Politics
More PoliticsDemocratic Trainwreck
by Lloyd Grove
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Benjamin Sarlin is Washington correspondent for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
Susan Walsh / AP Photo
According to The Washington Post, former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) is under investigation for “allegations that he groped multiple male staffers working in his office.” That’s a lot different than the story that Massa told—he said that he was a victim of “political correctness” after a third party reported “salty language” he used at a wedding, and then he went on to charge that he was being forced out of the House by Democratic leaders because he opposed health-care reform. The Post says the information was provided to the House Ethics Committee by Massa’s former deputy chief of staff, Ron Hikel. The Daily Beast's Lloyd Grove and Benjamin Sarlin on Massa’s wild week.
Freshman House Democrat Eric Massa is punctuating one of recent political history’s more memorable meltdowns—including his abrupt resignation, effective 5 p.m. Monday—by booking himself on the Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck.
It makes a certain amount of nutty sense, given that Tuesday’s scheduled appearance caps the western New York congressman’s erratic behavior over the past week.
“Clearly the man has lost his mind,” said Democratic media consultant Jimmy Siegel, who met Massa in 2006 when he shot a television commercial for Massa’s narrowly unsuccessful House race that year and “felt he was a bit of a martinet.”
Massa “just looks certifiable. I think it’s somewhat lacking as a survival strategy. However, as a strategy to get himself on a reality show where 10 people are stuck in a house, it will work well for him.”
“Now he just looks certifiable,” Siegel added. “I think it’s somewhat lacking as a survival strategy. However, as a strategy to get himself on a reality show where 10 people are stuck in a house, it will work well for him.”
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said Massa has assured his enduring legacy in American politics. “Now that he’s gotten on the horse that leads directly to the mental hospital, he’s a lunatic forever,” Sheinkopf predicted. The Daily Beast’s efforts to reach Massa and his staff were unavailing.
First the 50-year-old Massa, whose victory in 2008 in New York’s conservative 29th Congressional District was celebrated as a Democratic triumph, declared that he wouldn’t run again because of a recurrence of cancer. Then, after an apparently heartfelt mea culpa in which the Annapolis graduate acknowledged using “salty” language that “might make a chief petty officer feel uncomfortable,” he announced his resignation because of a House Ethics Committee probe into a sexual-harassment complaint by one of Massa’s male staffers. “There is no doubt that this ethics issue is my fault and mine alone,” Massa said on Friday.
But then, on Sunday, Massa shifted blame. During a breathtaking rant on his regular radio program—by turns angry, creepy, and ribald—he claimed that the real reason for his departure was that the Democratic leadership, led by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, was determined to force him out, all because he refuses to support President Obama’s health-care bill and other key programs.
“Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn,” the congressman told his listeners on local station WKPQ-FM in Hornell, New York. “He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.”
Massa regaled listeners with an account of confronting Emanuel while soaping up in the House gym showers. “I am showering, naked as a jaybird, and here comes Rahm Emanuel, not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, poking his finger in my chest, yelling at me,” said the congressman.
“You can’t beat this,” marveled political insider Mitchell Moss, a professor at New York University. “We have now come to a point in our culture where the House of Representatives has more skin than the Academy Awards.”
And yet, several supporters of Obama’s health-care reform suggested Monday that there’s a method to Massa’s madness.
Massa, who has said he supports a single-payer plan that is considered too liberal to pass, explained his vote against the initial House bill by saying it wasn’t progressive enough—it didn’t cover enough people, he argued, and wasn’t tough enough on insurance companies. And yet some liberal activists doubted his sincerity, claiming Massa was trying to have it both ways—courting liberal campaign donors and the Netroots crowd outside his swing district while touting his “ no” vote on Obamacare to his conservative constituents.
YOUR FRIENDS
The 10 Rules of Kissing Hello
Claire Howorth is the Arts editor at the Daily Beast.
Classic American Summer
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
Best Celebrity Twit Pics
The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
The Wrestler Could Win
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Christopher Plummer on Sex, Booze, and Dogs
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Harry Shearer's Amazing New Orleans Documentary
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
The Left's Unlikely Tea Party Target
Benjamin Sarlin is Washington correspondent for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
Republicans for Tax Hikes
Benjamin Sarlin is Washington correspondent for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
Ready for Another Quayle?
