Free Passes! Free Passes! Getcha Free Passes To An Easy Reelection!

I don't suppose Lizard Man conferred with Elizabeth Warren before he offered a free pass to reelection to Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown. But the reptilian Schumer was boasting to Isaac Chotiner for an interview in the New Republic that that is exactly what he did in 2012. Chotiner establishes right up from that "[i]deologically, it’s not easy to categorize Schumer. He is a populist champion of the middle class who is also a protector and patron of Wall Street, from which he has raised scads of money."

Schumer went to high school with Ken and I (James Madiosn in Brooklyn). Even back then, it was all about Schumer… everything, always. In this particular interview even Elizabeth Warren was all about Schumer!

You know I helped persuade her to run. There is a good little story. [Looks to aide] I can tell this. I went to Scott Brown and said, “If you give us the sixtieth vote for the Citizens United rollback, we won’t go after you.” I spent a lot of time lobbying him, and met some of his friends and had them lobby him. He said yes. Then he said no. So I wanted to recruit the strongest candidate against him, and I thought that was Elizabeth Warren… So, Elizabeth. I got to know her. And I believe in a broad Democratic Party. I don’t agree with her on everything. But it’s great she’s here.

Yes, he certainly doesn't agree with her on everything. She's for ordinary working families; he's for Wall Street and, more than anything else, for Chuck Schumer. But he spends his time in the interview gratuitously attacking left-wing bloggers. I'm sure the feeling is mutual. And that brings us to the other corrupt power monger who hands out free passes: bankrupt (both financially and morally) Long Island "ex"-Blue Dog Steve Israel, Nancy Pelosi's unfortunate choice to head the DCCC again (after his stunning losses in 2012).

The DCCC is mathematically incapable of winning back the House as long as Steve Israel heads the committee. If the detestable Schumer now admits he offered Scott Brown a free pass, the slimy Israel should admit how many free passes he gives out-- to his old GOP cronies from the Center Aisle Caucus and in return for the NRCC not supporting Stephen Labate, the very plausible Republican running against Schumer in a toss-up, PVI zero district.

The Democrats have to net 17 seats to win back the House. Yesterday Israel was squeezing House Dems to support his favorite recruit, anti-Choice, antigay, anti-union, anti-environment reactionary Jennifer Garrison. He's so disrespectful of his colleagues that he doesn't tell them she voted against Ohio's version of ENDA-- he even tricked a gay congressman into contributing to her-- or that she's virulently anti-Choice, or that she voted against a bill to raise the minimum wage in Ohio… he just tells them to fork over the money for a candidate running in a deep red district with a PVI of R+8 while he aggressively ignores winnable blue districts and keeps them off the table, either by refusing to recruit candidates or by undercutting grassroots progressives who run without his blessing. Now that's what I call a free pass. And if Pelosi doesn't wake up and realize that the Democrats can't win back the House with Israel as the head of the DCCC, Obama's last two years will be doomed to fail against the shoals of a dysfunctional Republican House utterly incapable of adult governance. Here are 17 Republicans Steve Israel has given free passes to-- at least so far-- and without them, Nancy Pelosi will not be replacing John Boehner. Remember, Obama won each of these districts in 2008 and or 2012:

• MI-06- Fred Upton- R+1
• WA-08- Dave Reichert- R+1
• FL-27- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen- R+2
• PA-06- Jim Gerlach- R+2
• MN-03- Erik Paulsen- R+2
• PA-07- Pat Meehan- R+2
• MN-02- John Kline- R+2
• PA-15- Charlie Dent- R+2
• MI-08- Mike Rogers- R+2
• WA-03- Jaime Hererra Buetler- R+2
• VA-10- Frank Wolf- R+2
• CA-25- Buck McKeon- R+3
• WI-01- Paul Ryan- R+3
• IL-06- Peter Roskam- R+4
• PA-16- Joe Pitts- R+4
• CA-49- Darrell Issa- R+4
• IL-16- Adam Kinzinger- R+4

Any of these candidates would be easier to beat than Bill Johnson, the Republican in the R+8 district Garrison is running against. Democrats in Congress ought to ask Pelosi is she's sleep-walking them back into another two years of minority status.

Yes, reptiles hate bloggers

One last thought-- I called an Elizabeth Warren staffer and asked him if Schumer recruited her. He couldn't stop laughing at first and then uttered one word: "ridiculous!"