Kudos to Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Congressman Steny Hoyer should be getting the ethics award or at least the ‘Did the right thing’ award. Rewind to complaints on Congressman Massa who just keeps on shooting himself in the foot. The stories that are surfacing about this guy both when he was in the navy and post navy are just almost unbelievable.
Don’t let anyone tell you that there are no ethics in Congress. Steny Hoyer didn’t turn a blind eye on a bad situation just because the complaints he was hearing were about a fellow Democrat:
Hoyer is the one a top Massa aide took complaints to about the congressman’s conduct. Massa’s own accounts (apparently depending upon his mood) acknowledge inappropriate language, groping a male staffer and (I still can’t get over this) tickling to the point of breathlessness. Kudos to Ron Hikel, Massa’s former deputy chief of staff, for speaking up, and kudos to Hoyer for making clear that if Massa didn’t bring the matter to the House ethics committee, he would.
Hoyer, as Roll Call notes, has long been an advocate for internal House ethics investigations. And it’s particularly refreshing that Hoyer didn’t let party considerations enter into his calculation of what’s right and what’s wrong. Now that’s something to be tickled about
Good for Steny Hoyer who made the right call about Congressman Massa.
I am not convinced that this isn’t about health care votes. The guy was A-OK for a long time.
Even Glenn Beck admitted that this guy was a creep.
We who believe that elected officials must be held to high ethical standards agree with Hoyer’s decision. Sexual harrasment committed by anyone, gay or straight, and especially against children, should be strongly condemned and the perpetrators held responsible.
But perhaps a more interesting question is whether the bigger creeps – Pelosi and Hoyer – would have moved this way if Massa was a good soldier to them on health care.
Pelosi’s known about bad behavior since October – though she indicated February – http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/11/pelosis-office-knew-massa-concerns/
On Pelosi, it in inarguable that she said something so stupid, so out-of-control a couple of days ago that it really bears examination – “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it – away from the fog of the controversy”. Ladies and Gentlemen, Nancy Pelosi for you. Dumber and more out of control than George W Bush ever was, by a factor of 10. With leaders like her, no wonder we are in such a mess.
We have a President who (like his predecessor) doesn’t respect the checks and balances of government. He sits and berates the Supreme Court in front of the nation, while his party cheers him on, though they are too lazy to clarify the issue they are crying about (campaign finance reform). So they berate the court.
And we have Congressional Leadership who, emboldened by the stimulus bill they crammed down our throats, tell us openly they need to pass bills FIRST so that we can subsequently realize what’s in them (and, presumably, express our gratitude at that point).
Is it any wonder things aren’t going well? Republican partisans enabled Bush despite his ineptitude; Democratic partisans are enabling Obama to spin the nation in circles over a health care approach that has given up on cost containment. We’re settling for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid as leadership and they’re all demonstrated novices (Obama) and buffoons (Pelosi and Reid).
Also, the press is now to blame – http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20000251-503544.html
Rick, turn off Fox News. It is warping your brain. And how do I know? I am watching the same brain warp. I just remembered to put on my hard hat shield.
Rick, I was sitting there and heard what was said during the SOTUA. He didn’t berate the Supremes. He said he didn’t like the ruling and that legislation was needed to correct. Big difference.
One member, Alito made mouth motions as the president was speaking and Roberts has recently had much to say about it. I would say all three have broken precedent.
Actually it was reported today in the Washington Post about Pelosi’s office being notified in October.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003832.html?hpid=topnews
I read that. I was noticing that the sequence of Ricks comments were following the exact same order I was hearing. Thus, the hard hat remark.
In defense of Pelosi, I don’t really know what she could do about the facts she was presented with. It isn’t against the law to have lunch with a 20 something gay man. It might raise eye brows but you can’t go around making charges over something like that. you need a body of evidence.
If NP is smart, and I think she is, she called someone and told them to watch, listen, and keep their mouth shut. You can’t have witch hunts going on and I suspect that there is all sorts of tattling coming in to her office day and night over all sots of things–some real some imaginary and some just for spite. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff.
I hardly ever watch FOX News. I get my news from Drudge, this blog, and Howard Stern. Occasionally cnn.com and foxnews.com.
Massa should be gone but I do question the timing. And wonder how many other sexual harassers line the halls of Congress right now.
Pelosi’s quote is DUMB AS NAILS. The fact that the vast right-wing media complex is attacking her for it shouldn’t distract from how stupid she is, and the ignorant mindset she displays, and what a poor excuse she is for a leader.
Rick, you are making me feel like a beacon of hope wedged in there between Howard Stern and the Drudge. (either that or a total pervert)
Probably a lot of sexual harrassers ….of all stripes.
I don’t think she is stupid at all. I think she often sounds stupid. I think she is smart like a fox. but we are free to disagree with each other.
I find your moderation here to be extremely balanced and tolerant.
I hear Pelosi as a simple-minded ideologue. And her recent comment indicates a lack of respect for democratic governance. I know that she’s convinced herself that she and her efforts are the only thing preventing us from ruin as a nation, because supposedly no reform can ever pass if hers doesn’t. I think that’s also symptomatic of a tiny little brain existing in her head.
