SAY WHAT? A Week of Legislators' Gaffes

What is it with powerful legislators who simply do not know when to shut up? This past week or so has been rife with regretful comments from some of our highest profile government elite. Some examples:

Vice President Joe Biden: At the recent Washington Gridiron Dinner, Biden (below, right) inexplicably revealed that under the Vice-Presidential residence at the Naval Observatory is a secure bunker where his predecessor, Dick, was sent for safety during the 9/11 debacle. What on earth would possess a guy with Biden’s decades of experience and awareness of the critical importance of secrecy about such things to let this out? A few too many martinis, perhaps? According to the New York Post, not only did the VP reveal the location, he rambled on with a detailed description of the place. It begs the question: Now that the entire world knows of this “undisclosed location,” where would Biden go in the event of another national security crisis? I’m thinking a suite at the Hay Adams Hotel perhaps?

Nancy Pelosi (below - illustration by Darrow, New York Magazine) has never been the darling of a majority of Democrats, but her latest foot in mouth moment really seals the deal for some of us. As to whether the CIA revealed to her and other members of Congress the details of alleged waterboarding used on accused terrorists, Pelosi said, “They mislead us all the time.” When pressed further about whether she means that the CIA lies to her, the Speaker of the House said, “Yes.” Now, here we have the person who is second in line for the Presidency of the United States, alienating the country’s highest level civilian intelligence agency. One wonders what would happen if Madame Speaker was suddenly elevated to the Presidency during a national security crisis, and fully unable to collaborate with the country’s highest level security organization. Did she just not consider that, or is it possible Pelosi is simply not the right person for her current position? Legislators on both sides of the aisle are now asking that exact question.

David Carney is a political strategist in the employ of Texas Governor Rick Perry. This week, Carney said the GOP should not “open itself up like a whorehouse” to new voters. David, David, David….don’t say “GOP” and “whorehouse” in the same breath, especially when you’re already working for a guy who has stirred up enough controversy for a lifetime with his own Texas secession from the U.S. comments. By mid-week, reaction to the thoughtless gaffe ranged from alluding to “the best little whorehouse in Texas,” to the more serious response from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson’s camp. Hutchinson (pictured above, right, alongside Perry) reportedly has her eye on the Governor’s seat. Perry & Co. may have just given her an unexpected boost.

I find it interesting that all of these individuals are of a generation that did not really grow up in the world of instant digital communication. It seems that so many people born before or during the mid-20th century still don’t get it: If you are a high profile person and you say something stupid, it travels the entire globe in a millisecond. The media is now necessarily predatory because of constantly increasing competition and the need to find the perfect sound bite to attract the consumer’s attention. A Speaker of the House who outrightly criticizes a national security agency does so at her own career peril. A Vice-President who does not understand the need for confidentiality does so at his own personal peril, and a Governor who cannot reign in his own strategists may do so at the expense of his own political future.

THE 3 REPUBLICAN GOOFBALLS WHO NEED TO BE QUIET

Let’s just get this out of the way first – the goofballs alluded to in the above headline are consummate whack-job Michele Bachmann, the neocon congresswoman from Minnesota; the man without a verbal filter of any kind, RNC Chairman Michael Steele; and of course, the true face and voice of the current Republican party, entertainer Rush Limbaugh. (Bachmann and Steele are pictured at right. We've all seen enough of Rush, haven't we?)

You know everything you need to know about Rush. I’m not wasting bandwith on him. Let’s look at Michele, and I will now write the longest sentence I have ever written, a summary of Michele’s unfortunate views and positions: Michele Bachmann claims pedophiles are all gay; insists God told her (through her husband) to get a post-doctoral degree in tax law and then to run for elected office, and ultimately labels herself a “fool for Christ” and says she’s “hot for God” ; claims the current H1N1 virus is “interesting” since it happened under the watch of a Democratic president, just as it did in 1976 (although all historical records still agree the President of the U.S. in 1976 was Gerald Ford, a Republican); believes many members of Congress are anti-American; fears that the U.S. is “running out of rich people”; said in a speech on the Senate floor that carbon dioxide is a harmless gas; believes the government is trying to establish “re-education” camps for young people, to train them in the philosophy of the Democratic party; publicly referred to the late Terry Schiavo as “healthy”.

Can we all just agree that Michele Bachmann is indeed a nut? Unfortunately for the Republican party, she never stops talking. She is rapidly becoming a high profile face of the party. Aside from the time she said two lesbians blocked her from leaving a public restroom (I promise), here is one of my favorite Bachmann appearances. On Hardball with Chris Matthews Congresswoman Whackadoodle showed her full paranoia, naming Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Michelle Pelosi as “anti-American”:

One time, appearing together, Bachmann praised (?) RNC Chairman Michael Steele by declaring, “Michael Steele, you be da man.” Yes, she said that. And in fairness, Steele has almost courted that unfortunate image. Here’s a typical Steele response to a reporter’s question – this time it had to do with Republicans voting against money for a potential flu pandemic. Steele’s logic? We didn’t have any way of knowing there would be a flu pandemic, so why would we allot money for it? Evidently, Steele believes we generally know in advance when there will be a pandemic, or other national crisis:

Steele is what we call a “loose cannon.” The Republican royalty apparently did not expect Steele to be quite so controversial when they chose him, but he’s trouble. He spends a lot of time talking about things that have nothing to do with….well, with anything. Here is what he said about Michelle Obama’s inaugural gown: "I wasn't feelin' that. Didn't like the cut. All the little puff things on it -- what was that all about? She could have done a Valentino." Huh? And then there was this, in an interview with GQ Magazine: "I love to party. I love hanging out with women, sometimes more than men. You know, sit back and let your hair down type thing?" So 50 Cent,right? All of this, just as he said on CNN that he is the “de facto leader of the Republican party.” Seriously, does he believe that?

At a minimum, Steele does not display much of a sense of decorum. At the extreme, he is overtly partisan, prone to hair-trigger responses to reporters’ queries, and generally not a good team player. Some typical Steel-isms: One time, speaking to a Jewish group, he compared stem-cell research to Nazi medical experiments on Jews during the holocaust years. Oy. Another time, speaking of pending healthcare reform legislation, Steele actually joked about Senator Ted Kennedy’s brain cancer, saying the bill should probably be called the "Ted Kennedy Memorial Healthcare Bill." Ouch. There is more: In a party that does not pride itself on social change, particularly when it concerns gay issues, Steele has publicly stated that homosexuality is not a choice. On the other hand, Steele calls himself a pro-lifer, but has made comments that sound distinctly pro-choice.

The problem? Steele is not a politician, and in the Republican party’s current precarious position, they need a politician. The further problem? Steele is more focused on promoting himself than the party. He was a bad choice for the job. Nobody in the party wants to come out and say it emphatically, but in a year of particularly bad choices (Read: Sarah Palin) Steele may be among the worst.

We need at least a two party system. The competition and the ideological tug of war is a healthy construct for the democracy. People like crazy Michele Bachmann and Michael Steele should become Republican party reorganizational road kill.

And of course, I mean that in the nicest way possible. Uh huh.