First Major Mistake of the 2012 Election Cycle

I realize the year 2011 has just begun, but Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) has provided us with a revealing sound bite that should be played at every opportunity in the 2012 election ads:

Clyburn called for the Transportation Security Administration, which administers airport security checkpoints, to interact “a little better” with the Capitol Hill Police.

“We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.”

Nothing quite shows the arrogance of congress as clearly as a complaint about being treated like those miserable wretches known as citizens (or considered subjects to Clyburn). Now, I won't pretend to be confident that we can unseat Clyburn as he is a longtime fixture in the House from a very safe district. However, some of his more vulnerable colleagues have to be aware his remarks will used to paint them as equally arrogant.

We do NOT need to take legislative action to further protect members of congress in response to the Arizona attack. We have been a country for over two hundred years and the shooting of Rep. Giffords is one the only shootings of a sitting member of congress. We are a nation of over three hundred million people and statistically odds are some of them are nuts. More special treatment and privileges for our pampered ruling class is not a proper action to take at this time.

Which Party is Dumber - Republicans of Democrats?

Some days it seems the two major political parties are vying over which should be considered the dumber of the two.

The Democrats just got shellacked in the mid-term elections. A key strategy of the Republicans was to nationalize House races and make individual elections more about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi than the local candidate. Ads ran in nearly every competitive district showing Pelosi saying "We had to pass the bill to find out what's in it." That quote spoke volumes about Democrat arrogance and helped Republicans gain control of the House. Well, that's not how Democrats see it.

Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) leadership had "nothing to do" with Democrats' losses in last week's election, the No. 3 House Democrat said Monday.

"It has everything to do with an environment that we found ourselves in that had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi or the people that we had on the field," Clyburn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"We're very introspective about this, and we are having discussions as to how we should go forward," the South Carolina Democrat explained. "And I think that my party feels that this had nothing to do with Nancy Pelosi's leadership.

Okay, keep telling yourselves that it had nothing to do with Pelosi. Please keep her as the primary face of your party in congress.


The Republican party just finished an election cycle where they gained control of the House of Representatives and picked up several seats in the Senate. So, how do they respond? Some fools speaking for the establishment wing of the party have spent the past week trying to assign blame rather than passing out credit. The latest is a fool congressman from Alabama named Spencer Bachus (sounds like a cousin of Thurston Howell III) declared that Sarah Palin is to blame for the GOP not winning the Senate. Let me get this straight, Palin and the Tea Party movement generated enthusiasm for conservative candidates all over the country leading to gains in both houses and instead of saying thank you, he decides to blame her for not winning five more seats. I have one question for Rep. Bachus. Just what the heck did YOU do to help elect anyone besides yourself?