Again?

by digby

These people are going to overdose on smelling salts and phony sanctimony if they don’t watch out. It’s about once a week now, isn’t it?

House Republicans objected today to comments made by outspoken liberal Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California on the Iraq war during debate on the override of President Bush’s veto of the children’s health program.

Speaking on the House floor, Stark said, “Under the Republican plan, by
2017, we probably will have killed 20,000 soldiers in Iraq, spending
$200 billion.”

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) rose to protest the remark and asked that Stark’s words be taken down, a formal procedure to punish a member of Congress for breaching the House’s standards of decorum.

The chair later ruled that Stark’s comment did not refer to any specific House member and thus were appropriate.

Earlier in the SCHIP debate, Stark had made other spirited remarks.

“You don’t have money to fund the war or children,” he said. “But you’re going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president’s amusement.”

(Well, he did say “bring it on.”)

CNN is all over it, tiresomely pressing every passing person as to whether they will repudiate or condemn this even though it’s clearly another coordinated hissy kabuki designed to distract from the fact that they just upheld their 24% president’s veto of a popular program to help sick children. The know it. We know it. And the republicans know it. It doesn’t matter.

The press, undoubtedly feeling terribly vulnerable after reluctantly reporting on the Stalkin’ Malkin atrocity, are anxious to appease the wolfpack. Come one, come all, to the latest rightwing freak show and ritual humiliation pageant! News at 11.

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