As many of you will recall, for a bit of the summertime, I spent time on Capitol Hill asking Democrats and Republicans about the issues most pressing in their respective parties. To the Democrats, I posed questions about health care and the public option. To Republicans, I put forth questions having to do with what they thought of Barack Obama's likely place of birth.
Ultimately, I found that whipping Democrats really wasn't my cup of tea. Yeah, some need to face a primary challenge; and yeah, some really suck. But in the end, for me anyway, nothing is quite as satisfying as complicating the lives of elected Republicans.
So...
I've returned to my passion.
In recent weeks, I noted Rush Limbaugh's rancid rhetoric - especially his invocation of Nazism. In case you missed it, he said Nancy Pelosi had a lot in common with Adolph Hitler and ObamaCare is a policy rooted in Nazism.
When I heard that, I couldn't help but to think first of Ward Churchill - the Colorado professor that called 9-11 victims "little Eichmans." Of course, Republicans were quick to tie Churchill to Democrats, and Democrats could not get out of their own way fast enough to beat a path to the nearest microphone to condemn the hitherto unknown professor.
For a split-second, I thought perhaps we'd see Democrats seize the moment and demand denunciations from Republicans.
I didn't even need to pinch myself to wake up from that dream. Everyone knows Democrats suck at politics, and as expected, for the most part, they let this opportunity slip away.
Well, if there is one thing I've learned, it's that Democrats can use a hand from time to time. I've been there for them.
Over the last two weeks, I've asked about 30 Republicans - including those in the highest reaches of leadership - if they are willing to condemn the Nazi rhetoric. Typically, the conversation goes like this:
"Congressman x,
Hi, my name is Mike Stark. I'm up here on the Hill taking inventory of Republicans. Look, specifically what I'm asking is this: in the United States, we've got at least several hundred, if not several thousand, people that are walking around with tattoos on their forearms. The last memory some of these folks have of their parents is when they were ripped from their mothers grasps in Nazi death camps. Just the other day, Rush Limbaugh said that ObamaCare is akin to Nazism. Are you willing to say that kind of speech is beyond the pale?"
So far, only one Republican has said Rush Limbaugh was wrong to invoke that comparison.
So far, about five or six Republicans have returned to their office and called the Capitol Police to lodge false and malicious complaints against me. One Representative even asked the Police to confiscate my video camera. Each time they are called, I am detained for between 20 and 40 minutes while the Police run a check on my ID. I'll be in touch with the Sergeant at Arms Office tomorrow to find a way to work this out.
Oh. You want the videos? Well, I'm hanging on to them for now. I'd like to set them free, but I've got to work some things out first. And that might take a bit of time.