So much to be pissed about and King chooses...

IMMIGRATION!

From the "Iowa's Biggest Idiot" files: http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060613-123317-7870r.htm



Folks, we really need to send this joker back home.

Mr. Speaker, I would point out that if it is intolerable to face that kind of violence as a percentage of the population in Iraq that is unsustainable and that somehow we should pull out of there and wash our hands and give up or cut and run or maybe split the country up into three different sections, and then imagine what kind of violence we would have if we pitted those three factors against each other. But, instead, I will submit that we are being treated with a relentless drum beat of television violence in Iraq that, even though it is honestly represented in those significant instances, we don't have our television cameras lined up on the emergency rooms in the United States. We don't have them lined up here in the emergency rooms in Washington, D.C. or Detroit or Baltimore or New Orleans or Atlanta or St. Louis.

Mr. Speaker, speaking of those cities, I would point out that there is a way also to draw a measure, a measure that Americans will have a different feel for when I lay out the casualty rates for violent deaths in our cities in America. And it occurs to me when I look at these statistics that it is far more dangerous for my wife to live here in Washington, D.C. than it would be if she were living as an Iraqi civilian citizen in a random place in Iraq. Now, we know there are places with higher violent rates, but 27.51 deaths per 100,000 in Iraq per year.

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/speech/ia05_king/sp_20060503_stats.html

a rebuttal

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/05/31/dc-safer-iraq/

We have to dump this nut job.

Then why did Dubya only spend five hours there? The most protected man on the planet can't even stay the night?

:shrug:

Never mind that the majority of the Iraqi population is indeed concentrated in those violent areas. King, you're an idiot.

King is taking a page directly from the Newt Gingrich playbook. If you remember the early days of C-SPAN, Gingrich would make outrageous statements on the House floor late at night when he was the only one in the chamber and when channel surfers were likely to catch one of his rants. He rode this tactic to a national following and the 1994 "Contract with America" that gave Republicans control of the House. Gingrich went from adjunct college faculty professor to Speaker of the House of Representatives, right behind the Vice President if something happens to the President.

King is thinking big . . . get ready for King for King (or other higher office). As we used to say in Des Moines . . . the nasty bitter little man who would be KING!

I wonder if we can get bumper stickers printed up:

Do you really want someone
BATSHIT INSANE
in the U.S. SENATE?

Of course, the answer for some in Western Iowa would be YES! :cry:

That's the hot rumor, that he wants Harkin's seat. Harkin knows it, too.

Harkin vs. King ... oh, this'll be FUUUUUUUUN! :headbang:

My prediction right here and now -

Harkin 63%
King 47%

bookmark this post for Novmeber 2008!

Are you planning on turning out an extra 10% of voters for that election? ;)

:rofl:

I'm that much of a fan of Harkin :thumbsup:

:blush:

(Either that or DIEBOLD will finally work in Democrats favor??? :shrug:)

Duuuuh.

I suppose with these new touchscreen machines ya never know, right?

Great minds think alike! :yourock:

Oh lord let's hope it's true. That would be like a gift from the heavens for Harkin. I have a better idea. How about Vilsack goes after Grassley's seat next time, if Grassley runs again? The thing about this clown King is that when people out there hear his nonsense, a lot of them think he represents all Iowans and look down at us. So he has to go. Who is running against him out there? He or she needs our support.

I agree that King will run against Harkin. Even if he loses, King will then use the name recognition to run for Grassley's seat in 2010. If Vilsack runs for the US Senate in 2010, King would love to square off against Visack.

Joyce Schulte won the right to challenge King again. She got smoked in 2004. I've heard her speak, and her heart is in the right place, but she is not a polished speaker or somebody who appears to be able to draw moderate Republicans. (Remember the Republicans have a huge registration advantage in the 5th District.) It took Watergate for Tom Harkin to beat Bill Scherle out there. I don't think Abramhoff and Iraq are quite at Watergate proportions yet and Schulte is no Harkin.

If we are honest with ourselves, King does represent and reflect a lot of western Iowa. That is one reason why the 5th has gotten so big, is that many of the young and progressive and moderate have moved to eastern Iowa or out of the state. Four fifths of our population lives in the eastern half of Iowa and one fifth lives in the westen half of Iowa. The "new" Iowans are moving to the six metro counties where diversity and acceptance are practiced/welcomed. (Just think if western Iowa was as vibrant and accepting as eastern Iowa, we would have 5 million citizens, instead of 3 million.)

So the bitter reactionary types that don't want new neighbors, especially new neighbors that don't look like them have their representative and spokesperson. King knows his base.

...is the heart indeed. I don't really think she's all that bad in terms of public speaking skills -- she's always been a really engaging speaker whenever I've heard her. She knows her audience well.

I have to agree, though -- Schulte has a HUGE uphill climb if she wants to take the district. She'd better hope King's able to make some major public fuck-ups. Even then, the media in Western Iowa leans VERY Republican, so they'd be likely to under-report that.

And King vs. Vilsack?! That'd be beautiful as well -- get beaten by BOTH Dem stalwarts in Iowa.

rather than embarrass us by running for President :eyes:

Police join unions and King hates unions more than crime. The A--hole introduced a bill making it a crime to take a job if you were going to organize a union. Business needs to be protected from high labor costs.

King ... introduced a bill ... making it a CRIME ... to UNIONIZE?!?!?

What an absolute asshole.

The man truly amazes me. How much worse can he possibly get?

I'm getting more and more convinced that we have the single worst Congressman in US history.

http://www.theorator.com/bills109/hr1816.html

When this was on King's web page I thought penalties were part of the bill.

(snip)
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that:

(1) An atmosphere of trust and civility in labor-management relationships is essential to a productive workplace and a healthy economy.

(2) The tactic of using professional union organizers and agents to infiltrate a targeted employer's workplace, a practice commonly referred to as `salting' has evolved into an aggressive form of harassment not contemplated when the National Labor Relations Act was enacted and threatens the balance of rights which is fundamental to our system of collective bargaining.

(3) Increasingly, union organizers are seeking employment with nonunion employers not because of a desire to work for such employers but primarily to organize the employees of such employers or to inflict economic harm specifically designed to put nonunion competitors out of business, or to do both.

(4) While no employer may discriminate against employees based upon the views of employees concerning collective bargaining, an employer should have the right to expect job applicants to be primarily interested in utilizing the skills of the applicants to further the goals of the business of the employer.

(end)

It lets employers fire organizers. I don't need to overstate King's record it's bad enough.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d109&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Rep+King++Steve))+01724))

...which works as nothing more than a deterrent to organize unions.