Barry Fleming also thinks Paul Broon is the Worst ... Person ... in the Wooooorld.
Fleming's campaign manager, Cam Kirbo, said Broun's exaggeration, ridiculed by the Washington Post and Keith Olbermann, that 40 percent of illegal immigrants crossing the border are not Mexicans, is just another example of a tendency to stretch the truth.
"Every time Paul Broun makes factually absurd statements about our country’s problems he will rightfully be attacked, especially by liberals determined to undermine conservative principles," said a statement from the campaign. "In order to effectively initiate conservative changes, the 10th District needs a Congressman who knows the facts and does not set back our cause with statements that become the subject of ridicule."
That fits right in with the status quo/reasonable guy vs. the independent populist/crazy guy narrative. Like everything else, though, there's a little more to this story.
Broun, as I suspected, got his numbers not from Homeland Security, but from the Minutemen, who told him anecdotally that about 40 percent of the people they intercept are not Mexican. Even if only a few are Middle Eastern (read: potential terrorists), his point that terrorists could cross into America there is still valid, he said at a press conference today.
"Even if it's 1 percent or 0.1 percent, if Middle Easterners are coming into this country, I want to know where they are," he said. "They're not all here to work. Some of them are coming here with ideas about destroying our country."
I guess Broun can start in Michigan, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. That's where my Lebanese dad, aunts, uncle and cousins live. They've been known to cross the border with Canada, mostly to visit the casinos in Windsor. I'm pretty sure they don't have any dirty bombs, though, unless you count grape leaves and kibbe.
Oh, and that poll? It doesn't mean anything, and is really just meant to drum up fundraising, the Fleming campaign says.
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He's just so darn likable:::::::::::::::
One of the problems that Fleming, and the rest of the Republican establishment has with Paul Broun is that he is so darn likable. His sincerity in what he believes is obvious. Even if you disagree with him, he will listen to you, unlike some of the more doctrinaire Republicans, who will blow you totally off if you don't agree with their litmus tests. I think this trait of Paul's is directly inherited from his father.
I've known Paul Broun on a casual basis for years, and I don't agree with him on about half of his positions (maybe more), yet never once have I doubted his sincerity about what he believes. Unlike some of his Republican compatriots, I've never had a question about whether he is seeking public office to advance the interests of a select circle of privileged interests. As Exhibit "A", I point to the "Republican revolution" of the Sonny Brigade, a regime characterized by a benign neglect of the state's crucial interests while taking care of "bidness" for selected insiders. You just have to wonder what Sonny will identify as the major accomplishment of his tenure when he writes his biography-- the Oakey Woods real estate transaction, or the double secret tax break?
There is no doubt in my mind that what is giving Paul Broun such high approval ratings, and concomitantly giving the Chamber of Commerce Republicans such fits is his unrelenting, wear it on your sleeve, sincerity. With Paul Broun, what you see and hear is what you get-- there is no three levels of analysis about what is he really saying, and what interests is he really representing.
It's too bad that the reaction of the Republican establishment to such sincerity is not to emulate it, but to ridicule it on every opportunity as "factually absurd".
Spell the name properly, dude
If you're to be taken seriously, you ought to spell our congressman's name properly.
By the way, as an officer in The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, I can attest that 56% of illegal border crossers detained are Mexican. The rest (44%) are not.
I just heard Mr. Fleming's speech at the Tenth District GOP Convention. He speaks well, even if his go-negative speech was filled with factual errors. Actually, just plain lies. I was involved peripherally in one of the votes he chastised Dr. Broun for, and his interpretation was completely absurd.
Mr. Fleming left to luke-warm applause and had to endure several hecklers who knew the truth. Very poor, and lost any support from that important crowd.
Catch up
Welcome to In the Loop, Xadrox17. Perhaps you'd like to familiarize yourself with the rest of the blog.
"Broon" is a joke, a reference to Keith Olbermann mispronouncing Broun's name when he named him worst person in the world on Countdown.
Thx for the convention update.
What, do democrats not have businesses?
Just so we're all clear on what you mean, what exactly is a Chamber of Commerce Republican?
Is it the Chamber Chairman, Sean Hogan? Because he is about as far from the Republican establishment as you can get.
