Eric Massa has proven himself to be a huge thorn in the Obama Administration's side lately and Robert Gibbs isn't happy. The pompous press flack went on Good Morning America today to open fire on the renegade congressman. "I think this whole story is ridiculous. I think the latest excuse is silly and ridiculous..." he said. "We’re focused not on crazy allegations, but instead of making this system work for the American people, rather than work for insurance companies.”
Other more serious people have also questioned whether Massa is telling the truth. Nobody likes to be seen promoting conspiracy theories after all. Massa may have handled the whole affair sloppily and his claims may seem outlandish, but his account of what happened definitely seems accurate. Here's why.
Massa was a key vote against ObamaCare. The New York congressman had pledged definitively to vote against health care reform because he wanted a single payer system. Obama and Rahm Emanuel don't have any wiggle room on this. Centrist Democrats are bailing off ObamaCare as fast as they can. Contrary to what is being written, ObamaCare isn't making a comeback, it's in its death throes. What we are witnessing is a final desperate attempt to pass a piece of wildly unpopular legislation. Obama is willing to do whatever needs to be done to get this passed and that includes sacrificing as many congressmen as necessary. Massa, who was already under Emanuel's skin, was especially expendable.
Massa's ethics complaint is small potatoes. The fact that Ted Kennedy had such a long career proves one thing: Politicians don't resign over remarks made when they're sloshed. The liberal wing of the House fought tooth and nail to defend Charlie Rangel against far more serious corruption. Rangel still hasn't resigned. Notoriously corrupt congressmen like John Murtha and Alan Mollohan never felt any pressure to leave. Most reps who appear before the Ethics Committee get away with a slap on the wrist. The Pelosi leadership doesn't give a damn about grand corruption, but we're supposed to believe that they took a principled stand against five minutes of drunken carousing?
Massa's district will almost certainly be picked up by a Republican now. Massa won in conservative western New York in 2006 because he was a tough, independent former Republican. The GOP is targeting Massa's district in 2010, according to the New York Times, which reported, "For months, Republican Party operatives have kept a close eye on Mr. Massa, the district’s freshman congressman, as he attempts to balance the conservative leanings of his district with the demands of his party’s liberal base." With Massa humiliated and gone, Republicans will almost certainly pick up his seat. Normally the House would have fought to protect such a vulnerable incumbent, but they didn't. Why? They needed him out of the way.
Massa's ethics complaint was leaked to the press. Steny Hoyer leaked the accusations against Massa to the press even though he'd already known about them for a month. As Massa himself wondered, since when do your political allies alert the media about your personal troubles? And why would Hoyer wait until the health care debate was back in full swing to attack Massa?
All of this smells too fishy to just be a coincidence. We already knows the Obama administration practices Chicago politics. These are the same people that tried to deny Jon Kyl's state stimulus funds after he spoke against the bill. They're the same bunch who tried to kneecap Fox News with a Mao Tse-tung apologist. Of course they would try to railroad Massa. With him out of the way, the number of votes Nancy Pelosi needs to swing a wrecking ball at our health care system is down to 216. Be sure to tune in to Fox News' Glenn Beck tonight for Massa's first televised interview since he announced his resignation.
No comments:
Post a Comment