Senator Angus King Speaks His Mind

It's refreshing to hear a public official lay it on the line once in a while without leaning too heavily on the euphemisms.   Senator Angus King,  an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats is the guy!

King,  a member of the Senate Intelligence Subcommittee,  during a recent network interview,  suggested that former Vice President Dick Cheney "should give waterboarding a try himself,  if he doesn't believe it's torture."   (The subcommittee had just moved to declassify the executive summary of a report on the CIA's interrogation and torture practices during the Bush administration).

The Good Senator has been equally plain-spoken regarding health care.  I recently latched onto an archived article in The National Memo;   Mr.  King lambasted the Koch Brothers and their allies for attempting to scare young people into opting out of the Affordable Care Act.   Here's the quote:

            (It's)  a scandal --- those people are guilty of murder
             in my opinion.   Some of those people they persuade
             are going to end up dying because they don't have
             health insurance.   For people to do that to other
             people in the name of some obscure political ideo-
             logy is one of the grossest violations of our humanity
             that I can think of.  This absolutely drives me crazy.

The mainstream media doesn't seem to be giving him any coverage.   I would think that a suitable headline would attract readers.   Then again,  I guess that's  my own naivete in play here.

Still,  it's nice to feel validated once in a while.   A few of my posts have carried a similar theme:   the heartlessness of many Republicans and potentially fatal consequences.*

Hang in there,  Senator King.   You have a new fan!


*   Check out the following posts:

      7/8/13:  A Must-Read ---  Especially for Anyone Who
                   Votes Republican
      9/8/12:  Republican Voters --- Accomplices to Murder
      5/4/12:  Legislative Violence