Sure they do-- someone has to sell the sprouts and hemp clothing
Maybe CofC President, Doc Eldridge. (And I like Doc).
Touché. (I like him too)
Touché. (I like him too)
I'm pretty sure Doc is not
I'm pretty sure Doc is not much of a Paul Broun fan.
You cannot classify Doc so
You cannot classify Doc so easily. He shares much in common with Democrats like, say, a hatred of John Barrow, Savannah's favorite son.
This message is bulldog approved, BTW.
Not so fast, SnowJob
I do believe Doc does like Casey Cagle over Ralph Reed.
Hatred is a fighting word, son.
Yours In Christ,
OconeeDawg
I have no idea how Doc feels
I have no idea how Doc feels about Cagle or Reed, SuperGoDawgsNumberOne. I don't really follow that part of the political scene. But if you are saying that Doc does not hate John Barrah, I respectfully disagree and can point to plenty of commission meetings to confirm such.
Also, you kind of lose the power of saying "Yours in Christ" when you try to make a campy insult of my name and challenge me to a fight.
I'll second that. Doc and
I'll second that. Doc and John Barrah do hate each other. And trust me - Doc was tight with Paul Broun Sr., but the son, not so much.
It got lost in the mail
I'll bet John didn't get a Christmas card from States this year either (or last year, or the year before that, or...).
Heidi should go back and watch some Doc tapes and learn how to ignore someone who wants to speak to a motion the sixth time.
I like Doc because he is truly an "old school" Democrat, like we knew and loved in the good old days. Doc has "compassion", but doesn't see making an honest buck as being the devil's work. Paul, Sr.was a good Democrat and you saw the thanks that he got from a grateful nation.
If the Democrats want to transform themselves from noisy irrelevance into something that resembles a political party, they will figure out how to recruit people like Doc.
BTW, totally off topic, did anyone notice that Barack Hussein wants to be president so badly that he publicly dissed his grandmother, who raised him, and I guess we assume gave him the structure to get that Harvard education --- hey, I closed the circle, because John B. has one, too. Anyway, who suspected that Barack Hussein's beloved granny is a closet klu kluxer. Do you respect him more now that he has outed grams?
I'll bet States' Christmas
I'll bet States' Christmas card list is a very, very short one.
They should release some of
They should release some of those meetings on DVD. I bet they'd sell a few if for comedic value alone.
Now available on Rhino
Now available on Rhino Records, States McCarter's Greatest Hits! Featuring: "The Camel's Nose (Peeking Under the Tent)," "Can You Spell Recall Petition," featuring Elton Dodson, "You Can Ride Your Bike on the Sidewalk," "Ninety-five Percent Are Opposed," "Only My Wife Knows Why (And She Ain't Talking)," "Don't Just Look at Your E-mails, Read Your E-mails," and, of course, his all-time favorite smash, "Risky Behavior."
Could we at least keep it to "dislike?"
Christians love everybody, even you Jeff.
Yours In Christ,
OconeeDawg
Dislike, sure. Whatever.
And if you are trying to bait me into some sort of faith show down, you obviously don’t know me very well. And all Christians loving all people? Sure, I’d like to think so. But then there is this whole pesky war thing where thousands of innocent people are killed in “collateral damage”. He said feed his sheep. Not smart bomb them.
Please take my advice and don’t try to take this fun little discussion the wrong way. I take my faith very seriously and do not like having it questioned, trivialized or lampooned.
How about ahbor, deplore,
How about ahbor, deplore, detest, loathe or despise? Are those words Jesus-approved?
Barrow would aprrove of
Barrow would aprrove of those words. And he approves of them Dawgs. Though now, he also approves of them Sand Gnats. Go Gnats!
Oh my God, Sanderslinsghost
Oh my God, Sanderslinsghost you're killing me. I know you think your playful race-baiting on the subject of Obama is cute, but it's, like, SO Glenn Beck.
Subtlety is not my forte---
Sorry, maybe I'm just more deep than I think that I am, and don't appreciate my own hidden meanings, but I just don't see any race baiting at all, playful or otherwise. After all, it was Barack Hussein himself who in his most recent speech made the point that he was as white as he was black, and that he had a foot in each "camp".