Benjamin Sarlin is Washington correspondent for The Daily Beast. He previously covered New York City politics for The New York Sun and has worked for talkingpointsmemo.com.
CoddledEgg
Rahm fingered Massa in the shower....
The "arm twisting" get more terrifying.
case1234
anybody find it odd that the right wing will jump to support ANYBODY who criticizes the White house regardless of what they were saying even last week.
How is the fact that this guy has given 3 different stories for why he was resigning in as many days. It went from Cancer to "I was set up." that is heck of a change.
ConstitutionalRights
I find it more interesting that progressives, when their mental disorder shows front and center, try to blame the right wing. The right wing has nothing to do with this, they are simply being entertained by it. It is the progressives who are eating their young and committing daily political suicide. You may wish to rethink your position.
timeisnow
case
face it dude, the politics of this Administration are as corrupt as they get, the Chicago style is everywhere, this just bring it to the forefront and shows how far they will go to pressure their fellow democrats to buckle. My guess that there could be many more stories as to why he resigned, and I am sure we will hear them tonight on Beck... Cant wait!!!!!!!!!!
goffbum
Political assassination by the left is way more deadly, dont you think?
JTS1021
TPM has a good article about his relationship to Rush Limbaugh. Rush spent all yesterday praising him (which I'm sure is when every conservative on here started praising him). But after the phony soldiers scandal, this is what he had to say about Rush:
"Now you gotta remember, Rush Limbaugh never once wore a uniform," he thundered. "Not in his entire life. In fact he sought out and obtained deferments so he wouldn't have to serve in Vietnam. So here's what I have to say to Rush Limbaugh: Rush, you're a schoolyard bully, and I'm sick and tired of it. And those of us in uniform are sick and tired of it. And we're calling you out ...
Massa continued: "[Y]ou should be ashamed of yourself. And we're not going to take it anymore. My name is Eric Massa and I'll go on your show anytime anyway, any where to expose you to the America people. Because what you're doing is wrong. It's destructive to this country and it's hurtful and destructive to our soldiers who are serving in Iraq. You're a pompous coward. And it's about time someone called you out on it. And that someone is me. My name is Eric Massa."
Oops, lunatic fringe, that's your new hero!
FarLeftFist
It's alright we had our fun with these, and note: This was only the republican scandals in JUST 2007- Too many to list for Bush' decade unless you want me to.
January 31, 2007: Republican Congressman Gary Miller is named by Republicans as ranking member of oversight subcommittee of House Financial Services Committee despite the FBI's investigation into his land deals
February 14, 2007: Major Republican fundraiser Brent Wilkes and former CIA executive director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo are indicted by a grandy jury for corrupting CIA contracts
February 16, 2007: Major Republican donor Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, aka Michael Mixon, is indicted in federal court on charges of providing material support to terrorists
March 5, 2007: Ethics complaint filed against Republican Senator Pete Domenici for his role in the Attorney Purge scandal
March 6, 2007: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney found guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury
March 8, 2007: Republican former U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich admits to extramarital affair
March 23, 2007: Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became an architect of George W. Bush's energy policies, pleads guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee
March 27, 2007: Criminal charges filed against Republican Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Regola in connection with the death of a teenage neighbor who was shot with the senator's gun; he is accused of three counts of perjury, allowing possession of a firearm by a minor, recklessly endangering another person and false swearing
March 27, 2007: Ronald Reagan's budget director, David Stockman, "indicted on charges of defrauding investors and banks of $1.6 billion while chairman of Collins & Aikman Corp., an auto parts maker that collapsed days after he quit"
March 28, 2007: Robert Vellanoweth, a Republican activist and appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, after a crash that killed three adults and one child
April 18, 2007: The FBI raids the home of Republican Congressman John Doolittle, investigating his ties to Jack Abramoff
April 19, 2007: The FBI raids a business tied to the family of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi, as part of an investigation into his business dealings
April 23, 2007: The FBI questions Republican Congressman Tom Feeney about his dealings with Jack Abramoff
April 23, 2007: Federal auditors find repeat violations of federal election law from the 2004 Senate campaign of Republican Senator Mel Martinez
