it is horrid. I had thought at one time I would like to live there with some of my family, but a majority of the people don't bother to get involved in politics and those that do are mostly Mormon. It is a heavy and I do mean heavy Mormon city (the whole state is pretty much I believe but Boise is thick). They are thick in the judiciary, police, land use, zoning, etc. They allow fellow Mormons to break building codes and if you go to court the Mormon judges rule for the Mormon (i.e. cult) person. I find it amazing that any democrat won anything there. I chapped my sis a bit last year saying there is no way I could live where no one gets involved politically either locally or nationally or "hates" discussing politics. Talk about head in sand people and they wonder how the cult moved it. All I can tell you is what I have seen the mormons do politically in Boise you damn well don't want them in the white house and you want to kick their butts out of congress. We need to get their cult butts out of government fast. This is not good. They are much like the C Street guys, trust me only richer and worse and in my never humble opinion capable of doing ANYTHING to get their way.
So, the fact that this guy is kissing the rings of teabaggers is no surprise. He probably is selling is soul. Surprise! He's a politician. I did see a couple of bumper stickers when I was there last (only 2) "Blue Girl in a red state" (that would be me) I live in a blue state (Washington-- the real one) so believe me I will never move to Boise. It is way to red in way too many ways. Besides I would be on some mormom hit list the first week.
sue m
Well, just to clarify - while Boise is a very conservative city by most standards, most people are not mormons. Approximately 28% are Catholic, 38% other religions, and 34% mormon. As a result, many east end and north end precincts in Boise elect truly progressive Democratic state reps - Democrats in label and substance.
And if you understood Idaho politics, you would know that many LDS are moderate republicans and are strong supporters of public education. The wingnuts, while including some LDS, appear to include a lot of non-mormon fundamentalists.
I live on the Bench and I don't belong to any religion and have many fellow Boisian friends who don't as well. And, we all smoke pot.
and lived in heavily Mormon areas, they like the public education system because they like to use the public education facilities for little to nothing for their choir concerts, plays, etc.
Your sweeping generalizations of a place for which you have limited contact is certainly unhelpful. And while Idaho is a deep shade of crimson right now, Boise contains the lion's share of the 25% of Idaho's population that has the courage to label themselves Democrat. Moreover Boise has a diverse religious base and Mormons comprise maybe 30%. In SE Idaho where Dave and I grew up they constitute a majority most everywhere and the difference couldn't be more stark. And while Mormons lately have been voting as a monolith, Democrats here have had a great legacy of Mormon political leaders in Idaho like Governor Evans, Congressman Stallings, and newly minted BIA head Larry Echohawk.
I live in Coeur d'Alene, I'm a Democrat, and I'm not sure if I'll support Minnick again. However, I would hardly say that by appearing at a Tea Party event he is "embrac[ing] the people who have been turning our national discourse into a three-wingnut circus is indeed unconscionable." He's just meeting with them. That's like saying talking to Iran or the Taliban is embracing them, the Bush-McCain line. As Chris Dodd said on Iran, hey, I'm just meeting with them, it's not like I'm offering them a job. Let's wait and see what Minnick actually says on Saturday.
Give it time...
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Is it possible for you to peddle your views without engaging in hyperbolic dishonesty?
Challis McAffee was "arrested for pulling a gun on an elderly man"?
The "elderly" man in question is 51; that's long-in-the-tooth for competing in mixed martial arts, perhaps, but hardly "elderly."
In your eagerness to misrepresent that incident you're leaving out many crucial details, not the least of which is that McAffee insists that he didn't "pull" the gun on anyone.
As someone working in a potentially dangerous field (investigating potential foreclosures) he legally carried the gun in his car. Sure, that's his story -- but since there were only two witnesses to this incident, his account is as credible as his accuser's, unless you assume that people whose political views you despise aren't entitled to the presumption of innocence (which would mean that an accuser's uncorroborated account is self-ratifying).
"[McAffee's] friends also have a fondness for getting bellicose to the point of being arrested; one of them, a fellow named Christopher Pentico, was convicted of trespass earlier this year when he refused to leave the grounds of the state Capitol building."
Once again, you're lying through selective omission. Pentico's "trespass" consisted of attempting to deliver a letter to an elected representative; the judge who sentenced him pointedly and repeatedly acknowledged that, far from being "bellicose," Mr. Pentico is a peaceful, harmless, public-spirited man whose "offense" consisted of exercising a constitutional right. He also slapped the prosecution down hard for demanding jail time for the supposed offense of petitioning an elected representative.
