Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Tom Feeney

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), one of the most objectionable, corrupt, and undeserving members of Congress, maybe ever, officially has been abandoned by the national Republican Party. This pleases me greatly.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has pulled TV ads planned for Feeney as well as for other truly batshit crazy Republican Reps. Michelle "Obama's Anti-American" Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.). For his part, Feeney has faced a strong challenge by Democratic candidate Suzanne Kosmas, a former state representative and real estate executive, and he's been dogged by his connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a curious gay love triangle/murder-suicide in Orlando, as well as his obvious status as a major-league douchebag.

And the NRCC says it's all Feeney's fault:

"It's been tough," said Ken Spain, NRCC spokesman. "The NRCC can help a candidate make it across the finish line. But it is ultimately up to the candidate to remain competitive."

Congress will be a far, far better place without the likes of Feeney and his nearly-as-batshit-crazy colleague to the south, the 15th District's Dave Weldon. And their struggles (well, Weldon voluntarily retired, but I'm sure it had nothing to do with his daughter's legal troubles) just make the schadenfreude that much tastier.

Anyway, Tom, perhaps you can console yourself as you fade into the obscurity you've earned with this recognition: today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Making Florida competitive

Interesting post by Chris Cilizza today on his WaPo blog, "The Fix."

Cilizza reviewed the big win by Bill Foster (D-Ill.) in Saturday's special election to fill former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) seat (not literally, one presumes) and, based on the degree to which that district, Illinois' 14th, went for Drunky McStagger in 2004, he posits that there will be a lot more seats in play in November than the Republicans ever imagined -- and several of those are right here in America's Wang™.

Looking for a way to compare apples to apples when it comes to congressional districts, we turned to our old friends at the Cook Political Report and their Partisan Voting Index (PVI). The PVI was developed by the folks at Cook in the summer of 1997 as a way of looking at measuring every district in the country against the nation as a whole. Each district was given a score -- R+6, D+19 -- that indicated how it performed on the presidential level when compared to the country. A score of R+6 means that the district performed six points more Republican than the country as a whole; conversely, a score of D+19 means the seat performed 19 points more Democratic than the nation. (A further explanation of PVI is behind the Cook Report's subscription wall so get one today!)

Illinois' 14th district has a PVI score of R+5. A quick look at Cook's PVI ratings reveals that 53 Republican-held seats have a score more Democratic than that. Of that group, the largest number (33) carry PVI scores between R+2.0-R+4.9 while 18 districts have PVI ratings of D+1.9-R+1.9 and two seats have PVI of D+5.0-D+9.9.

We wanted to go even further inside those numbers, however, so we did a quick scan of all the Republican held districts that had a PVI score of no lower than R+1 and no higher than R+5 -- the same rating as the Hastert seat.

(Before we get into the numbers, it's worth noting that IL-14 was a special election race held on a Saturday, so turnout and other factors are not directly comparable to a general election in a presidential year.)

That search turned up 51 districts -- the VAST majority of which would not be considered competitive in a typical cycle by most observers. (The full list of these seats can be found after the jump.)

Never mind the math, if you don't want to. Just know that those 51 districts lean Republican, but aren't locks (which you might have with, say, R+6 or greater). And check out Florida's part in that:

Florida boasts nine districts currently held by GOPers with PVI ratings between R+1 and R+5. Those nine districts are a mix of the once competitive (Florida's 8th and 12th), the occasionally competitive (Florida's 13th and 24th) and the never competitive (Florida's 5th, 7th, 15th, 18th and 25th.) Democrats have spent considerable time recruiting in Florida and are expected to put a number of these seats -- including the 24th and 25th -- in play this November.