April 26, 2007: David Huckabee, son of Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, is arrested at an Arkansas airport after a federal X-ray technician detected a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage
May 4, 2007: Bruce Weyhrauch and Pete Kott, former Alaska state Republican legislators, were arrested and accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from the corrupt VECO Corporation
May 4, 2007: Republican state Assemblyman Michael Cole is censured and stripped of his leadership position after the married father of two spent the night at a 21-year-old intern's apartment
May 11, 2007: A field coordinator for Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry is indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina
May 12, 2007: NBC News breaks the story that the FBI is investigating Republican Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons for suspicion of accepting bribes in exchange for securing government contracts
May 15, 2007: Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy is arrested for drunk driving (he pled no contest on June 1, but didn't publicly disclose the event until June 11)
May 18, 2007: Republican former South Dakota State Representative Ted Klaudt is charged with eight counts of second-degree rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of sexual contact with a child younger than 16, two counts of witness tampering and one count of stalking against two foster children in his care
May 21, 2007: Republican state Senate candidate Mark Tate is indicted on nine counts of perjury and two counts of election fraud by a grand jury
June 11, 2007: Republican Senator Larry Craig is arrested for lewd conduct in the men's bathroom of an airport
June 19, 2007: South Carolina Republican state Treasurer and South Carolina Chairman of Giuliani for President Thomas Ravenel is indicted by a grand jury on cocaine distribution charges
July 2, 2007: President George W. Bush commutes the sentence of former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby following Libby's conviction on obstruction of justice and perjury
July 3, 2007: A grand jury report declares that the sale of public land to Republican Congressman Ken Calvert and his business partners violated the law
July 11, 2007: Republican state Representative and Florida co-Chairman of McCain for President Bob Allen is arrested for soliciting a male undercover police officer, offering to pay $20 to perform oral sex
July 16, 2007: Republican Senator David Vitter holds press conference acknowledging being on the D.C. Madam's list and past involvement with prostitutes
July 16, 2007: Story breaks that Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was involved in a sweetheart real estate deal
July 19: Republican former state legislator Coy Privette is charged with six counts of aiding and abetting prostitution
July 24, 2007: Michael Flory, former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, pleads guilty to sexual abuse
July 26, 2007: Media report that Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski will sell back land purchased in a sweetheart deal, following close scrutiny of the shady transaction
July 29, 2007: Glenn Murphy Jr., recently-elected Chairman of the Young Republican National Federation, is accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping man
July 30, 2007: The FBI and IRS raid the home of Republican Senator Ted Stevens following investigations into Stevens' dealings with the corrupt VECO Corporation
August 2, 2007: Bush administration senior adviser Karl Rove disregards a Congressional subpoena and refuses to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee
August 6, 2007: Investigation called for after House Republican Leader John Boehner leaked classified information regarding a secret court ruling over warrantless wiretapping
August 8, 2007: Republican Senator Larry Craig pleads guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct following his June 11 arrest
August 9, 2007: Major Republican donor Alan Fabian is charged with 23 counts of bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and perjury
August 15, 2007: Republican state House candidate Angelo Cappelli is arrested for perjury and grand theft
August 22, 2007: Republican political consultant Roger Stone resigns his role with the New York state Senate Republicans after reports surfaced that he made a "threatening, obscenity-laced" phone call to the 83-year-old father of Governor Eliot Spitzer
August 27, 2007: Story breaks that Republican Senator Larry Craig was arrested and pled guilty - he had not publicly disclosed the events to that point.
Wake up dummies. Republicans ARE corruption.
xlntcat
Me thinks they will regret jumping on this particular horse. Now when a story changes four times in four days that should signal a warning but the GOP chose to ignore same. The man was undoubtedly being less than candid recounting his version of the ethic's complaint. Did you not note the rapid eye movement, incessant blinking and overall demeanor? He best never take the stand in his own defense of anything. He doesn't lie well. Any interrogator would have know that Messa's accounts were either fabricated or that incriminating data was being omitted.
