TEXAS REPUBLICANS ALREADY PLANNING THEIR 2008 ASSAULT ON CONGRESSMAN-ELECT NICK LAMPSON

by Rozius


Even before the dust had settled from the Nick Lampson's election day victory over the GOP's forces of greed and ignorance, local Republicans were already plotting their next assault on representative democracy in southeast Texas.

"There's no way that Mr. Lampson can keep this seat. This is a very conservative district, and Mr. Lampson is a liberal... They (Democrats) can't win in a straight-up election in this district. He had to use the courthouse to win instead of the ballot box." babbled Fort Bend Republican Chairman Gary Gillen. (Loser-TX)

Gillen said he had been contacted by two Republicans in Fort Bend County who had already decided to run for the seat in 2008. Sekula-Gibbs has already that she "absolutely" intends to run for the seat again in 2008.

As a result of the Special Election called by Texas Governor Rick "Goodhair" Perry, in a vain attempt at helping semi-literate Republicans remember how to spell Sekula-Gibbs' name, she won what will be one of the shortest terms of Congress ever on record. Depending on efforts by the recently emaciated GOP House leadership to call a lame duck session in an attempt to ram through a few last minute outrages on democracy Gibbs may, or may not, ever even get a chance to be sworn in.

Meanwhile in the world of reality, Congressman Elect Nick Lampson planned his return trip to Washington. The 61-year-old former schoolteacher expressed a desire to help restore "civility" in Washington.

"I'm not trying to move the district to the left or right," Lampson said Wednesday. "I'm trying to move it forward."

Lampson spent Wednesday morning on the phone, jockeying for choice committee assignments when he returns to the House after a two-year absence-- this time as a member of the majority party.

With eight years' seniority, Lampson is aiming for a position on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

"The closest thing I got in the form of a commitment wasn't a commitment," Lampson said of his previous discussions with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

And, how will the good people of the 22nd Congressional District of Texas react to having a congressional representative who is more concerned with serving his constituency than with doing the bidding of reactionary special interests or serving as a priest for the Cult of the Idiot Son?

Only time will tell.


UPDATE: WHY DO PEOPLE HATE SEKULA-GIBBS SO MUCH?

People don't just quit well-paying jobs in the Capitol on a whim-- and certainly not en masse-- but that's exactly what happened after just a few days of Sekula-Gibbs' mini-reign over what was once Tom DeLay's office. Nearly the whole staff walked out on her.

One staffer told DWT that Tom DeLay was an exacting boss and that everyone was used to working hard but that Sekula-Gibbs is "a dick... I wouldn't want to work with someone this rude and this stupid for all the money in the world."

There has never been a case in Congress before where so many staffers have quit at once. Fortunately, Sekula-Gibbs, having lost the election to Nick Lampson, will just be a member of Congress for a few weeks and then she'll be back in Houston.


UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: AND NOW THE NUTTY SEKLUA-GIBBS WANTS TO INVESTIGATE THE DELAY AIDES WHO QUIT-- NOT THE ONES WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE BRIBERY SCANDALS

According to today's Houston Chronicle the somewhat whacky instant lame duck congresswoman from TX-22 thinks a good way to spend taxpayer money would be to start a probe of the 8 aides who hated her so much that they all quit. "The turmoil in newly elected Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' office deepened Thursday with the Houston Republican demanding a congressional investigation of aides who quit in a mass walkout earlier this week. Sekula-Gibbs said the staffers, holdovers from her predecessor Tom DeLay, deleted records from the office's computers Monday, the day before seven of them resigned in apparent protest of their treatment."

Although DWT reached several former aides who spoke anonymously about "what a dick" Sekula-Gibbs is, the Chronicle found a DeLay holdover to go on the record-- David James, DeLay's ex-chief of staff. He denied that any of the aides had acted improperly and explained that all the problems were caused by Sekula-Gibbs' inexperience and unfitness for public office. "House rules demand that computers be scrubbed clean before a new representative takes over, James noted. James had previously been unwilling to discuss his five-day experience working for Sekula-Gibbs, but said he could no longer remain silent after accusations against him and co-workers with more than 30 years combined experience on Capitol Hill. 'Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days,' he said. He declined to detail specific behavior," although other Texas staffers have questioned Sekula-Gibbs' mental stability and one longtime congressional aide who witnessed her behavior said, "This is why people think Republicans are hateful. Her lack of respect towards these employees isn't really typical but it is the way people think about Republicans. The sooner she's out of here and back in Houston, the better off everyone will be."