PIE FIGHT AMONG THE WING-NUTS OVER 9/11-- DARRELL ISSA HIDING UNDER HIS DESK

Even a whole stack of Bibles won't mean much to these 2 clowns

Bush, Rove and Cheney have shaped their entire presidency-- and the subsequent Republican electoral campaigns-- around the events of 9/11. They have never stopped reminding Americans that we could all die if we don't support... well, whatever they happen to be pushing, from retroactive immunity for telecom executives guilty of criminal activities to doing away with Social Security. But now that Congress is debating legislation about coming to the aid of the victims of the attack, there seems to be a fissure inside the GOP on what 9/11 really means.

NYC's only far right member of Congress, Staten Island wingnut Vito Fossella (R-NY) was on the attack yesterday, slamming fellow wingnut Darrell Issa (R-CA). "It seems that with the passage of time, something happened along the way where the scope of the problem and the real extent of the problem has not drifted out to California." Actually almost every single member of the California delegation supports the legislation to assist the victims. What Fossella is talking about are a small handful of radical right Republican extremists like Darrell Issa. The New York Daily News has a full report today, a report that has Republicans in Oceanside cringing.

The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks "simply" a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families.

San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center
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"That is a pretty distorted view of things," said Frank Fraone, a Menlo Park, Calif., fire chief who led a 67-man crew at Ground Zero. "Whether they're a couple of planes or a couple of missiles, they still did the same damage."

"New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn't have to be attacked by Congress," added Long Island Rep. Pete King, a Republican.

"I'm really surprised by Darrell Issa," King added. "It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It's wrong and inexcusable."

Lorie Van Aucken, who lost her husband, Kenneth, in the attacks, slammed Issa's "cruel and heartless" comments.

"It's really discouraging. People stepped up and did the right thing. They sacrificed themselves and now a lot of people are getting really horrible illnesses," she added.

Most people who have ever heard of Issa know him as a far right kook who was arrested for breaking into cars as a teenager and then went on to sell car alarms and become a millionaire. Once he was rich he financed a campaign to impeach California Governor Gray Davis-- with the intention of replacing him with... Darrell Issa. The state GOP was glad to see him spend his dough but then brushed him aside like a flea and got behind movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, while Issa sulked down in his San Diego-Riverside County district.

Republican pressure has caused Issa to back down on his nutty 9/11 comments, comments that put into question the entire raison d'etre for Bush-brand fascism.

"I continue to support federal assistance for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks," he said.

But he didn't retract his wacked-out rhetoric claiming the feds "just threw" buckets of cash at New York for an attack "that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it."

On September 11, 2001 Issa was in front of the cameras on the floor of Congress trying to get himself some mileage out of the tragedy by puffing himself up into a patriotic swoon and declaring that the attack on New York was an attack on all of America. Now he claims the problem is a state problem and the costs shouldn't be borne by the federal government. "I have to ask... why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration."

Something tells me we're not likely to see a Governor Issa anytime soon. Bob Hamilton is the Democrat who is trying to rid California of this walking embarrassment. A former naval officer, Bob was shaking his head over Issa's crazy rant. But he told me it shouldn't surprise anyone. "Issa keeps saying these outrageous and offensive things. He called Valerie Plane a perjurer, he tried to embarrass and humiliate Pat Tillman's mother and family, he tried to intimidate the Mothers and widows of the four contractors killed in Fallujah. Now he says to hell with the first responders in New York City on 9/11, men and women that performed heroically, believed the Bush administration when they were told that the air was safe to breath, and are now paying a terrible price. Issa minimizes 9/11 and casts these heroes aside. It is important that we unseat Darrell Issa and return competence and compassion to our representation."