His recount of the Naked encounter with Mr Emanuel was given with a tone of intimacy and longing that should make Mr Emanuel and anyone else listening to is uncomfortable. This was not the tone of a perceived victim.
Morrisminor
This guy has some problems. He is definitely not very credible or balanced. Figured Beck would jump on it, given his predilection for idiocy and conspiracy mongering
Johnnyappleseed
Typical of the secular progressives, if you don't like the message, shoot the messenger.
They pulled Chicago type politics on this congressman because of his vote against cap and trade and as going to vote against the Healthcare bill.
lordmi
it was not about message, but moral.
Or Moral does not matter for You?
I know, that it does not for Reps. So - You are in the same hole, looks like.
Nothing to be proud about
olddog65
Typical of right wing ideolog, blame the other guy for what you do.
CitizenPain
now
you
understand
why
we
lost
the
olympics
goffbum
Farlefty, you forgot the fu&%in dumocratzzzzzzzzzzz
oathkeeper
The Dems on the far left are like hienas, turning on Dems who stray. As long as you follow in absolute obedience, they got your back. If you even hint of independent thought, you're finnished in politics, your name is trashed and of course, you're suddenly a nut job. Paterson is a loony thief because he got free Yankee tickets, Massa is "certifiable" for telling a bad joke, but just ignore Charlie Rangel's tax fraud and House Ethics violation because he follows blindly. Quick Dems! Send out damage control!
mittypuffs
No actually Paterson is just a regular thief. It is a clear ethics violation to take gifts, especially Worlds Series tickets valued at several thousand dollars. Remember Republican Alaska Senator Ted "the internet is a series of tubes!!!" Stevens? He was convicted of taking art and home improvement gifts.
oathkeeper
Correct. Also wrong. My point is, when it comes to Dems, if you are rank and file you can get away with much more. We are all human and thus make mistakes. However, the punishment should fit the crime (for both sides). I would rather see someone admit and apologize for a minor mistake than see a corrupt P.O.S. ignored. We are all led around by both parties.
MajorRevisions
You're right oathkeeper, you would never see the far right Republicans turn on any Repubican who would stray. They would never make a check list of beliefs that you must follow or be called a RINO! Get real! The problem is all we hear are the far left and right and all they are doing is blaming the other side. And we believe all their bull! They would never lie to us, only the NY Times lies! It's a opinion but we take it as the truth! Stop listening to any talking head on cable or the radio, I'm in week two of doing that and it is liberating! I'm thinking for myself.
I do agree with you that Rangel has to go. But to say the Dems are so organized and united that they can force someone out doesn't jive with the facts. If anything, the Repubicans seem to be in lock step with their voting.
Must get back to work. Don't like to write while at work since employers have the right to read anything I write on that computer.
xlntcat
Massa had been accused of multiple molestation of male staffers and interns over a the past year. That exceeds most people's perception of telling a bad joke. Allegedly, his military record also reflected 2 accusations inappropriate fondling. Now if you want to take a morally superior attitude regarding Rangel, let's go after Mitch McConnell too. I have no problem with cleaning house, but given the corruption in Congress the house will probably end up empty.
oathkeeper
When are we going to band together (us Rs, Ds and Is) as Americans and clean house? The people should adopt a zero tolerance policy on ALL corruption regardless of party affiliation. F-up and you're out!
Instead, here we are fighting each other and defending our sides like they want us to. Politicians need to fear us again.
JTS1021
In a follow-up story to the one I posted above, TPM is reporting that apparently someone must have pointed out to Rush all the things Massa said about him--because he's done a complete 180. On today's show, he apparently called him a "legitimate kook", a "loose cannon", and said "anybody who embraces this guy is going to get caught".
Hmmm, I have a sneaking suspicion that the far-right trolls that post on this site are suddenly not going to be as found of Massa anymore. I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of, "Well, I never said I liked this guy, all I was saying was..." going around.
lordmi
mental problem
textWreck
i've heard about "reality shows"
the concept is so ludicrous that i haven't indulged that
"Enquirer" part of my viewing
this massa "reality show" has beat me to the post
i have had to "see" it
aiyeeeeeeeeeeee
beck?
aiyeeeeeeeeeeee
timeisnow
I love it, it shows the really dirty way the Radical Liberal Play
ratLips
holi freaking kow!
