Free Republic

In the global war on terror, information is everything. A single tip from the public can save countless lives. A terrorist could be right in front of your own face. That’s why the FBI rolled out a new ad campaign on billboards and buses. It shows the faces of 16 of the world's most wanted terrorists. Some, however, say they're being depicted in a less that flattering light. “You look at the pictures, they're all one color of folks,” said Congressman Jim McDermott of Seattle. McDermott has asked the FBI to pull the ads, calling them “racist” because there are...

Always-unfiltered Rep. Jim McDermott penned a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller Wednesday claiming a Joint Terrorism Task Force ‘Faces of Global Terrorism’ ad is racist. McDermott, a Democrat from Washington state, voiced his “deep concern” about the ad, which shows mug shots of international terrorists, and asked the FBI chief to “reconsider publicizing” it. According to McDermott, the “ad featuring sixteen photos of wanted terrorists is not only offensive to Muslims and ethnic minorities, but it encourages racial and religious profiling.” McDermott continued, “Representing terrorists, however, from only one ethnic or religious group, promotes stereotypes and ignores other forms...

Congressman Jim McDermott got crushed by Megyn Kelly on Fox News. That disgrace of a congressmen has blamed the victims of the IRS, not the IRS. My answer to McDermott, if I were a private citizen being targeted by him and told by him to provide proof and defend myself, would be something like this...

He’s basically accusing them of making a mountain out of a molehill, emphasizing that no matter how egregiously the IRS behaved, they couldn’t stop the groups from operating without tax exemption. They could still go out there and preach the tea-party gospel; they’d just have to do it, at least for awhile, without the benefit of 501(c)(4) status that liberal groups have comparatively little trouble obtaining. Tough it out, wingnuts. Presumably, if a high-school student applied for federal college loans and the application was held up for discriminatory reasons, McDermott would shrug and say, hey — no one’s stopping the...

Jim let a bit of truth slip here today at the House Ways and Means committee hearing by explaining why he thinks the IRS was right to target these conservative groups: “Each of your groups is highly political. From opposing the President’s healthcare reform, to abortion restrictions, to gay marriage, you’re all entrenched in some of the most controversial political issues in this country ....... “ Rest of Speech at link: McDermott Statement at Hearing with Organizations Singled Out by the IRS (speech text and video posted at His House Website)

It is always entertaining to see what happens when old guard D.C. crosses paths with “young gun” D.C. Take, for example, the recent clash between Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis). During a Tuesday House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, Rep. McDermott said that Tea Party groups wouldn’t have been scrutinized if they didn’t apply for tax-exempt status and engage in the activities they didSounds like McDermott’s blaming conservative groups for the IRS scandal, no? An amused Paul Ryan seemed to think so. Ryan scrapped his prepared question and instead chose...

Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) criticized six witnesses who were targeted for their conservative political beliefs by the IRS at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Tuesday. McDermott called the Committee’s IRS investigation “political theater,” saying, "The mistake here was that the staff organizing the organizations used the names of the organizations rather than the work they do and asked improper questions to figure that out." "It's clearly wrong. It was inept, stupid and a whole lot of other things," he continued. "But let's not get lost. During the Bush administration, liberal groups were targeted without any concern by...

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) not only blamed the victims of the IRS's targeting on Tuesday--he also implied the IRS would have been justified targeting conservative and Tea Party groups if the agency did so based on what the groups stood for instead of on the words in their names. At a House Ways and Means hearing in which six leaders of organizations the IRS had targeted were testifying, McDermott said the "mistake here was the staff used the names of the organizatiions instead of the work they do." [video] McDermott lashed out at the witnesses, saying "each of your groups...

If you’re going to step in the ring with your government, you should expect to get punched in the face. And by “step in the ring,” I of course mean “avail yourself of the same perfectly legal tax strategies that are routinely permitted to liberal nonprofits.” I confess, while I expected some stupid and predictable Democratic scandal spin this week, I didn’t expect to watch a congressman indirectly defend government discrimination on grounds that the victims could have avoided it by simply not asserting their statutory rights in the first place. And yet here we are. That’s not the only...

If you’re going to step in the ring with your government, you should expect to get punched in the face. And by “step in the ring,” I of course mean “avail yourself of the same perfectly legal tax strategies that are routinely permitted to liberal nonprofits.” I confess, while I expected some stupid and predictable Democratic scandal spin this week, I didn’t expect to watch a congressman indirectly defend government discrimination on grounds that the victims could have avoided it by simply not asserting their statutory rights in the first place. And yet here we are.That’s not the only problem...

