Two Tweets About Anthony Gemma-- And Allen West's Psychosis

If you're a DWT regular, you may have noticed that every once in a while we disagree with the DC Dems and the DCCC. They sure have a tendency to support anti-Choice conservative corporate shills against progressives. And we call them on it. So we ought to congratulate them on doing the exact opposite. DC Dems are gearing up to help progressive Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline win reelection that starts with a primary against the kind multimillionaire, anti-Choice, corporate shill that Steve Israel usually has wet dreams about, Anthony Gemma. Even Steny Hoyer understands what a wreck Gemma would make of the Rhode Island Democratic Party; he contributed to Cicilline's campaign. Nancy Pelosi went up to Rhode Island a few weeks ago and hosted a woman's roundtable with Cicilline and next month Jan Schakowsky will headline his 2nd Annual Women's Luncheon. I asked Jared Polis (D-CO), the co-Chair of the DCCC's Red to Blue program, if he's backing Cicilline. He sure is-- and in a big way:

"David Cicilline is a progressive leader in Congress for Rhode Island and the nation. With the retirement of Barney Frank and with Tammy Baldwin moving to the Senate, unless we re-elect David Cicilline I might be the only gay member of Congress. That would not only be very lonely, but it would make our Congress less diverse and we would lose an important voice for equality. It's critical to re-elect David Cicilline."

And Gemma... well, that's why I responded to Aaron's tweet up top. We've written about him before but the key to remember is that if he were to win the primary, the general election would turn into a Republican primary contest! Virulently anti-Choice, Gemma would be another warrior in the Republican War Against Women. He refers to himself as "a Conservative Democrat" and he's wrong on almost every issue. The only Democratic primary he ever voted in was for himself in 2010 and he didn't even vote in the '08 presidential primary.

He brags that he's willing to dump a million dollars into this race and tells his cronies that all he cares about is taking Cicilline down, even if it means the Republican candidate wins the general election. Why? Cicilline is a proud progressive, openly gay, and battling against rightists who want to slash taxes on corporations while raising them on working families. Wednesday Allen West sputtered something insane about the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including David Cicilline all being "Communists." Forget for a moment that Allen West is a pathetic and embarrassing clown and unprosecuted war criminal. His sentiments aren't that different from Anthony Gemma's. In fact, they have a lot in common. Wednesday afternoon, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs, Raúl Grijalva and Keith Ellison, both of whom are backing Cicilline's reelection bid, responded to Allen West's crazy comments:

“Allen West is denigrating the millions of Americans who voted to elect Congressional Progressive Caucus members, and he is ignoring the oath they took to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution-- just like he did. Calling fellow Members of Congress ‘communists’ is reminiscent of the days when Joe McCarthy divided Americans with name-calling and modern-day witch hunts that don’t advance policies to benefit people’s lives.
 
“We hope the people of Florida’s 22nd Congressional District will note that he repeatedly polarizes the American people instead of focusing on their interests. When people like Rep. West have no ideals or principles, they rely on personal attacks. The CPC is proud to stand up for economic equality and civil and human rights for all Americans. Congress is having, and will continue to have, an ongoing debate about job creation, home foreclosures and the issues that concern working families. But we will not engage in base and childish conversations that lower the high level of discourse Americans rightly expect from their representatives.”

Conservatives and bigots have their own party: the GOP. The Democrats have no need for people like Anthony Gemma-- despite his millions in ill-gotten gains-- in our party.