We knew that the 13th, with Vern Buchanan stealing the seat from rightful winner Christine Jennings, would be back in play this fall. But the others? Let's take a look:

• 5 -- Ginny Brown-Waite
• 7 -- John Mica
• 8 -- Ric Keller
• 12 -- Adam Putnam
• 13 -- Vern Buchanan (as noted above)
• 15 -- Dave Weldon (retiring, thank Jeebus)
• 18 -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
• 24 -- Tom Feeney
• 25 -- Mario Diaz-Balart

A real rogue's gallery, that. And to think that, in light of Foster's win in Illinois, we could entertain the possibility of turnover in those Florida districts, well, that's a very exciting prospect indeed. This is a group of lockstep Bushie Republicans who ought to be disgracefully expelled from Congress ... and this might just be the year to do it.

Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart already have solid Democratic challengers, 15 and 24 also are looking good for the Dems already, Brown-Waite is a moron, Keller is a corrupt assbag (which anyone with an ounce of sense knew when he was first elected to Congress), Putnam is a hypocrite, and Mica is in the pocket of so many special interests we lose count.

Will the Florida Democratic Party and the DCCC actually understand that we can knock some of these idiots out? That remains to be seen, but I hope the Foster situation -- er, I should say, Representative Foster -- is proof positive that we ought to try.

Haridopolonomatopoeia gets a gig in Gainesville

State Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R-Indialantic), a rabid wingnut from my old stomping grounds in Brevard County, has been hired for a $75,000-a-year teaching position at the University of Florida ... which is more than two hours distant from his home. This pretty much squelches any thought of him running for Congress, which I had predicted he would do after Dave Weldon (R-Batshit Crazy) announced his retirement. So much for my prognosticatory skills.

By hiring Haridopolos, the third-ranking person in the Senate and a former Brevard Community College staffer, the university says it has added a teacher with plenty or real world public policy experience.

"Mike Haridopolos brings a combination of academic experience teaching government and real life, hands-on experience in Florida politics to the Graham Center," said former U.S. Sen. and Florida Gov. Bob Graham in a news release issued Thursday.

It also puts on its payroll someone who should have tremendous influence on the university's budget in the coming years. Haridopolos is in line to become Senate president in 2010. From that position, he will hold great sway over how much money flows to the university from Tallahassee.

Haridopolos said he had no plans to move from Indialantic and will commute to Tallahassee and Gainesville.

Ben Wilcox, executive director for the citizen's lobby, Common Cause Florida, questioned whether Haridopolos was being hired for his academic credentials or his political influence.

"If it turns out he's being paid to be an advocate for a university just because he's a legislator, then I think that raises questions about whether he's a lobbyist or not," Wilcox said.

Haridopolos said nothing could be further from the truth. He said Graham was eager to tap his experience for the benefit of UF students.

Ugh. It pains me to see Haridopolos, a smarmy little Napoleon whom I know and with whom I used to work (although not terribly closely), get the seal of approval from Bob Graham. But clearly ol' Mikey is gambling on the GOP holding onto the majority in the state Senate through 2010, giving him a crack at the presidency. I guess he figures there will always be enough wingnuts in Florida's Fightin' 15th District to get him to Congress when he's ready -- and, sadly, he's probably right.

Apparently, though, the decision to hire Haridopolos is not very popular at UF:

Haridopolos' hiring at UF, which was effective Feb. 15 according to the university, has ruffled some feathers within the university's faculty.

Unlike most full-time faculty members, Haridopolos does not have a doctorate degree. And the hiring was done without consulting the faculty of the political science department, which normally would have input on new hires.

Stephen Craig, the department chair, said he has no problem with Haridopolos himself. In fact, he said, he hired the senator in the past to teach individual classes about campaigning.

"My biggest concern is simply that the department was not consulted."

In his new role, Haridopolos will be paid far more than other lecturers. The two other full-time lecturers in the department, both of whom have doctorate degrees, are paid an average of $46,580.

"Lots of departments weren't able to hire at the levels they wanted to this year and even replace faculty they have lost," Assistant Professor Michael Martinez said. "So I think hiring a lecturer like this without faculty consultation sort of exacerbates that concern about lack of respect for faculty in this budget situation."