My grandson’s in school right now learning about how our government works – three branches, checks and balances. Pelosi and Obama each need a refresher course. Like Bush before them, they don’t respect it on some fundmantal level when they’re not getting their way.
Unfortunately it sounds a bit like when NP was challenged about the CIA and about when she was briefed. Who took her on with that one? The CIA Director with the current administration. She does seem to deny she ever hears something very early and then has an excuse for faulty memory. We all applaud Mr. Hoyer for sending it to be investigated.
Now of course many could say that Ms. Pelosi knew that Hoyer had already taken care of it but hmmm, then why did she initially say that she heard nothing until February. Most people would actually even excused her for saying just what Wolfie suggested–that she was not acting too quickly to damage someone’s reputation inappropriately but she didn’t even say that.
LOL, MH stepping into the light!
I’m just a spectator at this Democratic sideshow. I don’t watch Fox. In fact, I don’t watch television at all (it has become, in my opinion, an intellectual wasteland on all sides) unless there is something I see while surfing the internet — often an interesting video posted by Moonhowler. I do read alot.
Now this Massa thing seems to be getting a bit confusing. Is “tickling” per se a House ethics violation? Or is it just tickling with sexual intent? According to whom? Somebody out there capable of reading Massa’s mind? And the “inappropriate language.” That kind of charge might get everybody in Congress thrown out at some time or another. It could also be the downfall of Rahm Emmanuel, if you want to get picky about it. How come Rahm gets to apologize all the time and Massa gets investigated? But I suppose that also is being said to have some kind of sexual context. Maybe a joke? Now, this “groping” charge. Was this a separate grope or was it part of that capital tickling crime? I am beginning to think that, if this whole thing ever came up before a real judge in a real courtroom, the judge would kick out everybody on their collective asses. No wonder Pelosi is running in the opposite direction!
I will agree with David Gergen on this: Washington politics have become a freak show. It appears to be contagious. Hear about that Republican state senator in California? Got caught on a DUI after leaving a gay nightclub. Married with children. Now he says he is gay but opposes gay marriage because he is reflecting the wishes of his constituents. I guess “integrity” and “fidelity” are no longer operative words in this country anywhere you look. Kind of makes you wish for the good old days, when the worst thing that could happen is old Wilbur Mills getting caught skinnydipping in the Tidal Basin with a local naughty lady named Fanny. At least you could understand the details of that one.
Wolverine! Stop! I can’t stand it. The mental imagine of Judge Judy getting hold of massa and Rahm Emanual is too much to bear. She would kick them out on their asses but not before grabbing by their most exposed parts, swinging them around, doing the vise grip thing and screaming in their faces.
And to address the questions you bring up? Who knows. It makes no sense to me. I don’t think tickling is illegal but it should be. Who says they are gay? Did we do a thread on it? I thought that dude was hetero? I remember Wilbur and Fanny. I was pretty young but it was titillating so we remember….. How about the Monkey Business? I remember that also. I saw Gary Hart on TV yesterday. I understood that one also.
I don’t understand Massa.
To Rick, thanks re: running things.
I just don’t think about Nancy Pelosi if I can help it. I think she is smart like a fox to have made it as far as she has. There are 3 ways to get where she is if you are female.
1. work real hard. 2. be real smart 3. sleep your way up to the top.
I doubt that it was 3. She doesn’t look the type.
tax-person GRRRR ( ;))
Glad you said the light rather than the shadows with the perverts.
Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing that… Massa is definitely a jerk, hard to believe some of the crazy stuff he evidently did while in the Navy and since. How someone like him got elected to Congress is what is hard for me to figure – but glad he’s no longer part of it.
As to Pelosi – she is a very poor choice to represent her party. She is also an outright liar. She knows she was briefed on waterboarding and then had the extreme nerve to say she never was. She either has a convenient memory or else just is a plain old fashioned liar. And, that’s not the only thing she’s been very dishonest about, but given all the controversy over waterboarding – she had some nerve to say some of the things she has said about it in recent times. What little remaining respect I had for her – went out the window when she showed what a two face liar she was regarding the whole waterboarding business. What’s more, she actually thought she could get away with that lie, even though there was ample evidence against her. Just shows that she thinks she’s entitled to get away with almost anything.
Again, she is a poor choice to represent her party, and probably one reason a lot of people have gotten dissatisfied by how things are run in Congress. I bet she alone is responsible for causing much of the voter anger that is out there.
People are always upset over how things run in congress. I don’t think she is any worse than the last person. Who was that forgettable person? Denny Hastert? She is the first female Sepaker of the house so I am probably a little more forgiving than you are, GR. Also, she defends women’s issues fairly well. The rest of the time I don’t have to think about her. I think you are forgetting what other jerks have held that position.
I think she has to work twice as hard being first woman.
NP is all over Foxie this morning because of Massa. It must be a slow news day. They actually interviewed someone who said they doubt if she knew about the lastest with Massa until last week.
What Foxie and others seem to be prodding for is why wasn’t there a witch hunt when these rumors started surfacing, sort of like Foley.
NO NO NO…you can’t do the witch hunt stuff on people. If you hear a rumor that doesn’t mean you dig up McCarthy’s mouldring body and sic him on your political enemies. You don’t do it to Mark Foley and you don’t do it to Eric Massa. I am horrified at the witch hunt suggestion.