In case anybody is interested in reading an account of the sentencing hearing from someone who was actually there, here's the link:
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2009/05/...
I now cheerfully await Mr. Neiwert's traditional riposte, which is to accuse me of trading in ad hominems as an overture to his own ad hominem assault.
Or are you?
You post your own blog as a source of info. And we're to believe you?
This is from your own blog. And the with the recent behavior of the right, at townhall meetings, You decide to drop this one on us?
I have to say, your timing is very bad.
As a political activist with the Idaho Republican Party, Pentico frequently met with members of the state legislature and other public officials, often to complain about irregularities and examples of what he considers to be public corruption. This, according to our young prosecutor, made many public officials "uncomfortable."
What is your conceptual, continuity?
that in the first article that I read the gentleman, on whom the gun was pulled, described himself as an old man. I don't think that many people here would believe him old at 51, including me, I'm 50.
Minnick may not lose the progressive votes but he will lose their support. He was elected because of the hard work of many democrats from all over the state. I don't think he can expect that support for the next election. His votes have not earned their support. He will be a one term wonder and give the republicans a chance to clean up their act and elect a less crazy candidate. He was a big waste of time and money for progressives.
he goes R. Why wouldn't he? He has name recognition and he sure as shit won't be getting any support from the Dems who feel betrayed. I predict he switches...and wins.
I can't believe some of these people got past the fifth grade with their ignorance?
Is it something in the crystal mountain water, or all those spuds, that makes Idahoans elderly at 51? I tried to find an independent source for age confirmation, without success. If true, then it is no wonder these mountain people are diffident about Medicare, if they are unlikely to survive long enough to be eligible.
Anybody: is there any confirmation of this guy's age, and whether he actually called himself old? I am 65 and a bit annoyed at this, I must say.
-- per this morning's Idaho Statesman:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/sto...
-- which also cited an earlier AP account in which Mr. Lutes, the accuser, referred to himself as an "old man":
"I'm unarmed, I'm an old man," Lutes, 51, told The Associated Press. "I'm trying to find out why he's taking pictures of my house. I said, 'Knock on my door, let me know what you want.' Then, I think he's reaching for his business card and he pulls out a concealed weapon and I think he's going to blow my head off."
According to this morning's Statesman story, the police report claims that Challis McAffee, the accused, admitted to "pointing" his gun at Mr. Lutes. McAffee insisted to me that this wasn't true. Given that this is a police department recently caught falsifying official reports (in an incident in which a subdued, handcuffed man was tasered in the rectum), I'm inclined to give Mr. McAffee the benefit of the doubt here.
Why?
Because he's a Rahm Emmanuel republican-lite; that's why.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
Emanuel one of the republicans recruiters for the democrat party...
http://www.truthout.org/article/special-repor...
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first time it's possible. Him and all the other traitors. I don't care why he went to talk to the wingnuts that are bringing this country down. Look at how these people treat our president. Yes, minnick is a traitor and if I lived there he would be shown for the traitor and ass kisser he is.
Minnick should be meeting with tea party folks. I have attended two myself because I am teed off at Bush and now BO! Why are there fellow americans who choose to make fun of or insult tea party goers is beyond me--I am just an average voting american taxpayer who wants to see corruption GONE. There were promises of no pork, no big defecits, etc, yet here we are.....a big mess.
The endless insults only make the left look pathetic and desperate for it makes no sense.
For some of you posting here, if you hate the conservative fabric of Idaho, then why did you move here? We have always been laid back, hardworking, and conservative. We did have low crime and enjoyed a simple way of life--that is probably what made you want to move here. So leave it the h*ll alone. I meet people here who hated California, for example, then move here only to try to change it to "the way we did it in California".....well, news flash....we don't want to be California. Not to insult, but come on! Look at the state of affairs there.
Minnick is PRO gun--so get over it! Besides, it IS our SECOND amendment that keeps us free from tyranny. If you oppose that then you lack any knowledge of history and how we were founded. Here are some quotes to refresh your memory:
GEORGE WASHINGTON: A free people ought to be armed.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.
NOAH WEBSTER: Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe.
GEORGE MASON: To disarm the people is the most effectual way to enslave them.
GEORGE WASHINGTON: Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people’s liberty teeth (and) keystone… the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable… more than 99% of them [guns] by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference [crime]. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour.
JOHN ADAMS: Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion in private self defense.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: Laws that forbid the carrying of arms…disarm only those who are neither inclined or determined to commit crimes. Such laws only make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assassins; they serve to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN: Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the
blood of patriots and tyrants.
~Thomas Jefferson
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