Yes, but remember, Prof. Martinez: in Florida, it's okay if you're a Republican.

I guess it could be worse. Haridopolos could be teaching at FSU ...

UPDATE (4:47 am 2/25/08): For more on this "curious development," check out Categorical Aperitif.

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.)

This is how eager I am to celebrate the impending departure of Dave Weldon, one of the most rabid, egregious, stupid wingnuts in Congress (and my former rep from my time in that bastion of wingnuttery, Brevard County):

I was driving down I-75, having just received a speeding ticket (thanks, state troopers in Alachua County!), when I learned of Weldon's decision to retire. And now I'm sitting at a restaurant near Ocala, eating a late lunch and sharing the good news with you.

Yes, Rep. Dave Weldon, whose record of asshattery in Congress stretches back to his first election to that formerly august body in 1994, has decided to hang up his jackboots and head back to Melbourne to ... you guessed it ... spend more time with his family.

Today U.S. Representative Dave Weldon, Republican, District 15 of Florida, announced his intention to retire from the House of Representatives at the conclusion of the 110th Congress.

Citing a desire to return to medical practice and devote more time to his family, Weldon extended his thanks to those who helped him through his seven terms in Congress.

"I want to thank my wife Nancy and my kids for all the support over these many years, as well as my staff and the people who supported my re-election efforts. It is a very big undertaking to run and successfully serve, and I would never have been able to do it were it not for the generous help of so many fine people," said Weldon.

I'm truly at a loss to come up with enough negative adjectives to describe Weldon. As a medical doctor, you'd think he'd have some sense especially on issues related to medicine, but his continuous opposition to stem cell research and even his position on the Terri Schiavo saga seem more the deranged idiocy of uneducated, mouth-breathing hicks than a supposedly intelligent doctor and congressman. Then again, those uneducated, mouth-breathing hicks sent Weldon to Washington for fourteen years, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised.

Of course, it's plenty schadenfreude-worthy to celebrate the departure of such a pitiable person from Congress. But for icing on the cake, how about an arrest in the family?

The daughter of longtime Florida Congressman Dave Weldon was arrested this morning after a Melbourne bar fight, officials said.

According to an arrest report, an off-duty Brevard County sheriff’s deputy arrested Kathryn “Katie” Weldon, 21, around 1:40 a.m. at the County Line Saloon on US 192 near Interstate 95 after she struck Aneff Solis with a shoe, cutting him under his left eye.

Bar bouncer Robert McClure saw her hit Solis, the report said.

Weldon was taken to the Brevard County jail in Sharpes and booked on a battery charge, records show.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that's some tasty schadenfreude, don't you think?!

Katie Weldon even has a record, having previously been arrested for possession of marijuana (the charges there were later dropped). And I knew before I even saw the article that the incident must have happened at the County Line, where according to my ex-brother-in-law, a Brevard County Sheriff's Deputy, there's at least one fight a night. I mean, sensible people don't even go to the County Line. But, then, we're talking about a girl who was raised wingnut, so Republican rebellion is natural, even expected ... as is violence, sexual misconduct, hypocrisy, arrests, drug use ... whoa, sorry, kinda got carried away there.

So who steps into the 15th District seat vacated by Weldon? Speculation includes state Rep. Thad Altman (R-Melbourne), former county commissioner Nancy Biggs (D-Melbourne Beach), and wingnut state Sen. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge).

But you heard it here first, folks: watch out for state Sen. Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne). This is a guy I know personally, and not only is he a disingenuous, plastic windbag, his politics are somewhere to the right of Mussolini. He'd be a disaster for the 15th District in Congress, and yet in conversations I've had over the years, he often was mentioned as Weldon's heir apparent. I don't know whether he'll run or not, but I'm just saying: look out, and get to work, Brevard Democrats. Haridopolos is a snake.

But for now, let's celebrate! I can think of few things that could make me happier (politically, anyway) than the departure of Dave Weldon from Congress. You've done enough harm, Dave. You know, Dave, it's the Hippocratic Oath, not the Hypocritical Oath.

