Polls routinely show that most Americans give very low approval ratings to Congress as a whole, but give much higher ratings to their own representatives. Count me among the minority that would give an even lower rating to their own representative than Congress as a whole. That's because my representative is the egregious Jim Moran.
Recent data reveal that Moran is one of the biggest porkers in Congress, and second only to Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha in reaping campaign contributions from the beneficiaries of his earmarks. Of course, that's exactly what you would expect from the man who said back in 2006 that "[w]hen I become chairman [of a House appropriations subcommittee], I'm going to earmark the shit out of it." He has certainly kept his campaign promise.
Massive earmarking hardly exhausts the list of Moran's shortcomings. He has also flirted with anti-Semitism, notoriously blaming the Iraq War on "the strong support of the Jewish community for this war with Iraq, [without which] we would not be doing this." This despite the fact that Jewish opinion has consistently been more hostile to the war than general public opinion. Such statements don't definitively prove that Moran is an anti-Semite. But they do suggest that he is either anti-Semitic or grossly ignorant about the true distribution of Jewish opinion (despite the fact that his district has Virginia's largest concentration of Jewish voters), or both. None of these three possibilities speak well of Moran, to put it mildly.
Finally, Moran is likely guilty of corruption (see, e.g., here).
There are probably some congressmen who are worse than mine. But even in a body not known for its high moral standards, there can't be too many.
I thoroughly disagree with our mutual Congresscritter. As long as his campaign goes down in flames, I support his run for VA Governor.
good for you for being consistent
He spreads his ignorant comments to the Arab community as well, pissing them off as wildly as he pisses off Jews. Good thing he doesn't depend on either group for re-election.
It's funny but I seem to recall that when Moran was mayor of Alexandria, he was generally thought to be pretty good. Colorful and a bit rough, but a decent mayor. Maybe he's just another example of the Peter Principle at work?
Incidentally, Jim's baby brother Brian (14 years younger) is the one running for Governor. He's been in the House of Delegates for over a decade and is chair of the Democratic caucus. He started out prosecuting cases in the Arlington Commonwealth's Attorney's office. As a general proposition, Brian is a lot smoother than his big brother, and certainly much better at auto-editing his comments before they make embarrassing headlines.
I'd criticize him even for pork in my district, though I suppose it's a good thing that I'm unlikely ever to be tested by the scenario of pork directed to me, personally.
It pains me to say this, but I think I actually prefer Moran.
Sorry, got my GOP Congressmen mixed up. Its not Wolf, but Davis that I dislike.
in a class i was teaching for project managers preparing for PMI certification, the Ethics course had clear examples of what not to do in "other" countries (even if it is legal locally) since it is against the US Law. i had to bring up the earmarks and campaign contributions to show that we are not pure here.
why should we have to prove intent to throw these bastards in jail for corruption, when there is clear material quid pro quo? someone like Stevens could go on for 40 years before he gets what he deserves, and many more porkers like Murtha will likely never pay for their wrongs ...
In all honesty, the polling bias is quite possibly just due to national vs. local news reporting practices. Congressmen other than the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader generally only get on the national news when they're spouting utter idiocy, blowing taxpayer money, or going to jail; it's no wonder the lot looks like scum. But local media in home districts are more likely to cover Congressmen speaking at store opening, kissing babies, hosting bake sales, and what not. So their constituents get a (earned or otherwise) rosier view.
I hold onto a slight hope that the next redistricting will serve to lessen his grip on his small fiefdom. Now that the 11th district is also in Democratic hands and likely to stay there, there's less incentive to cram all of the most liberal areas of NoVA into one district. If the communists are watered-down at bit with some more moderate folks, a decent primary challenger could possibly have a shot.
Why is William Jefferson still in Congress, by the way, instead of behind bars?
University of Chicago Professor J. Mearsheimer and Harvard Professor wrote S. Walt wrote an essay and book calling the Israel lobby's efforts "critical" in the US decision to go to war with Iraq.
Lobby
Members of Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board have said the same thing. Even during Clinton, the American Jewish Congress called for the US to pursue the 1998 Iraqi Liberation Act and remove Saddam Hussein at all costs.
You can call it hate, or blame, if you'd like, but it makes sense. Iraq has been a deadly threat to Israel for a long time (and not a serious threat to the US)...its not clear that most Israelis or American Jews supported the war - but going to war is not a decision by referendum. There were very good reasons and motives for Jewish interest groups to push for war.
How many Scuds fall on Israel these days, killing civilians indiscriminately?
Lobby
The Mearsheimer-Walt theory has been refuted and discredited many times, including right here at the VC (David Bernstein and I among others have written various posts about it).
Members of Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board have said the same thing. Even during Clinton, the American Jewish Congress called for the US to pursue the 1998 Iraqi Liberation Act and remove Saddam Hussein at all costs.
The Iraq Liberation Act, supported by Bill Clinton among others, didn't call for an invasion of Iraq and was not understood to require any such thing at time - by the AJC or anyone else.
You can call it hate, or blame, if you'd like, but it makes sense. Iraq has been a deadly threat to Israel for a long time (and not a serious threat to the US)...its not clear that most Israelis or American Jews supported the war - but going to war is not a decision by referendum. There were very good reasons and motives for Jewish interest groups to push for war.
