Free Republic

(Vancouver, WA) Seven months after Rep. Brian Baird reported a telephoned death threat to the U.S. Capitol Police in Washington, D.C., more details have trickled out. It turns out it was an unidentified man in Kansas who left a message on Baird’s Washington, D.C., office phone last August advising him to “keep a close eye out for those Ryder rental trucks” after Baird made an ill-advised televised comment during the summer’s heated debate about health care reform. The Capitol Police turned the matter over to the FBI, which classified it as a “terrorist threat.” The FBI tracked down the caller...

Another Washington State Democrat is throwing in the towel! This is not confirmed yet, but I just received an e-mail from a very reliable local source, who says Washington State Representative Deb Wallace is not only abandoning her campaign for Brian Baird’s US House seat here in the 3rd CD, she is not running for reelection to her State House seat in Olympia, either. Baird (D. Vancouver) announced he was not seeking another term just last month. Wallace was the only local Democrat running for Baird’s seat with any real legs in my view, and if she is backing out...

Keith Ellison, widely hailed as America's first Muslim congressman, could more accurately be described as CAIR and Hamas' man in Congress. Congressman Ellison has been a regular presence at CAIR fundraisers and at pro-Hamas rallies in the United States. As a former member of Farrakhan's Nation of Islam , Ellison has enough anti-semitic and Islamist credentials to satisfy anyone, and had expressed openly anti-semitic beliefs in the past. Since Ellison got his start with CAIR , his attempt to provide support for Hamas is completely unsurprising. Both Hamas and CAIR are projects of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also helped...

Pelosi surprised by Baird's decision to retireBy Charles Pope, The Oregonian December 16, 2009, 3:42PM WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she was surprised by Rep. Brian Baird's decision to retire but remains confident Democrats will maintain control of the House after the 2010 elections. "Brian Baird, he didn't give me 72 hours notice,'' Pelosi joked, referring to Baird's unsuccessful – and persistent -- efforts to provide lawmakers at least 72 hours to review and understand legislation before voting. Like others who follow politics in the Northwest and beyond, Pelosi said she was surprised by Baird's announcement. "He...

George W. Bush carried the current 3rd district 48%-46% in 2000 and 50%-48% in 2004; Barack Obama carried it 53%-45% in 2008. In other words, it voted pretty much like the nation as a whole. Baird would certainly have been the favorite to hold the district in 2010, but might have faced a tougher contest than he has since 1998 and 2000. He turns 54 in 2010, not old enough (one would think) to contemplate retirement but young enough to cash in on 12 years of incumbency. In any case, this national-average district must now be considered very much up...

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird announced Wednesday he will not seek a seventh term in Congress next year. "Serving our country and representing the people of Southwest Washington in Congress has been the highest honor and greatest responsibility of my life," the Vancouver Democrat said in a statement. "Since the time I first announced I would seek election in November of 1995, I have done my utmost to work hard, tell the truth, listen, and do what was right for our nation. I am proud of the record of achievements for our district and I am incredibly grateful to the voters...

There is a Marine in Southern Washington, Camas to be exact, who became famous because of YouTube and a sternly worded lecture at a Town Hall meeting. David Hedrick had the fortitude to bluntly call Representative Brian Baird to account on several issues. Health care, the teaching of our children, and the upholding of one’s oath to the Nation, were among the issues this brave Marine took Baird to task for.

Did he or didn't he? It has been a bit of whirlwind especially on a few blog sites. We're talking about whether our Congressman Brian Baird reported a death threat to Capitol Police. Let me back up a little: -- Baird opted not to hold public town hall meetings on health care. He made the decision because he was concerned about what he was seeing out there at other town hall meetings. Safety issues. -- Baird said part of his decision was based on some death threats he had received. -- He called some of the tactics he had seen...

It seems that congress might have a new budding liar, if not a crook. (In other news, water is wet.) Brian Baird, a democrat representative from Vancouver, Washington, has claimed that he received a death threat because of his support of HR 3200. This threat, he claims, was made by some crazy right-winger in a desperate attempt to stifle the truth about the goodness and graciousness of HR 3200. This, he has implied, is the right’s desperation as they ratchet up the rancor - code words for, “the right are a bunch of dangerous neanderthals.” All of these bigoted notions...

