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Speaker excels in lame excuses

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Stand tall, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, for you have just coined the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard into why a former member of your governing body shouldn’t have to be held to account for allegations of severe misconduct.

Former Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has been nominated by Donald Trump to be the next attorney general. He quit the House and, thus, delivered Johnson the ammo he fired off to earn the title of King of Lame Excuses.

Republicans and Democrats alike believe the House ethics committee needs to release findings of an investigation into whether Gaetz had sex with an underage girl and used illegal drugs.

Johnson said the panel should keep it secret because — drum roll — Gaetz “is no longer a member of the House.”

So, there you have it. A nimrod whom the incoming president wants to become the nation’s next chief law enforcement official should skate simply because he’s no longer in Congress?

The public has a compelling need to know whether someone who could become AG is a child molester and/or someone who engages in rampant drug abuse.

Maybe I am getting too worked up over what well might not occur, as I hear a growing number of Gaetz’s fellow Republicans in Congress believe he is unfit for the office he seeks.

national news

Gaetz saga getting even more weird

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Matt Gaetz is, to borrow a phrase made famous by a former president, “in deep doo-doo.”

The U.S. House ethics committee is now investigating allegations that the Republican Florida congressman had sex with an underage girl and that he might have engaged in sex trafficking.

Ohhhh, ouch, man!

Gaetz denies it all. He calls it a conspiracy by lefty media types and assorted political opponents.

I happen to think the allegations have enough legs to run a long way. That’s just me.

What needs to happen, though, is if the House ethics panel finds wrongdoing it needs to recommend severe sanctions against Gaetz. Removal from key committee assignments isn’t enough. He needs to get the boot from the people’s House, from my House, your House.

This disgusting individual masquerading as a principled conservative is nothing more than a shill for Donald Trump, the ex-president who continues to pitch The Big Lie about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election … which Gaetz continues to convey to anyone gullible enough to believe it.

Now he’s getting pressure to quit from none other than fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, which isn’t surprising, given that Kinzinger was one of 10 Republican House members to vote to impeach Trump after the then-president incited the Jan. 6 insurrection.

This saga involving Matt Gaetz is only get even more tawdry.

This clown needs to go. As in right now!

national news

Wow! Trump lashes out at GOP ethics-gutting move

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It’s official.

Hell has officially frozen over. Earth is about to spin off its axis. The sun will rise in the west tomorrow morning.

Donald J. Trump has broken ranks with congressional Republicans who, in a surprise move, decided to weaken significantly its ethical oversight function.

The president-elect tweeted his criticism of the GOP leadership’s effort get rid of a bipartisan watchdog group and hand oversight to the House Ethics Committee.

Trump tweeted: “may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! ”

The “DTS” hashtag stands for “drain the swamp,” which Trump had pledged to do.

OK, the president-elect’s desire to repeal Obamacare and slash taxes for wealthy Americans is up for discussion, but I’m glad to see him taking the House Republican leadership to task for its effort to gut a valuable weapon to guard against congressional corruption.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-rebukes-house-republicans-over-bid-to-gut-ethics-office/ar-BBxPCgQ?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

Good deal, right? We’ll have to see what he thinks about ethics reform and swamp-draining in, oh, the next few hours. These things, as we know, can be subject to change.

entertainment news, national news, political news

Who needs congressional ethics oversight?

The late comic genius George Carlin used to poke fun at the English language and a favorite target of his was the use of what he considered to be oxymorons … you know, phrases that contain words that are mutually exclusive.

Jumbo shrimp? Military intelligence?

Let’s try “government ethics” on for size.

The House Ethics Committee is now going to take over the policing of alleged ethical breaches by members of Congress. It’s a goofy idea proposed by Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a leader in the Republican caucus. Given that the GOP controls the House of Representatives, it’s going to become a new rule for the 115th Congress, which convenes today.

This marks a departure from previous practices, which allowed an independent bipartisan oversight arm to examine complaints — not that it was as aggressive as it should have been always.

Now we’re going to have the proverbial fox guarding the proverbial chicken coop.

Sheesh!

Wherever he is, George Carlin is laughing out loud.

national news, political news

Rep. Schock wishing for anonymity

Aaron Schock is one of those politicians few people ever hear of outside of the district he represents.

A lot more Americans know about him now, and for reasons he likely wishes didn’t exist.

The Illinois Republican congressman has made a name for himself by spending a lot of taxpayer money on private matters for himself and his staff.

Schock Treated Staffers to Weekend in New York

The U.S. House Ethics Commission is investigating a complaint that Schock spent extravagantly while on an “official” trip to the United Kingdom. The expenses included stays at very expensive hotels, high-dollar meals and many other perks along the way. He allegedly used private aircraft in violation of House rules.

The latest is that Schock reportedly treated his staff to a $10,000-plus weekend in New York, with staffers performing next to zero official duties.

I know he isn’t the first politician to go for the gusto on the public dime. He won’t be the last, not by a long shot.

The fascination with this still-developing story, at least as far as I’m concerned, is how a no-name back-bench politicianĀ manages to place himself squarely in the public eye with apparently no outward sense of shame or embarrassment.

Is there a sense of entitlement at work here?