Did you see the fallout expressions on Beck's face?!
It was GREAT reality TV...
El Rincon
Lloyd, you call yourself a journalist and you leave out the single most salient fact of this sordid and juicy affair?
Representative Massa was being investigated by his superiors on trumped up charges of sexual harassment, of a fellow male colleague no less and you fail to mention that?
Pathetic. Seriously, it wasn't enough to force him to quite because he voted no on HC, they had to try an ruin his rep by sliming him as a closet pervert and you played along, ignoring this blackmail and by leading the narrative that he's a "wingnut" aka right wing wacko.
The imagery of a naked Rahm Emanuel accosting the first term congressman in the congressional shower however rings true. The little turd...
xlntcat
Messa is being investigated for multiple charges of sexual misconduct directed at multiple male staffers and interns over an extended period of time and your Gay-dar is on the blink if you failed to note the intimate, longing tone in Messa voice as he recounted the alleged "naked" encounter with Mr. Emanuel. That is not the tone of a perceived victim. That is the tone of a sexual predator.
liberatorquest
He doesn't like Rahm, so he must be certifiable right? Who do you people think you are kidding? He obviously had enough of the charade at the white house, as most of us by now, if that makes us crazy in the democrats' minds, we must be on the right track!!! You better try all your underhanded and dirty maneuvers now that you still can, cause it'll be another twenty years or more, before a democrat is elected again!!!!
jaruss
Speaking of loony tunes.......
Liberator....are you for real? You really think it will be twenty years?
You're a nut along the lines of Massa.
Or are you Massa? Joe, that you?
liberatorquest
Start polishing your janitorial skills Jaruss, cause that is going to be the only option for you Dems, LOL!!!!
lordmi
why useless war and crises did not make You crazy?
Normal people - it should .
or it is toooo hard to be just Normal?
have Normal Moral standards?
liberatorquest
Time for another bong-hit hippie!!!!
suzannewynn
dear liberatorquest---your words sound very mysterious and subversive to those of us that don't see the White House and our President as you say a charade... please tell me how the Bush White House was the example of all that is righteous in the world? They did more subversive and scary things under the table then any other administration. You conservatives are so stupid thinking Dubya and his henchman were doing the work of God and the people of this country. They were doing the bidding of Halliburton and the rest... you are the idiot apparently... people like you make me afraid for our country and you and your like piss me off b/c it is people like you that don't care whether I can provide Healthcare for my children you are just thankful you have it and don't care about anyone else. Why is it we can go to a country like Iraq and Afghanistan and people like you think it is God's work to bring democracy to these people that have never known democracy for I don't know what 3,000 years? Is that not a social agenda? We promise to provide money and build roads, schools, and hospitals in a foreign country but it is against your principles to do anything for the people of this country?
peppermint
Suzie, only a crazed lib would try to bring God, Bush, Iraq, Halliburton, etc. into this mess ------hey you forgot Cheney.
While everybody trashes the nut job Massa (only one of many dems) I guess that tale about naked Rahm and the showers is just made up, huh? Seems to me there just might be something about thuggery going on in Congress but that's just me. Massa just will not go quietly but he better watch his back. It's not safe out there, especially for those who stray from the Obama agenda.
oathkeeper
Why is it that everytime the left's agenda is exposed, the same old Bush crap comes up? When I was 5, I learned that two wrongs don't make a right. How old are you? I didn't like the fact that Bush did not secure our borders, he spent too much and he supported the "Patriot Act". Even though we complained then, you suggest that we should be quiet about it now getting worse. Grow up and get a clue!
goffbum
Least GW didn't put this country on the brink of the abyss.............
Ankhorite
@peppermint, I'd be THRILLED to have Rahm Emanuel turn up naked and glowing with testosterone in MY shower. :)
BigRenman
Massa wil be a good fit for the right, who seem to be the party that draws a myriad of closet men, adulterers and paying johns. But, like the others, they'll be tossed when they're of no use anymore.
