Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) enjoys the spotlight, no doubt about it. As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he avails himself of the opportunities.
Among his dubious achievements: Stifling legislation intended to restore the financial health of the US Postal Service. As a chairman of the relevant committee, he succeeded in killing the measure, despite its likelihood of passage. (Details are available in the first post on this blog, dated 2/28/12).
Chairman Issa (pronounced ICE-uh) is currently focused on recent problems with the Internal Revenue Service. He seems determined to link the IRS's recently cited irregularities --- including the alleged pinpointing of Tea Party groups for questionable exemption claims, and wildly excessive expenses for training sessions --- to the Obama administration.
(A brief sidebar: The 96 Tea-Party organizations that were red-flagged were among a group of 298 committees spanning the political spectrum. Only one actually lost its tax-exempt status: a Democratic-leaning, New-England-based group).
The Good Chairman seems to have an ironbound determination to demonize the White House, despite lack of evidence. During a recent interview with journalist Candy Crowley, he stated that "he knew in his gut that somebody in the White House knew something." Here's a clip from Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC program, The Last Word. (The entire 14-minute video is worth watching, but the relevant snippet runs from 6:03 to 6:24): It's In His Gut.
I'll grant you this: The Chairman's gut has served him well. Considering the fact that he's just a shade shy of 60, Mr. Issa cuts a dashing figure, snappy suits and all. His digestive and metabolic processes appear to function smashingly well, unlike those of his soul-mate Rush Limbaugh. So I guess it's understandable why he should maintain such unswerving faith in his intestinal tract.
However, Mr. Issa's gut faith seems to be wearing thin as a political tactic. Even some of his Republican chums are advising him to cool his jets!
Sorry, my friend,
ReplyDeleteI don't see why you used so much space to deal with Issa'a gut, even with the link you provide. I don't care for that guy's "gut" either, which produces pronouncements of a needlessly negative, vague nature; there is little to admire in him.
I wish you'd mentioned more about media repetitions, how they are mindlessly inarticulate, reporters leaning on the same tired questions they obviously regard as high drama--wrong!
Also, dwelling on sartorial sarcasm as you did just makes it look like appearance envy, even though you don't wish to ape anything about him.
Meanwhile, best wishes!
Hey Amber,
ReplyDeleteIt was my way of mocking Mr. Issa's inflated sense of self-importance. Y'know, sometimes I just like to be a wiseguy.
Regarding the media repetitions, you raised a good point. I believe that the video focused on that.
Envy? Naaah! You know me; I'm a reverse snob!
Take good care.
If you look at my reply carefully, I said "makes it look like...", not that I think so. The video merely showed the repetitions, not much of a critique thereof.
DeleteYour reply was understood, Amber; I just took some liberties with my response.
DeleteThis particular post wasn't intended to be a serious critique. Every one in a while, I feel inclined to wise off, to be irreverant.
Does it affect the continuity of the blog? Maybe so. But I can't be deadly serious 24-7. It's not my nature.
That stated, I understand your concerns. They're points well-taken.