Folks, the only link to this story is a small local blog, where a casual remark that was posted at my website in a discussion about the Townhall meeting US Representative Brian Baird (D. Vancouver WA) that was held last night here in Southwest Washington. Quote Baird's at it again. This afternoon, at the Rotary Club he said, "if there is a Ryder truck parked out front, it has my name on it." So much for his "sincere apology" to us all. Sorry Brian, but we've already heard the "botched joke" excuse. UNQUOTE

Thurs congressional gathering canceled over security A week after saying he would not hold town hall meetings because of health care reform protest tactics he compared to Nazis Brownshirts, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird issued a statement Wednesday expressing regret for his comments. "Frankly, I have had concerns about how we can have constructive dialogue and, unfortunately, in response to some of the things we've been seeing across the nation I have said some things myself that I regret," Baird said in a press release issued Wednesday. "My hope and trust is that we can have the kinds of informative exchanges...

Congressman Brian Baird accepted an invitation to a living-room chat with a local Republican leader who volunteered Friday to be his bodyguard, and agreed to a national radio appearance with a conservative talk-show host. Baird was scolded for his choice of words in an ongoing political storm, and was both supported and criticized for holding a "telephone town hall" instead of an actual town hall meeting. And then there was the fax that the Vancouver Democrat characterized as a death threat. Friday added several new chapters to a story that started this week when Baird said he wasn't going to...

U.S. Rep. Brian Baird still hasn't decided how he'll vote on a proposed health-insurance reform bill, but he has some key principles in mind, the Vancouver Democrat told about 6,000 Southwest Washington residents Friday afternoon: • If you have a health-insurance policy you like, you can keep it. • Reforms will ensure that people can't be denied coverage. • The U.S. House of Representatives bill won't add to the national deficit. • Any public option wouldn't be subsidized by other revenue. • If it's socialized medicine, Baird won't support it. Those were among Baird's responses and introductory comments during a...

Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead. Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism. "What we're seeing right now is close to Brown Shirt tactics," Baird, D-Vancouver, said in a phone interview. "I mean that very seriously."

For fear of being 'ambushed' by Republican "lynchmobs," Democratic congressman Brian Baird (WA-3) said he refuses to hold in person town hall meetings over the summer month long congressional recess. Citing the G.O.P.'s "Brown Shirt tactics" as the impetus for his decision, Baird told the Columbian he will instead hold a telephone town hall. ...

Over 10 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has stayed tethered to his district, flying back to Southwest Washington for more than 300 sometimes-bruising town hall meetings during Congressional recesses. But this year, he's literally decided to phone it in. Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead. Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism. "What we're...

(Vancouver, WA) Over 10 years in Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird has stayed tethered to his district, flying back to Southwest Washington for more than 300 sometimes-bruising town hall meetings during Congressional recesses. But this year, he's literally decided to phone it in. Instead of appearing in person, where "extremists" would have "the chance to shout and make YouTube videos," Baird said Wednesday, he's holding what he calls "telephone town halls" instead. Baird said he's using the new system because he fears his political opponents may be planning "an ambush" to disrupt his meetings, using methods Baird compared to Nazism....

Congressman Baird was so outraged at the quick passing of the appropriations bill without it being read that he sponsored House Resolution 544. Bills are available on line for 72 hours before being voted. Congressman Baird had no problem Friday voting on something he didn’t have time to read as long as he got his cut of the deal.

A US congressman plans to brief fellow members of Congress and the Obama administration about his recent trip to Gaza, saying the US should pressure Israel regarding border closures and reassess its military support for the Jewish state. Slideshow: Pictures of the week Rep. Brian Baird, a Democrat from Washington state, visited Gaza last week with fellow Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and was struck by "the level of destruction, the scope of it, specifically the civilian targets - schools, hospitals, industry." Baird also said Israel had "apparently willfully destroyed any capacity of the Palestinians to rebuild their own...

Remember when the Associated Press told you what the top 10 stories of the year were–and that was the end of discussion? No more. One of the wonderful benefits of the Internet is that it ended the monopoly of the MSM Deciders. Permanently. Here’s the wire service’s list of what news directors and editors voted the biggest stories of 2007. They picked the Virginia Tech massacre as the number one story. Sure, it was a tragedy. But the top story of the last 12 months–the one with the largest historical ramifications, the one that should define the entire year? Come...