But can we talk/debate about things that actually effect our citizens .....
roveisawanker
oh liberator- you must be a moron. It's only going to be 2 and a bit years before the president gets re-elected. You don't have anyone to take his place... LOL
superdad
Reelected HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
JTS1021
liberator, you realize the reason he gave for being against Obamacare is because he wants a single payer system, which according to your own twisted logic, is ten times a greater step towards "socialism" than the plan Obama has set forth? Obama's plan is simply regulation of the private insurance industry and help for those that can't afford it. A single payer system is a complete takeover of the industry by the government.
Which means you are now defending someone that, according to your rhetoric, is to the left of Karl Marx?
But hating Obama has nothing to do with his race and everything to do with his "socialist policies", right? But if a white "socialist" comes along and hates Obama because he doesn't believe Obama is "socialist" enough, than you fall head over heals for him?
HollyK64
One minute the Liberals are loving him, the next they're declaring him a nutcase. The Democrat's playbook is getting re-written so often they must have a round-the-clock staff of writers on call to keep up.
livfreeordi
Massa is my congressman..or was.
I didn't vote for him and was gradually won over by his hard work and obviousl intelligence, but the more that comes out.. the more it looks like his conservative criticis over the years were right..and I should never have started to trust him.
The guy obviously needs help.. but there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that if he if was voting the "right" way on healthcare..the White House, the Democrat leadership and the media would have shoved this whole ethics story under the rug...just like they are ignoring Rangels even worse ethics record..becaseu he supports the healthcare bill.
Washington D.C, under left wing control, is the most corrupt and broken that I've ever seen in my lifetime.
Time to throw ALL the liberals out.
kburlz
Of course, why would anyone think that the Cons would blow their opportunity at power?
This user is no longer registered.
JohnConnughton
So you are saying Massa is a closet homosexual. Not that I care, that's his business. What I don't like is his "...son of the devil's spawn" crap.
lordmi
would it make any difference, if that idiot would act same way with lady?
olddog65
One problem with your position. It is a right wing posit, not a Liberal one. Liberals and Progressives don't care about sexual orientation. Only that you attempt to do the most good for the most people. Something that is a foreign concept to the right wing, Gopers.
socialworklady
Here we go again!
Banjo's tuning
Up the old G string
ratLips
ha!
slipping into this "G" string
gee zuss... whata maroon...
xlntcat
Since he reportedly stalked multiple male staffers and interns with complaints being lodge with the ethics committee for the past year, I hardly think that Messa was being blackmailed by anyone.
dalelama
For what reason would the former ballerina Emanuel be cruising the House members gym showers when he isn't a member? That is the real scandal and big story.
lordmi
any proof? Give it
estcruzer
If it's true - remember the source.
olddog65
You don't thing that Massa may be giving us all a big LIE do you?
OldCrow
Previous House members are allowed access to the gym.
John McCarthy
So the rest of the country is beginning to realize what an evil s.o.b. Rahm Emanuel is. My question is, what took you so long?
Rahm & Ari Emanuel hijacked the concert ticket industry at the beginning of this year with the consolidation of Live Nation & TicketMaster.
You didn't know that, did you?
Rahm & Ari stand to bank $1 BILLION in cash upon the passing of this albatross health care bill. You didn't know that either, did you?
It's an understatement to call Rattlesnake Rahm Satan's spawn. Rahm is the incarnation, not the spawn.
I'm glad those of you outside of Chicago are starting to get a clue as to just how evil this bastard is.
olddog65
your are smoking something. All that is happening here is that a DINO (Democratic in name only) got caught with his hand where it shouldn't be, and paid the price. What I find interesting is here is another CONSERVATIVE who seems to have sexual interest in MALE staffers. Sound familar?
wyorich
When did Barney Frank become a conservative? And doesn't he have his own showers for that kind of thing in the brothel he bought his boyfriend staffer?
xlntcat
Perhaps the reference was to the pedophile Foley or Craig with the wide stance.
olddog65
The guy is a classic DINO, and I for one am glad he has shown his true colors, GOPer. He gets caught with his hand in the wrong place, literally, and then tries to shift the blame for his problem on anyone and everyone he can. The favorite scape goat of the right wing seems to have shifted from Pelosi, a very smart woman.. (hmmm could he have a problem with women?), to Rahm Emanuel. So no matter what these "conservatives" do it is Rahm's fault, or to put it in a term all GOPers learn early and often,
"Its not my fault, the devil made me do it."