Anyway, this is a good day indeed, as I congratulate Rep. Weldon, for today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!

Their word means nothing

Courtesy of Progressive Librarian on the other side of Teh Wang™ at TampaBay Democrat, we are reminded of promises that certain members of Congress made a few years ago ... including my former congresscritter, Dave Weldon (R-Lunatic) of FL-15.

But what's really interesting is PL's link through Smashed Frog ... looks like Dentist Dave isn't the only one whose word is worthless. Let's set the Way Back Machine to February 1999, Sherman:

Over the past two election cycles, U.S. Term Limits has shifted its strategy from promoting candidates solely because they believe in term-limit legislation. The group now is throwing its support behind candidates who are willing to sign a pledge, and is working against candidates who refuse.

A separate group, Americans for Limited Terms, spent millions of dollars in the 1998 cycle on issue ads designed to promote pledge signers and shed a negative light on those who refused to sign.

Five House Republicans signed that pledge in 1996, vowing to leave office by 2002. They are Bob Schaffer of Colorado, Ron Lewis of Kentucky, John Cooksey of Louisiana, Rick Hill of Montana and John Thune of South Dakota.

Nine members of this year's incoming freshman class [elected 1998] signed the six-year pledge. They are Doug Ose, R-Calif.; Grace F. Napolitano, D-Calif.; Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.; Judy Biggert, R-Ill.; Ken Lucas, D-Ky.; Lee Terry, R-Neb.; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; and Mark Green, R-Wis. Also signing was Lois Capps, D-Calif., who first won her seat in a March 1998 special election.

U.S. Term Limits also lists 18 other House members as having promised during their campaigns to limit themselves to a certain number of terms. These members have said they will not seek re-election in 2004: Ken Calvert, R-Calif.; James Maloney, D-Conn.; Porter Goss, R-Fla.; Dave Weldon, R-Fla.; Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa; Greg Ganske, R-Iowa; Donald Manzullo, R-Ill.; John Baldacci, D-Maine; Nick Smith, R-Mich.; James M. Talent, R-Mo.; David Minge, DMinn.; Richard M. Burr, RN.C.; Bob Franks, R-N.J.; Steve Chabot, R-Ohio; Ted Strickland, D-Ohio; Steven C. LaTourette, R-Ohio; Ralph Hall, D-Texas; and Richard "Doc" Hastings, R-Wash.

With that introduction, it's time for an exciting round of Where Are They Now?

Class of 1996 -- signed pledge
Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) -- fulfilled his pledge, later failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Ron Lewis (R-Ky.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
John Cooksey (R-La.) -- fulfilled his pledge, but failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Rick Hill (R-Mont.) -- fulfilled his pledge but did so early because of health problems.
John Thune (R-S.D.) -- fulfilled his pledge, now in the U.S. Senate.

Class of 1998 -- signed pledge
Doug Ose (R-Calif.) -- fulfilled his pledge.
Grace F. Napolitano (D-Calif.) -- still in the House, so she reneged on her promise.
Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise (and he wants to be President!).
Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) -- still in the House, so she reneged on her promise.
Ken Lucas (D-Ky.) -- fulfilled his pledge.
Lee Terry (R-Neb.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) -- fulfilled his pledge, but failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) -- fulfilled his pledge, now in the U.S. Senate.
Mark Green (R.-Wis.) -- reelected in 2004, so he reneged on his promise, but failed in a bid for governor of Wisconsin in 2006 and is not presently in Congress.

