Stark’s Latest “Gaffe”?!

Stark’s Latest Gaffe Is Just One In a Long Line

Pete Stark, being an asshole, is among the members of Congress I would hate if hatred were allowed. (Jim McDermott and Jerry Nadler being the others.) And I doubt that his apology (for commenting that Republicans send troops to Iraq “to get their heads blown off for the President’s amusement”) was sincere.

I would challenge the Washington Post’s use of the word “gaffe” to describe what he said. Gaffes are more along the lines of social mistakes, misstatements, blunders. What Stark did was along the lines of…his normal assholish behavior.

Not that I didn’t enjoy the article, which references such Starkian highlights as “You think you are big enough to make me, you little wimp? Come on–come over here and make me. I dare you, you little fruitcake.”

And my favorite bit: “In a private meeting, Stark called then-Representative Nancy L. Johnson (R-Connecticut) a ‘whore for the insurance industry.’ ‘He didn’t call her a “whore,”‘ defended Stark press secretary Caleb Marshall. ‘He called her a “whore for the insurance industry.”‘”

Any time a press secretary needs to use the words “he didn’t call her a ‘whore’” followed by “he called her a ‘whore…,’” the message has spun out of control.

Anyway. I don’t have a point here, other than sharing a latent hatred of Pete Stark. And Jim McDermott and Jerry Nadler.

And I really don’t care for Peter DeFazio. Or Anthony Weiner.

And Steve Cohen’s a little fruitcake.