I for one am glad to see him go on Glen Beck and make a total ________ of himself, and show us all what a Blue Dog Democrat DINO really is made of. Not much.
oathkeeper
You have no idea what he actually did, do you? "He gets caught with his hand in the wrong place, literally". Actually he said a joke in bad taste at a wedding. Nice try oldsheep.
Like I said above...
The Dems on the far left are like hienas, turning on Dems who stray. As long as you follow in absolute obedience, they got your back. If you even hint of independent thought, you're finnished in politics, your name is trashed and of course, you're suddenly a nut job. Paterson is a loony thief because he got free Yankee tickets, Massa is "certifiable" for telling a bad joke, but just ignore Charlie Rangel's tax fraud and House Ethics violation because he follows blindly. Quick Dems! Send out damage control!
pacifistgunslinger
What is a "hiena?" Do you mean "hyena" or did you miss that day in school?
JTS1021
First off, they got rid of him because he's a corrupt bastard. You act like he was just an innocent, honest politician who got run out of office by evil liberals because he had conservative values. But I guarantee when the truth comes out, you will be back here screaming, "HE WAS ONE OF YOURS. HE WAS DEMOCRAT, DEMOCRAT, DEMOCRAT!!! WHY DO YOU EMBRACE SUCH CORRUPT, IMMORAL PEOPLE!!!"
You embrace him now, but when we actually find out what he did, every single one of you far-righters will do everything in your power to pawn him off on us.
Secondly, how do you not have any cognitive dissonance at all? How can you even dare to say "The far left are like hyenas, turning on Dems who stray" when your own political pundits have an attack word for any Republican who sways towards the center on any issue ("RINOs") and you are trying to kick every single one of those people out of your party? You guys who hold Reagan's "11th Commandment", "thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican", are accusing the other side of valuing "absolute obedience"?
I mean, are you f***ing serious?
Ankhorite
You spoke too soon. It wasn't "salty language" at a wedding. Turns out it's repeat groping of multiple staffers, all male. See the March 8 Washington Post, or google it.
Don't be too quick re Charlie Rangle, either, because Mitch McConnell apparently did much the same thing re taxes and will be getting his turn in the spotlight soon.
And perhaps you meant "hyenas."
makeclear
Get the truth out on this guy as quickly as possible. When the truth comes out, those who are hero worshipping, or maligning will be put to shame.
Of course some of us have no shame, we just want to slash, burn, change the subject, spin the subject and destroy without any regard to consequences, because we the electorate have been so brain washed that we cannot recognize good,and our attention span is 5 minutes..
sonofloud
What Clarence Thomas did to Anita Hill was far worse and that certainly didn't stop him did it?
sharinlite
You made a mistake, sonofloud, it was Anita Hill and the feminists did to Thomas. Please, get your facts straight.
pacifistgunslinger
You need to revisit the past. Clarence Thomas, in addition to being brain dead is also a boor.
sonofloud
"And yet some liberal activists doubted his sincerity, claiming Massa was trying to have it both ways-courting liberal campaign donors and the Netroots crowd outside his swing district while touting his " no" vote on Obamacare to his conservative constituents."......
Who exactly are these liberal activists who were complaining???
sharinlite
Exactly, sonofloud, who, is the question!
bradyj4
I have met Eric Massa. He is my representitive to the U.S. Congress. Anyone who says he's conservative is just wrong. He says what's on his mind and always has. He is a very abrasive man but I have known him to be honest.
Lets listen to what he has to say before we throw him under the bus.
JeffreyinLA
That would be a hell of a lot easier if he didn't keep changing his story. Next I expect him to formally change poarties and become a Republican. They like their closet cases.
xlntcat
If you watched his continually changes discourse over the past 4 days, you could hardly still believe him to be honest.
Cashmoney
The next time we hear about Massa will be when he's discovered on his knees in the backroom of a gay club servicing all comers.
He needs to get some therapy, come out of the closet, and try to become a decent person.
Too bad he's not in favor of savinggn health care delaying his resignation
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.