The Sun-Sentinel and other media outlets are covering the scathing and personal response by Rep. Allen West to Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s comments on the House floor yesterday afternoon regarding budget bill HR 2560. The Sun-Sentinel story linked at the beginning of the post lays out the gory details so I won’t copy and paste them here.
Suffice it for me to say that Rep. West’s calling of Rep. Wasserman-Schultz as “vile”, “despicable” and “not a lady”, at least in the context of what was said on the House floor, was totally inappropriate and unprofessional. I know there’s no love lost between the two Broward congressional reps (which is understandable and not exactly unusual in politics) and that in itself is no big deal. But Rep. West, as much as I like him and agree with him on most issues, stepped over the line of common decency with the words he chose. Unfortunately, the end result is that attention focuses on what West called Wasserman-Schultz, not the latter’s mis-categorizations about an important bill and issue.
Too bad, because we need truth and facts to be presented, not overheated rhetoric and personal attacks. Like I said, I don’t expect or even desire that they like each other. That’s not the point. But there HAS to be a better way to communicate displeasure, because yesterday’s response by Rep. West makes him look thin-skinned and weak. Too bad.
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Robert, she broke House rules by talking about a member without his being present. That is unseemly and despicable. It’s just like anonymously writing shit on a blog about anybody and everybody without any consequences. I applaud him for doing to them what they’ve been doing to us for far too long.
I understand DWS didn’t follow the rules…but again I will insist the response was just overreactionary. And I don’t follow the “if they do it to us, we can do it to them” approach. If Democrats are willing to be jerks to gain political points, that’s their problem. Republicans should be able to stand on facts, reason and logic, not overheated and emotional outbursts.
You don’t give a flower to the guy (or gal) lunging at you with a knife. West takes it to them and I’m with him 100%. We have tried to take the “higher road” before and it’s gotten us bupkis.
Not sure the flower/knife analogy applies here. I’m not saying West shouldn’t have responded or gotten upset. Of course he should. But the MANNER in which he responded is kind of like blowing up an ant hill with an atomic bomb. OK…maybe that analogy doesn’t work, either, but you get my point.
DWS got under his skin and it’s backfiring on West because that’s all we’re hearing this morning. Why give the press further ammunition to whatever else they’re going to try to fabricate on their own? A firm statement expressing displeasure without the personal name-calling would have been much better. I expect my representatives to act like adults, even when it sucks to do so. That’s true character in my book.
Watch the opening sequence of Watchmen and you’ll understand my analogy. As to what the press says about West: fuck ‘em. They’re worthless propagandists and shills.
Try this one for size:
“It’s no secret that Ron [Klein]’s opponent, Allen West, is a self-described ‘right wing extremist.’ “In fact, he wears his extreme disrespect as a badge of honor. He thinks it’s OK to objectify and denigrate women. He thinks it’s OK to take away our reproductive freedom. He thinks it’s okay to associate with people who refer to women as ‘oral relief stations.’ Well, we’re here to tell him it is not okay.” –Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Deerfield Beach, Florida, October 22, 2010
Play nice? Don’t think so.
Pitbull: like I wrote earlier, it really sucks to have to, as you put it, “take the high road” when crap about you is being spewed by your opponents, but it’s the only road that serious, honest people should respect. Instead of crafting an intelligent, planned and though-out response (as he’s done in the past BTW), West’s outburst on Tuesday played right into the hands of the mudslingers and slanderers. There is a smart way and a dumb way to counteract these people. This time around, our friend Col. West chose the dumb way.
Your way, Robert, is why Republicans fail and fail again.
No, George. Failing to abide by and/or properly articulating principles is what gets Republicans in trouble. Marco Rubio is one of our few true hopes because he doesn’t compromise either aspect in order to get his point across effectively.
I agree that Marco is our last best hope. Just listen to the brilliant discourse on the debt we posted today. He gave it to both sides. But when faced with the slanderous b/s hurled at him by DWS, West had no choice but to slam her for her behavior. I’m sorry but the golden rule applies here, Robert and the Dems rarely, if ever, abide by it. The want to dish it out but can’t take it when it’s hurled right back at them. I repeat myself: Bravo Allen West!
West had no choice. The Democrats are trying to destroy him, as they have tried to destroy Palin, because he is a political threat. If he responds politely they will continue to demonize him because, with media complicity, there is no cost to them for doing so. But by attacking them in return West focuses public attention on their inappropriate behavior and therefore makes them pay a price. I’ll bet they back off on him now, as they didn’t before when he was relatively civil in response to their provocations.
Republicans should stop trying to be nice and should start replying in kind to personal attacks. That’s the best way to impose a cost on the attackers and thereby get them to moderate their behavior.
Deadly accurate answer. You’ve hit the bsulelye!