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-emonrat): "They are simply selfish and greedy."

Republicans stopped a provision that establishes criminal penalties for CIA officers that use cruel, inhuman or degrading interrogation methods from making it into the Intelligence bill passed Friday — but the leading Republican on the House intelligence committee said that provision is hardly dead. “This is not the last time we’ll see the McDermott stuff,” Rep. Pete Hoekstra told The Daily Caller of the legislation authored by Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott. “It will come back. They will find every way that they can to make it law.” Hoekstra said the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Intelligence chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes,...

Liberal Democrats may tout openness, reform and transparency on the campaign trail but those promises never seem to make it past the Beltway when they return to Washington. In one of the more egregious examples of this truism, one needs to look no further than the efforts by Representative Jim McDermott (D-Washington) to pull a fast one and slip into the intelligence budget a provision that, in a backdoor way, impose fines and prison terms on intelligence officers who "abuse" captured terrorism suspects. The House Democratic leadership stopped a vote Thursday night on the $50 billion classified intelligence budget after...

Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott remembers the last time health reform was on the national agenda. "I was there in '93 and '94 and watched the process, so I've seen this movie before," he said, referring to the failed effort during Bill Clinton's presidency. "I didn't like the ending, and I want this one to have a different ending." In his first town-hall meeting on the current health-care effort, McDermott, D-Seattle, expressed anger over what he views as scare tactics from foes of any health-care reform.

There's a scene in the 2008 movie "Lava Storm," a low-budget sci-fi flick about magma engulfing the globe, in which a volcanologist hatches a quixotic scheme to save humanity. He'll blow up the local dam to douse the rampaging inferno. Everyone doubts him, of course. "We can't save the world," says his wife. "No, baby," he shoots back. "But maybe we can buy it some time." It's so crazy, it just might work! That was about my reaction when I interviewed the writer and producer of "Lava Storm," West Seattle's Bill Hoffman, about his next big project. Which is, believe...

Congressman Jim McDermott has now explained what he was thinking when he sought to use taxpayer dollars to polish up The Rainier Club's windowsills. He was thinking: Why aren't you making a grab for cash, too? "This is not a ridiculous request," McDermott said. "Everybody in the 7th District has the right to make a request — the University of Washington, The Rainier Club, everybody." Set aside for now the tone-deafness of comparing our largest public university, reeling from budget cuts, with a private social club (where choice subcommittee assignments include the likes of "Greeting and Hospitality" and "Single Malt...

Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott doubts his own request for a $250,000 earmark of federal funds to pay for renovations at the exclusive Rainier Club will win approval in Congress.While descending a tiled staircase into The Rainier Club lobby, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott said Monday he doubts his request for a $250,000 earmark to cover renovations at the exclusive downtown Seattle club will win approval from federal lawmakers. "Given what's going on in the country these days, it seems unlikely to me," the Seattle Democrat said, amid a backdrop of fine artwork and antique furniture. "I'm not going to say definitively...

Among more than 100 local projects for which U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott recently sought funding earmarks in the coming federal budget are a new cancer-research program, municipal road projects and a law-enforcement initiative to combat gang violence. Also included on the Seattle Democrat's 2010 appropriations wish list is a relatively modest — but curious — appeal: A $250,000 request to fund a "window repair and limestone sill replacement" at The Rainier Club — one of Seattle's premier private clubs, whose members include some of the city's most well-heeled and politically connected residents. McDermott's request on behalf of The Rainier Club...

The e-mail chain between Elizabeth (Don't call me Liz!) Becton, a staffer for Rep. Jim McDermott, (D-Wash.), and a Democratic lobbyist who is a friend of a friend of mine has been forwarded around Washington all week because it perfectly encapsulates the frustration of lobbyists in both parties in dealing with some of the more arrogant Democrats on Capitol Hill. The e-mail exchange started with a seemingly innocuous request by the lobbyist to set up a meeting with her client, JPMorgan Chase, and McDermott (I've taken out the identifying names and phone numbers only): Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:05...

Washington, D.C., political insiders were treated Wednesday morning to an unforgettable exchange of 19 e-mails. The players: an aide at McBee Strategic, a major lobbying firm, and one Elizabeth Becton, scheduling secretary to Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. The aide's sin: He sent an e-mail addressed to Becton as "Liz." The episode is not without precedent. Ex-Sen. Elizabeth Dole is renowned for turning icy when anybody uses the nickname "Liddy." Elizabeth Taylor once erupted when fifth husband Sen. John Warner began an admonition with the words "Now Liz . . ." "Don't you Liz me," Taylor shot back, sticking a finger...