Posted on 03/09/2010 5:24:34 AM PST by shortstop
Eric Massa is a snake.
But he is a brilliant snake.
And in one of the most audacious p.r. moves ever, he has conned Limbaugh, Drudge and Beck – and untold millions of Americans. From a little radio studio beside a swamp, with the help of a couple of deluded backwoods yokels, he has made himself a national star.It is astounding.
And proof that in American politics, it’s not how big your lie is, it’s how loud you can yell.
And so it is that Eric Massa, who fled the Congress out of fear of what Ethics Committee investigators would find out about him, has wrapped himself in the robes of a patriot martyr.
A guy who – until yesterday – belonged to the House Progressive Caucus has, with one nicely disseminated rant, transformed himself into a conservative darling. Limbaugh and Beck have trumpeted him, and Beck has promised him an entire hour of national television tonight. Massa opposed Obamacare because it wasn’t liberal enough – because it didn’t entirely nationalize health care with a single-payer system – and Beck is about to crown him queen of the tea party.
It is a media move of astounding proportion. It takes spin to a whole new level.And it shows Massa to be a genius.
And, if anybody’s paying attention, a liar.
But, nobody is paying attention, and his con is working.
But for the record, a few facts.
The first is that over the space of five days Eric Massa gave three completely different explanations for why he was leaving the House of Representatives. Each was passionately delivered, each was earnestly intoned, and each was mutually exclusive.
That means they can’t all be true.
For example, on Wednesday, he announced that he would not seek re-election. He said it was because his cancer was back. He implied that he was dying and that his doctor had told him that his workload was killing him.
By Friday, however, it wasn’t cancer anymore, and it wasn’t just no re-election. It was resignation. He said he had to “own this reality,” acknowledged that he had done something that made him unworthy of office, and that his background contained events that congressional investigators would uncover if they looked into him.
Let’s review. Wednesday it was cancer, Friday it was personal failing.
And Sunday it was a conspiracy.
On Sunday, he drove to radio station WKPQ for his weekly show. Coincidentally, both his chief of staff and I have worked at WKPQ. With him were two radio people who have been sympathetic to his cause and his campaigns.
And Eric Massa went off.
He claimed that he was being forced out of the House because he voted against health-care reform. In some sort of grand plot involving the chief of staff of the White House and the House majority leader and any number of other mystery Democrats, he was being crucified.
It was his courage and independence, he claimed, that had made him a marked man. He dared to stand up to Obama, and to be his own man, and they were crushing him. He was a poor victim of evil Democrats.
And he said the f-word once.
And that’s why he was quitting the Congress.
And no sooner was the show done, with its listenership in the dozens, than somebody started sending links to it all across the media world.
By 8 yesterday morning, Fox News Channel had bought the narrative. Here was a Democrat, destroyed by Democrats, for voting against health care.
Glenn Beck fell in love next. Then Rush Limbaugh.
All accepting the Eric Massa claim that he was the deciding vote on health care, and that by silencing him the Democrats were trying to force big government on the people, and that the public will was being destroyed.
The problem, of course, was that it was absolutely untrue – and anybody with a grasp of Google could verify that.
Eric Massa was one of 39 House Democrats who voted against health care reform. A third of those Democrats were, like Massa, newly elected. All but one of them was, like Massa, from districts that voted for John McCain. A good chunk of them were, like Massa, in districts which had recently elected Republicans.
Of the 39 Democrats who opposed health care reform, Eric Massa had the fifth-smallest margin of electoral victory.
Put another way, he won the seat by the skin of his teeth and if he didn’t mind his P’s and Q’s, he would lose it.
So he was expected to vote against health care. His constituents didn’t want it, and he had to oppose it. That was understood by all, including the Democratic leadership of the House.
As to the looming vote, at least a dozen of the House Democrats who opposed health care before have already said they oppose it now. That means, not counting Massa, there are a dozen Democrats defying their party.
And what is the party doing to them?
Nothing. Other than plenty of sweet talking, and dinner at the White House over the weekend.
The claim that Massa is being taken down for voting against health care, while others who did the same thing are being treated kindly and even rewarded, is preposterous.
