As ThinkProgress reported earlier Tuesday, the execrable California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa used the day of Tim Russert's wake to appropriate the memory of the late Meet the Press host for political purposes. After members of the House offered their condolences and eulogies to Russert while discussing a resolution in his honor, Issa took to floor to make a pitch for off-shore drilling:
"We are going to miss Tim Russert when it comes to the people on both sides of the issue of why we have $5 oil - $5 gasoline and $135 oil. I think Tim Russert would have been just the right guy to hold people accountable, who would talk about the 68 million acres that are, quote, inactive, while in fact 41 million are under current lease and use and are producing millions of barrels of oil and natural gas a day...
...So, Madam Speaker, I am going to miss Tim Russert because this debate is too important not to have a fact-oriented, unbiased moderator who could in fact bring to bear the truth that we need to have."
As abominable as Issa's performance today was, it hardly ranks as his worst. From attacking the families of dead Blackwater contractors and accusing Valerie Plame of perjury to playing a vital role in purging a U.S. attorney and committing myriad other outrages, Issa had long since guaranteed himself a particularly hot seat in Dante's inner circle. Perrspectives has a look back at the Top 10 Moments from Darrell Issa's Hall of Shame...
