In Congress, How Can You Tell The Difference Between A Mainstream Conservative And A Crackpot Neo-Fascist?

They don't all make it as easy as Sarah does

If only if it were as easy as the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull-- or a pig and Sarah Palin! But with virtually all Republican politicians having slipped into lemming-like, rubber stamp behavior it is next to impossible to figure out who's a mainstream conservative, like Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and who's a raving extremist maniac like, Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and James Inhofe (R-OK).

Still, every now and then a bill comes up in the House-- where Republicans can't prevent it with filibusters and obstructionist tactics-- that separates plain old Republican conservatives and people who would be in the Nazi Party or the KKK if that was socially acceptable. Yesterday such a bill was voted on-- and passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority-- the No Child Left Inside Act, which seeks to fund the teaching of environmental education and facilitating outdoor learning activities.

The Republicans started off by trying to kill the bill with a parliamentary tactic. That failed, although 172 Republicans stuck with Boehner and Blunt in their anti-education, anti-environmental efforts. A few minutes later Pelosi shoved the whole thing down their throats, a bill that was very hard for anyone trying to even pretend they're part of the mainstream to oppose. This time 108 far right Republicans, plus one nominal Democrat, Brad Ellsworth (IN), from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party, voted no. A few dozen cowards ducked the vote and locked themselves in toilet stalls... praying Larry Craig wasn't making his Capitol Hill rounds.

We'd like to highlight a few of the extremists in tight re-election battles who don't give a damn and just voted no, no, no. Many are familiar names to DWT readers, basically the co-authors, along with the Bush Regime, of the Iraq occupation, the high unemployment rate, the high inflation rate, the housing crisis, and the Wall Street meltdown. Try to keep them in mind this November. They've worked hard to earn a place in your memory bank.

Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
John Culberson (R-TX)
Thelma Drake (R-VA)
Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Randy Forbes (R-VA)
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Scott Garrett (R-NJ)
Virgil Goode (R-VA)
John Kline (R-MN)
Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
John Shadegg (R-AZ)
Tim Walberg (R-MI)
Don Young (R-AK)

My faves are the really dishonest ones, like Adam "Howdy Doody" Putnam (R-FL) who voted to kill the bill with an obstructionist move that not many voters would understand, but when that failed was too scared to vote against it and give his opponent a cudgel to slam him over the head with. In fact, Florida had a number of this genre of cowardly and deceptive congresscritter. Joining Adam Putnam on our Hypocrite of the Day List are Floridians Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, CW "Bill" Young, and the two sleazy Diaz-Balart Brothers as well as Randy Kuhl (R-NY), Robin Hayes (R-NC), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Mike Turner (R-OH), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Jim Gerlach (R-PA), Jon Porter (R-NV), and, of course, Mean Jean Schmidt (R-OH). These are the Republicans with no backbone and who regularly treat their own constituents with contempt. Every single one of this list has a surging Democratic opponent and each could be replaced in November by an aware electorate.