It is an illogical and unbelievable lie.
And conservatives eager to find an ally against Obamacare have latched on to it like it was God’s own truth.
And Eric Massa is a hero. Millions of conservatives have embraced a liberal who defies everything they stand for, and he has become the sweetheart of Beck and Limbaugh. Last night, Beck breathlessly Tweeted the news that he had spoken to Massa off the air and was excited to have him for an entire hour on TV tonight.
I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody offers him a TV commentator job somewhere. And I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps getting away with it. If Limbaugh and Beck say he’s OK – and they will have to now, to save face – then millions of people will think he’s OK too.
Eric Massa is a brilliant, audacious snake.
But he is still a snake.
Exactly! bttt
Exactly right.
Oh, I agree with that. Us, lowly citizens don’t really know what’s going on behind closed doors.
Guys don't have "stalls." We have a large room with a bunch of shower-heads spaced along the walls.
ML/NJ
Just remember that when the House is reduced by two members, you need one less for a majority. Could be some really close vote countin' goin' on.
He sure does! I thought of Blago, too. Maybe both, Blago and Massa will spill the beans on the corruption!
“From a little radio studio beside a swamp, with the help of a couple of deluded backwoods yokels...”
Is there anything that can’t be blamed on rural folks? I can’t imagine why the sophisticated city people haven’t exterminated us yet. We’re the source of all ills.
True, but I have a feeling that had he stayed, he'd have voted for 0bamacare anyway. If Massa really cared about this issue, he would not have resigned and instead stayed on to vote NO.
The only good democrat is an out-of-office democrat.
The guy has been in congress less than one term. Where is the evidence that he is actually a “progressive” wearing conservative clothing now versus your typical garden variety common political whore who will simply change spots to further their career?
The only good democrat is an out-of-office democrat.
Thank you.
Listen to Massa tonight on Glenn Beck and then later on Larry King. It could be we might come to believe he is telling the truth about what has happened to him in the attempt to get him to vote YES on the health care bill. He was already not being a nice boy in Nancy's opinion since he voted against BO’s budget, cap and trade, and the first House health care bill.
http://www.breitbart.tv/rep-massa-blast-dems-he-was-set-up-hoyer-lied-may-rescind-resignation
What do you think Nancy does to make her House members follow her lead? And Emmanual? And Obama?
Which is it, did Massa vote against 0bamacare because it wasn't liberal enough as Bob Lonsberry first asserted; or was it because his electoral victory was very narrow in a district that went for McCain and he had to ‘mind his P's and Q's’?
Well?
In an article calling someone out for telling lies that contradict each other, it might help to not employ the tactic yourself Bob Dingleberry.
He's a Democrat. That's all the evidence we need.
Remember how many "moderate" or even "conservative" Democrats there supposedly were in the Senate prior to the first votes on 0bamacare? Heck, it almost felt like most of the Democrat caucus in the Senate was "moderate" or "conservative" the way they were talking.
Any notion that "moderate" or "conservative" Democrats are nothing more than mythical creatures should have died the day when all 60 of them voted to advance 0bamacare. As for the House, we're starting to see the same thing happen with more Democrats caving towards voting for this.
The only people being fooled are the ones who continue to believe that there are "moderate" or "conservative" Democrats who will swoop in and save the day.
Talk about mutually contradictory stories!
Bob Lonsdingleberry is a loon!
There is nothing hard about this. Massa was prepared to cast a no vote on healthcare reform in its present form.
Rahm sicked the dogs on Massa’s past and they uncovered something that Massa would rather keep private.
End of story. And if they were not able to uncover something, they probably would have manufactured it.
It is all just more support for the arguement that the “whole nest” of rats need to be shown the door.
My guess would be Massa voted against it because he was fearful it would cost he his seat. He was gonna have a tough time in his district no matter what.
Is it time for America to move past "sexual impropriety" when evaluating a politician's ability to legislate? Is there a better litmus test?
perhaps the whole naked shower scene is Massa telegraphing that Rham emanuel has his own naked skeletons.
Never mind, it was just because it wasn’t liberal enough. He wants it Canada style.
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