The Israeli political establishment wanted the US to focus on Iran rather than Iraq in 2001-2002, which they considered the more serious threat. And the Scuds fell on Israel in 1991 because Saddam did it to try to tie in Israel to a war that was actually primarily between himself and the US. Yes, Saddam was an enemy of Israel. But the Israeli government played no more than a marginal role in the US decision for war in 2003. And in any event, Moran's remark related not to Israel but to the Jewish community in the US - most of which has been far more opposed to the war than US gentiles have been.
So you're equating the Israel lobby to the "Jewish community" at large? That's precisely what is idiotic about Moran's statement. You merely repeat the logic that underpins it.
I didn't care for him before he went to congress and cared for him even less after I wrote him a letter in opposition to a bill (can't recall now which one). I did get a response but it thanked me for writing in support of the bill and why he thought it was a great bill etc.
I realize that some staffer probably wrote the response, but it was still his staff and they attached his name to a document that indicated they hadn't even bothered to read the letter.
I happily voted against him this last election cycle, but he won handily. I will gladly keep voting against him every two years until he is gone.
--G
I got gerrymandered into his district, too. What a piece of work. Don't forget the sheriff having to come out to his mistress's house - domestic violence, I think she chose not to press charges. His wife on the other hand...
And then he punched that 8 year old boy. I think he had a scuffle of some sort with security at the airport, too, but maybe I am confusing him with some other Democrat congressman.
Jewish power groups supported the invasion and defeat of Iraq's military. We can fancy up the past, but I clearly recall AIPAC and their think tanks cheerleading the war.
It was only after the weapons of mass destruction and the missile systems in Iraq were no longer a threat to Israel that the jews en mass started opposing the remainder of the American war effort.
However, from Massachusetts district 4, we are unlikely to get anyone significantly better.
I'm out in the burbs now, in Tom DeLay's former district, which just elected a new Republican who is so noteworthy I can't remember his name.
And if that is not bad enough, if I lived across the street, my former congressman would have been Bobby Jindal.
You know what they say, 'location, location, location'.
You recognize people are politically ignorant. There's no reason to suspect that in many matters this doesn't also apply to members of congress.
There is no contradiction in, for example, recognizing that members of the Black Caucus oppose tuition vouchers while a majority of blacks support it. Similarly, there is no contradiction in recognizing that powerful pro-Israel interests supported the Iraq invasion by the US while lots of Jews throughout the country opposed it.
Now there's some gerrymandering to maintain a Democratic safe-seat that puts Moran's district to shame. The lengths they went to in the last redistricting in order in keep Ithaca in Hinchey's district were absolutely ridiculous.
Well, you should be very happy, now that Davis is leaving, to be replaced by Gerry Connally (i.e., Moran w/o the buffoonery).
S*cks to be you! No one except perhaps Christopher Hitchens would ever confuse my congressman, Norm Dicks, with Mother Teresa, but compared to most of the folks cited here he's a paragon of virtue.
Our mutual Senators, on the other hand, are a completely different story. I'm sure you'd join me in saying that I'd gladly replace those two (Patty "Osama the daycare provider" Murray and Maria Cantwell) with two names drawn at random from the adult non-felon population of our state. :-(
I was not happy with Davis in VA-11, but I think Connolly will be much worse. I don't remember precisely what the new VA delegation looks like, i.e., D versus R, but with a Democrat governor and two Democrat Senators, this erstwhile red state seems blue, blue, blue.
Link is here
Meanwhile, my own Congressman, a bible-thumping numbskull named Todd Akin, is the 414th most powerful Congressman, dead last in both the Missouri delegation and the class of 2000.
I just don't see Connolly getting anywhere near as squirrelly as Moran -- his constituents won't stand for it. After all, one reason the 11th District was created was to rescue some of the more reasonable parts of the NoVA suburbs from the clutches of the People's Republik of Arlington &Alexandria (both of which behave almost as if they'd never been retroceded to Virginia from D.C. in 1847).
I have all of you beat.
I used to be represented by Cynthia McKinney. I challenge anyone to top that. Please, I could use the laugh.
Me, I have a great senator and representative, but I wouldn't consider for a minute that all of Congress should be like them. They should be fighting to bring home the pork, not reaching a mutual understanding for it.
You mean like this one?
{It was only after the weapons of mass destruction and the missile systems in Iraq were no longer a threat to Israel that the jews en mass started opposing the remainder of the American war effort.}
Jewish opinion about the Iraq war has closely tracked the larger US population, particularly when you norm for party affiliation. Moran is a fool and an anti-semite. That is hardly his only flaw. He is a violent man, corrupt, and ill suited to politics. His corruption is a far more serious issue than his anti-semitism.
The gerrymandering was, of course, much worse back when a lot of New York north of Westchester was solidly Republican. Now, though, with a bunch of Democratic seats, Republicans are going to be made extinct in New York, especially with the Democrats having won a majority in the State Senate.
And to think all this happened despite half a term with one of the more corrupt Democratic governors who had to leave office thoroughly disgraced.
Worse, the government-sector unions continue to shriek that New York's problem is one of not spending enough money, and that if we only incite enough hatred of people whose salaries make us jealous, everything will be hunky-dory.
(Not that it has to do with this thread, but according to the NYS Department of Budget, tax receipts have gone up 73% after adjusting for inflation in the last 30 years (population sure hasn't gone up 73%), and the tax system has already moved substantially more toward the income tax.)
DCP,
You win!
I don't like the one where I am now, but where I lived before my congressmen were, in series, Bob Livingston, David Vitter, and Bobby Jindal. I liked (and voted for) all three.
Sarah Palin for President 2012!
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Thanks-
-Charles
"Everybody wants to save the earth; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.' -P.J. O'Rourke