Former U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a Republican from Michigan who abruptly resigned from Congress a month ago, always struck me as intelligent, but odd.
This lanky lawyer looks like a square but plays guitar in a rock band and is known to quote lyrics from Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones on the House floor. This is a man who bizarrely decided to mount a quixotic campaign for president in the summer of 2011.
Just the other day, McCotter's fears (and most observers' suspicions) were confirmed: He had some lawbreakers working for him, and, to paraphrase the old 1960s Dodge Charger commercial, they're in a heap o' trouble.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette charged four McCotter staffers with forging false nominating petitions during McCotter's re-election bid several months ago, and now Schuette says he believes they committed the same shenanigans during the 2008 campaign. The Detroit Free Press quoted Schuette as saying the petition forgeries and cut-and-paste jobs these clowns attempted "would make an elementary art teacher cringe."
My first exposure to McCotter was about 12 years ago when he chaired a Michigan State Senate committee holding hearings on the expulsion of a former state senator, David Jaye, who was an outpsoken populist and renowned crackpot. Jaye's claim to fame was getting busted multiple times for drunken driving and having a loaded "piece" fall out of his - what, holster? pants pocket? - on the Senate floor during session. (Believe me, Michigan has had some real winners in the Legislature... Where do you think Debbie Stabenow cut her teeth?)
I was impressed by McCotter's articulate questioning, sharp reasoning and keen intellect. At that time, I had no clue he was a classic rock aficionado. It didn't surprise me when he was elected to Congress, then re-elected numerous times. It's just too bad he didn't exercise better judgment in hiring and monitoring his employees.
Now a word about Schuette. He also is a former congressman — from my hometown of Midland, Michigan, and was a state senator in the 1990s. Back in my long lost youth when I was a cub reporter, I interviewed Schuette several times and always found him to be a highly intelligent and personable gentleman. He's a Georgetown University graduate, so you know he's a bright guy.
I also believe Schuette to be a man of integrity, and he won't go easy on these Republicans despite being a Republican himself.
It's good to know Michigan has some competent and upstanding Republicans to hold crooks and scooundrels accountable — even if they, too, are Republicans.
POLL-CRAZY MEDIA - For the past few days, the news media has been orgasmic about polls showing President Obama widening his lead over Mitt Romney. But too often these "news stories" do not mention that Obama has been severely outspending Romney on negative commercials mercilessly hammering the catcher's Mitt. Nor do they note the blatant oversampling of Democrats. That's partly why I don't pay much heed to these endless polls. But a bigger reason is the example we saw during the Wisconsin recall election involving Gov. Scott Walker. On election night when the ballots were still being tallied, the ludicrous polls said it was "too close to call." And we all know what happened: Walker won confortably.
I suspect that many of the folks who work for these polling firms are as dishonest and partisan as so many of the news media hacks who carry Obama's water religiously. Just because they want something to happen (Obama's re-election), doesn't mean it will happen.
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