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Shocking news out of Florida! Nearly nine months after Rep. Robert Wexler (D) said that cocaine and prostitutes are fun things to do, someone wants to take the lawmaker’s job. Imagine that!
No one in the political world has forgotten Wexler’s comments to Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert last summer, especially Democrat Ben Graber, who announced last week he is challenging the sixth-term incumbent in the 2008 primary.
Graber, an OB/GYN doctor who has held political offices in Florida, told Under the Dome yesterday that the comments were not themselves the reason why he got into the race. But will he be using the Wexler-Colbert interview as political ammo on the campaign trail? Oh, yeah.
Graber, who is apparently not the kind of guy to let a gag go unpunished, suggested Wexler may not have been joking when, egged on by Colbert, he looked into the camera and said he enjoys cocaine and prostitutes “because it’s a fun thing to do.”
“There are many ways to look at it,” Graber said. “Maybe he was shocked and the truth came out.”
Of course, Colbert persuaded Wexler to make the outrageous statements because he was not being contested in the 2006 election, asking the lawmaker to “say a few things that would really lose the election for you if you were contested.”
Colbert then asked him to complete this sentence: “I enjoy cocaine because ...” and history was made.
Now for the record, Wexler later admitted he shouldn’t have said those things and has been more careful when appearing on “Colbert” after that entertaining July episode. House Caucus Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) is wary of his colleagues going on “The Colbert Report” and if Wexler loses, it’s likely that the fake-TV news personality will have trouble booking members of Congress.
Incumbents regularly beat under-funded primary challengers, but the bad news for Wexler is that Graber is no slouch. He wants to raise “at least” $1 million and is putting in $100,000 of his own cash to jumpstart his campaign. The former state legislator boasts of previously beating two incumbents in the Sunshine State.
There are some who believe that Wexler’s jab at comedy helped him politically. Not so, Graber said.
“Maybe that appeals to the Howard Stern crowd,” he said, but overall, the interview hurt Wexler politically. Added Graber, “It fits into a pattern of behavior of shoot-from-the-hip, rash judgment.”
Graber says he will soon unveil a Top 10 list of blunders by Wexler. No word yet on whether the Colbert-Wexler exchange will show up in a Graber campaign ad.
Wexler, who perhaps feels he has done enough talking for now, did not comment to Under the Dome yesterday.
A tort reform crusader gets own suit tossedRep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) has long railed against frivolous lawsuits, voting on many occasions to cut down the number of legal challenges filed in this country.
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that a lawsuit filed by Sullivan against the U.S. was, well, if not frivolous, then at least superfluous.
The court decided to throw out Sullivan’s case because the matter is already being handled by the executive branch.
Nearly four years ago, Sullivan was injured after giving a speech in Washington, D.C. With his aide driving, Sullivan sustained facial cuts and a serious eye injury when a security barrier fell on the car, triggering the vehicle’s air bags.
The barrier fell on the car because of an unclear hand signal from one security officer to another near the Cannon House Office Building.
Sullivan was taken to the George Washington University Medical Center and treated. He then filed a complaint under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) seeking financial relief for injuries he has said are permanent and disabling. FTCA allows financial compensation for federal employees who have sustained personal injury while performing their work.
Sullivan has claimed he has suffered economic loss as a result of the injuries.
The court last week dismissed the case because the Secretary of Labor has accepted Sullivan’s claim and is reviewing it.
Sullivan’s legal team said the court should not dismiss the case, noting that the congressman “has not received one penny to date.”
That, the court found, is irrelevant. Because the Labor Department has done what it should be doing, the court has no jurisdiction. The ruling also chastised Sullivan for offering no legal basis to proceed with the case.
Sullivan did not comment.
When reply-all gets uglyA reminder: Keep away from that dangerous “reply-to-all” button on your e-mail program. If you aren’t careful, you could raise the ire of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) attempted to send out a simple advisory to more than 500 people about an upcoming meeting on bioterrorism, pandemic flu and other nasty things. It almost immediately degenerated into 10 hours of inbox-cluttering complaints.
Smith Barney Senior Vice President Mitchell Slater started off with some thoughts about HHS passing over Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, makers of radiation-sickness drug Neumune, for a contract. “They have the best drug neummune [sic] and were totally ignored by HHS…. Pathetic!”
The chief executive of RxBio, a rival company, took the bait: “Hollis Eden doesn’t have anywhere close to the best drug — which is why they were eliminated,” wrote W. Shannon McCool. Ouch.
DHS official Jon Krohmer tried to bring the hammer down: “This is not an appropriate discussion for this list. This thread has to stop now. Thank you.” It didn’t work.
Many begged to be removed from the list. Some of them inexplicably replied-to-all with this request, prompting Fairfax County, Va., official Wesley McDermott to ask: “[D]o we all need to receive your e-mails requesting to be deleted from the ListServe?” No. No, we don’t.
Pledge, smile and get outRep. Marsha Blackburn did her part at the Frontiers of Freedom annual gala last week.
Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led the crowd of well-dressed Republicans in the Pledge of Allegiance before taking her seat and listening to the welcoming remarks from the event’s emcee and the group’s founder.
But when the keynote speaker, presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), got up to speak, Blackburn made a beeline for the door.
At an impressive clip, Blackburn, who was one of Romney’s earliest supporters in the House, almost made it out before Romney thanked her for being there.
For the record, when he called out her name, she was still technically in the room — by about 8 inches.
Blackburn turned and smiled just inside the doorway, then wheeled around and continued on her way.
Blackburn’s staff said the congresswoman had other events to attend that night, but they say she did stay for two hours, which includes the pre-gala receptions. |