Limited to 2004 but did not sign pledge
Ken Calvert (R.-Calif.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
James Maloney (D-Conn.) -- was not reelected in 2002, so he fulfilled his promise (albeit perhaps involuntarily).
Porter Goss (R-Fla.) -- resigned in 2004 to become CIA director, so he fulfilled his promise.
Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) -- as noted above, he's running again, so he continues to renege on his promise.
Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
Greg Ganske (R-Iowa) -- fulfilled his promise early, but failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002.
Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
John Baldacci (D-Me.) -- fulfilled his promise early and now is governor of Maine.
Nick Smith (R-Mich.) -- fulfilled his promise.
James M. Talent (R-Mo.) -- fulfilled his promise early for an unsuccessful gubernatorial run in 2000; later served one term in the U.S. Senate.
David Minge (D-Minn.) -- was not reelected in 2000 so, like Maloney, he involuntarily fulfilled his promise early.
Richard M. Burr (R-N.C.) --fulfilled his promise, now in the U.S. Senate.
Bob Franks (R-N.J.) -- fulfilled his promise early, but failed in a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) -- reelected in 2004, so he reneged on his promise, but he did not run in 2006 and now is governor of Ohio.
Steven C. LaTourette (R-Ohio) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.
Ralph Hall (D/R-Tex.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise; I hardly think switching from Democrat to Republican in 2004 nullified his promise.
Richard "Doc" Hastings (R-Wash.) -- still in the House, so he reneged on his promise.

Whew! If you're keeping score at home, let's sum up:

Out of 32 House members who said they would leave by 2004, 17 did so.

Therefore, 15 of them didn't keep their word. Interestingly, that number is comprised of three Democrats and 12 Republicans. Are you as shocked as I am? I thought so. I mean, what is it about Republicans not being able to keep their word?

But wait ... as I type this, there are 13 current House members who promised to be out by 2004 and they're still there, two terms later: two Democrats and eleven Republicans. Thirteen members of Congress whose word is worth as much as the paper I'm writing on (yes, that means nada), including one presidential candidate.

Think about that the next time one of these folks promises to do anything.

---

Ed. note: I am not personally in favor of term limits, for I believe the best term limit is to vote the bastards out. This data is presented solely to draw attention to the rank hypocrisy of certain members of Congress, a disproportionate number of whom just happen to be Republicans.

Madame Speaker

Hey, looky here - plenty of unsecured wireless around my mom's beach house! Woohoo!

Yes, I finally arrived in North Carolina, hustled (yeah, right) my son to bed, and with the pounding Atlantic surf as backdrop, turned on C-SPAN to watch the rebroadcast of today's historic speech by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Speaker of the House. Let me say that again: Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Damn, that feels good! (If you know of a video of the speech somewhere on the internets, please put the link in Comments -- I couldn't find one.)

She hit all the right notes and was charming and captivating to boot. I mean, seriously, if there's such a thing as a GMILF, she'd be right up there for me. But it was her enthusiasm and energy and caring that I found so refreshing. And, oh yes, her address had plenty of fire, to be sure --

"In order to achieve our new America for the 21st Century, we must return this House to the American people. So our first order of business is passing the toughest congressional ethics reform in history. This new Congress doesn't have two years or 200 days.

"Let us join together in the first 100 hours to make this Congress the most honest and open Congress in history - 100 hours."

Republicans (yes, and Democrats, too), take notice. The lady -- er, the Speaker -- doth mean business.

But I think my favorite moment was when she said:

"And the American people told us they expected us to work together for fiscal responsibility, with the highest ethical standards and with civility and bipartisanship.

"After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: pay as you go, no new deficit spending.

She hit those last four words hard, à la "Read my lips, no new taxes," and the camera immediately found a group of GOP members, including my former rep (and still an assbag extraordinaire), Dave "Wingnut" Weldon of Florida's Fightin' 15th. Dr. Dave looked like he had a bad burrito for lunch or something ... the expression on his face was priceless. (Wish I could give you a screen capture ...)

So, not really a Daily Schadenfreude for today, since I was traveling, but if there were to be one, it would go to the Republicans yet again -- I take great joy in seeing them having to face the music and pay the piper for twelve years of thuggery, selfishness, and blind allegiance to Drunky McStagger and his minions. Good luck, GOP ... you're going to need it. Oh, and enjoy Speaker Pelosi - I know I will!