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think B.H. is a twit, black, white, or latte. This latest little dust-up with his preacher is typical to me of his "teflon" campaign. He uses his membership in his Christian church to deflect criticism that he might be a closet Muslim, but he doesn't know the preacher has been damning the United States for a decade. I'm about the most lax parishioner there is, and I know about it if the hymn selection is considered a bit off.
What I do find ironic, and this is a bit racial, is that Barack Hussein was raised in what has become the standard family pattern for black Americans. Absent father, child raised by grandparents (you can credit Bill Cosby with analysis). Granted there is a little kink here because the grandparents were white. The irony is that all of the black citizens that I know would let an arm be cut-off before they would diss their grandmother, especially their maternal grandmother. So Barack Hussein, trying to make good with his white supporters, repudiates this fundamental "black" value, and seems to get a "bye" for it from the press.
I'm reminded of a joke about confessing in church, and the punch line is the preacher saying "Damn, brother, I don't believe I'd of said that", and that's how I feel about B.H. and his public exposure of his granny's shortcomings. My parents and grandparents had habits and customs inconsistent with today's standards, but Hell would be truly frozen over before I held any of them of up as public examples of intolerance or socially unacceptable behavior, and I sure wouldn't let you do it.
Essentially ridiculing your supposedly beloved grandmother to gain public acceptance is much more Woody Allen than James Earl Jones.
So if my comments have a racial component, it is how "unblack" Barack Hussein can be when it is expedient to do so.
If you really think he was
If you really think he was "essentially ridiculing" his own grandmother, I truly don't know why you bother to keep up with, much less comment on politics--you're just too damn cynical (which, in my mind at least, is not a synonym for "totally the smartest dude on the message board"). Can't you just reattach yourself for one second and listen to what he was really saying--in CONTEXT? It shouldn't have any bearing on whether or not your support his candidacy, but he spoke a lot of truth on Tuesday--and said a lot of things that it's not particularly politically expedient to say. I haven't noticed anything like a groundswell of support for him following the speech. It was risky, and it just might have failed.
I don't know how you can be so cynical or take it so lightly, I really don't. It's very sad to me, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic when I say that. In fact, I think I need a tissue. Again, not a joke.
And totally off subject--you
And totally off subject--you Georgia fans think you might want to try supporting your men's basketball team when they aren't winning? Talk about fair weather fans. It's pretty weird that you can get more people to the gym meets than the basketball games. (Before anyone jumps on me to defend the "Gym Dawgs" let me say that, in most places, it's not considered offensive to call gymnastics boring relative to basketball...) I think I know more Duke basketball fans in Athens than I know people who go to UGA basketball games--because "excellence" is all that matters!
I'm happy for the players and Coach Felton that they made the tournament, despite the foul attitudes of their fans. But I'm cheering for Xavier 'cause of my brackets.
Apparently you can't believe every thing you read--
Well, I came home to watch the basketball game on CBS, which w it was reported by our local paper would broadcast the game, and here I am on the computer, because ...............................
Have you ever watched the
Have you ever watched the tournament before? They switch games a lot.
Im in ur bracktes, pickin
Im in ur bracktes, pickin UGA.
The Dawgs are making me look like a genius.
O.k. Genius---
You were saying?
Actually, after much
Actually, after much agonizing, I have to confess I picked Xavier and have them going to the Sweet 16.
My final upset picks were:
Arizona over West Virginia (Huggins is a thug; his team was seeded too high).
St. Joe's over Oklahoma (suspect guards for the Sooners).
George Mason over Notre Dame (I'm not really feeling this one; I just think it's plausible and I hate the Big 10).
Davidson over Gonzaga (jet lag).
South Alabama over Butler (home game for the Jaguars).
Western Kentucky over Drake (Courney Lee is a beast).
Now I'm on the record.
Well, I am happy that
Well, I am happy that Sundiata got to go to the big dance at least one year, though losing in the first round hardly seems like a just reward for selflessly deciding to play for the Bulldogs for 4 years instead of going somewhere he could have been a star.
I'm in ur hystroic hood,
I'm in ur hystroic hood, pretending I'm not frum gweeenet.
Blake, you better not be
Blake, you better not be lying! I was about to call you a total geek for picking Georgia. A 14 seed is a 14 seed no matter where you lay your head...
If I see UGA scratched out on your bracket, I am going to rat you out to the message board!!