pete stark

House Republicans objected today to comments made by outspoken liberal Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California on the Iraq war during debate on the override of President Bush's veto of the children's health program.

Speaking on the House floor, Stark said, "Under the Republican plan, by
2017, we probably will have killed 20,000 soldiers in Iraq, spending
$200 billion."

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) rose to protest the remark and asked that Stark's words be taken down, a formal procedure to punish a member of Congress for breaching the House's standards of decorum.

The chair later ruled that Stark's comment did not refer to any specific House member and thus were appropriate.

Earlier in the SCHIP debate, Stark had made other spirited remarks.

"You don't have money to fund the war or children,'' he said. "But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

Responding promptly and harshly to Stark, the National Republican Congressional Committee declared he had "trampled on the sacrifice of our troops."

Did I miss the joke? Was there something funny about what Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said on the floor of the House, claiming that President Bush sends our soldiers to Iraq to get their heads blown off for his amusement? Craig Crawford can apparently see some humor in it.

Crawford appeared on today's "Morning Joe," and while the MSNBC political analyst certainly didn't approve Stark's statement, he did try to soft-pedal it, smilingly portraying it as just one more outburst from a congressional scamp.

View video here.


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JOE SCARBOROUGH: Craig, I'm just curious, if you're the Democratic party, do you go and give Pete Stark a big, warm bear hug or do you tell him to apologize?

CRAIG CRAWFORD: Oh, you know, Pete Stark's like Old Faithful. This guy erupts on a pretty regular basis over the years. I think a lot of Democrats are used to this and just kind of roll their eyes and let it, just move on [.org?]

Joe returned to the subject after rolling the tape of Stark's statement on the House floor:


Republicans sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war on children. But you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people if he can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the President's amusement

SCARBOROUGH: So, the president wants troops's heads to be blown off for his amusement. The Democrats may be used to it, but what do you think about Middle America?

CRAWFORD [the photo captures Craig's mirthful reaction to Stark' statement] : Oh, I think this will hit that one pretty hard. I think this is not something that Democrats obviously would want out there, but Pete Stark is sort of a court jester, you know that, you served there.

Crawford then promptly changed the subject: "He's always, he talks about spending money, his plan for healthcare is put everybody on Medicare. I think we'll just gave to borrow more money from the Chinese to do that."

Now, it's true that Stark has a history of making crude and vulgar statements. As per Wikipedia:

Stark called then Republican congresswoman Nancy Johnson a "whore" of the pharmaceutical industry.
Called United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Wade Sullivan, an African American, "a disgrace to his race".
Declared that conservative former California state welfare director Eloise Anderson would "kill children if she had her way" because she opposed particular policy proposals.
Called fellow Congressman Scott McInnis a "little wimp" and a "little fruitcake" and challenged him to a fight during a Ways and Means Committee meeting.
But again, where's the humor in any of this? Would Crawford and his MSM brethren depict a Republican with a history of making similar statements as a harmless "court jester," or would we have endless MSM navel-gazing deploring "the debasement of our political culture," culminating in calls for for the offender's resignation?
Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) was in the FOX and Friends' crosshairs this morning 10/19/07 for his remarks yeaterday about Bush: "You don't have the money to fund the war or children. But you're gonna spend it, to blow up innocent people, if we can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

Of course all the focus has been on those last four words and no-one is addressing what he was talking about - that we're broke but manage to fund the war anyway, on the backs of generations to come, but can't come up with the funding for our own kids' health today. Talking about the deficit spending and tax breaks for the rich during this neverending war while American kids go without necessary healthcare just ain't gonna happen; better to take those four hyperbolic words and blow them up into the measure du jour of faux patriotism.

Brian Kilmeade was aghast; he read a response from John Boehner (R-OH) who said Stark's comments "dishonor" not only Bush but the thousands of US troops who believe in their stated mission. Carlson's part was to tell viewers that Stark will not apologize for his remarks; he says he supports the troops (she reiterated "that's what he says,") and that Bush has dishonored himself and doesn't need any help from him.

Steve Doocy took pains to tell viewers that we all want the war to end and the troops to come home, and freedom of speech is great, but isn't it better to attack the terrorists and the people who are trying to kill us, and not each other? Then, without a trace of irony, he put up the Question of the Day for viewers to phone in their answers: