FL-25: Classy Guy, That Lincoln Diaz-Balart

Today's action by the Republicans, to force a vote in the middle of the Capitol memorial service for Tom Lantos, was truly reprehensible, but not surprising. Look what radio talker Michael Savage had to say about Lantos this week:

Discussing the recent death of Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Michael Savage stated during the February 11 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, "You're not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn't do it. But in the case of Tom Lantos, I'll make an exception. I think he was one of the most -- he was a scoundrel. And I'll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life."

Of all the people to detest - Tom Lantos, who did nothing but seek to protect and defend human rights his entire life. Your modern conservative movement, ladies and gentlemen.

Meanwhile, the Republican who called for the vote was Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), and this could be a major part of his re-election campaign. He has a legitimate challenger - Raul Martinez, the mayor of Hialeah and part of a new generation of Cubans who aren't as knee-jerk Republican as they have been in the past. I don't know if there's any kind of Jewish population in this district, but I'm quite sure they won't like the fact that their Congressman interrupted the memorial service for the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress. Raul Martinez would do well to make this an issue.

UPDATE: Diaz-Balart gives his side of the story:



And the Florida Democratic Party is all over this:

"Everyone from the Israeli Foreign Minister to Condoleezza Rice to Bono took time out to mourn the loss of this respected Holocaust survivor and Congressman, but apparently, even a memorial service can't stop Lincoln Diaz-Balart from playing politics," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Alejandro Miyar said. "This is simply shameful."

"The disrespect that has been shown by a Republican member of Congress in calling a political procedural motion during the memorial service for the late Chairman Tom Lantos is incomprehensible," Stacey Bernards, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, told Politico. "It is unjustifiable, and Republican leaders should restrict their members from further such action."

Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in the U.S. Congress, represented California's 12th District for almost 28 years. He died of esophageal cancer Monday at the age of 80.

I think this could be the final indignation that sets off the Democratic leadership, but I've been thinking that for a while now, so they could of course start cowering again as soon as tomorrow.

UPDATE II: More good stuff from Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY), one of my favorite freshman lawmakers:

In November of 2006, the American people decided to give the Democrats control of the House of Representatives and the Congress. I was fortunate enough to be elected as one of the 43 new Democrats in that class. And many people said in examining that election, "Oh, we were elected because of the War in Iraq." But that's not what I heard. What I heard when I was campaigning in 2006 and I think most of my colleagues in this class would say the same thing is, we want to return to the tenets of the Constitution. We want to restore the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers prescribed. We want to make sure that this President and every President is held accountable, is not above the law.

I'm almost proud to be a Democrat today, except for the dismissal of the need to end the war and all that.

UPDATE III: Ooooh...

"Amd so Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we put into the record at this point CNN.com news, 'Phone Companies Cut FBI Wiretaps Due to Unpaid Bills.' A lot's been said about what some call 'patriotic phone companies.' Are these the same companies that cut off the FBI FISA wiretaps because the FBI hadn't paid its phone bill? This is breaking news. I ask unanimous consent that we examine this issue and that we include it in the ones in the 21-day period."

But you're forgetting about the spirit of volunteerism!

Some of this is off-topic, but it seems like a good repository for statements by Democrats with backbone. I don't know if it was Al Wynn's loss or what, but Democrats are off the mat and fighting today.

You Stay Classy, Republican Party

So the House is actually moving forward on the contempt votes for Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten in the US Attorneys case. Kagro X has all the details. But what's interesting to me is that the initial attempt by the Republicans to dirty up this vote came with a motion to adjourn before they had to face it. Only thing is, the motion to adjourn took place in the middle of the late Tom Lantos' memorial service on the floor of the House.

They're nice people.

UPDATE: Adding to the Fighting Dem attitude of the last 24 hours, we have this story suggesting that the House would be fine with letting the Protect America Act expire and never taking up the Senate version of the FISA bill. This would be a tremendous smack in the face to Bush, and while I don't believe it for the moment, they're saying all the right things.

Democrats insisted that a lapse would have no real effect.

The expiration of the powers “doesn’t mean we are somehow vulnerable again,” said Representative Silvestre Reyes, Democrat of Texas and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

The lapsing of the deadline would have little practical effect on intelligence gathering. Intelligence officials would be able to intercept communications from Qaeda members or other identified terrorist groups for a year after the initial eavesdropping authorization for that particular group.

If a new terrorist group is identified after Saturday, intelligence officials would not be able to use the broadened eavesdropping authority. They would be able to seek a warrant under the more restrictive standards in place for three decades through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [...]

“The president’s presentation this morning was, I think, basically dishonest,” said Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader.

Intelligence officials could continue intercepting suspect communications even if the deadline passes, Mr. Hoyer said. In pushing so hard for immunity for the utilities, he added, the Bush administration is “very nervous about what might be disclosed” if the lawsuits against the companies are allowed to continue.

“To some degree, therefore, I think it is a cover-up,” Mr. Hoyer said.

This would be an unprecedented show of backbone on the part of people like Steny Hoyer to ignore the pathetic pleadings of the President. That's why I don't quite believe it yet.

UPDATE: More on the Repubs disrupting the Lantos memorial here.

RIP Tom Lantos

We have had an unusual amount of deaths in Congress this session, and Tom Lantos' is the latest. The man was a giant, the only Holocaust survivor to ever serve in the House of Representatives. He deserves the utmost respect for his accomplishments. He had a commitment to human rights and a position of authority as the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee for his final year. He will be missed as a hero for Democrats.

CA-12: Speier To Challenge Lantos?

This should be very interesting. It looks like Jackie Speier, who was a fine state Senator who just missed in a there-are-no-losers primary for Lt. Governor with John Garamendi last year, is going to run for Congress in a primary against longtime incumbent Tom Lantos.

"It's Time!" declares an e-mail circulated by supporters to "friends" and "fans" this past week, announcing the first organizing meeting of the Jackie Speier for Congress Exploratory Committee on Tuesday at a home in Hillsborough.

Speier has been consulting with friends and supporters about a run since a poll conducted by allies in January showed her a 2-1 favorite among voters in the 12th Congressional District, which covers northern San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco.

Speier has since hired at least one staffer to start gearing up. Nonetheless, she told us late Friday that she hasn't made a final decision - and that when she does, we'll be among the first to know.

This is the first interesting primary fight in California on the Democratic side that we've seen in the US Congress this cycle. Speier would likely be seen as an upgrade to Lantos for progressives. So far this year Lantos has condemned MoveOn and intimated that "Europe was not as outraged by Auschwitz as by Guantanamo Bay."

Lantos

It's a little disconcerting to have the chief questioner on Iraq be such a hawk on Iran, but Tom Lantos is doing a good job here. He's making Petraeus squirm by suggesting that he doesn't give a damn about the greater military capability throughout the world. It was reported that Admiral Fallon, Petraeus' SUPERIOR in Iraq, wanted a much more rapid drawdown to keep the military from breaking and being unable to respond to other threats. He got Petraeus to state on the record that Admiral Fallon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff completely agree with his assessment of a token drawdown by Christmas, along with the completely mandated by military size drawdown to pre-escalation levels by next summer.

OK, now somebody can ask Admiral Fallon.

Tom Motherflippin' Lantos.

His wind-up was pretty long, but he is doing an excellent job. "Anbar Province has only 5% of the Iraqi population." "Removing a brigade is nothing more than a political whisper..." "We need to leave and we need to leave now."

Now Duncan Hunter is decrying the politicization of the Petraeus testimony by comparing any insult of him to insulting the troops ("they are going to watch how we treat him"). Right, that's not politicization. Apparently, David Petraeus is going to bring down the Berlin Wall and bring peace to El Salvador, too.

UPDATE: Lantos' statement:

Who Put Out This Talking Point?

All of a sudden, everybody is talking about some statistic that the military is the only institution that the American people trust. Really? Americans desire a military junta? Since when?

There's a MAJOR push to get everyone in Congress not to criticize St. Petraeus. I have no doubt that the Democrats are buying it. America's deification of the military continues.

In fact, everything Ike Skelton and Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Tom Lantos is saying is prefaced by "Not a knock on you fine men, but..." Lantos and Skelton are actually being pretty strong. But if anyone dares take the gloves off, we're going to hear the punditocracy erupt. "How dare they question St. Petraeus! Why do they hate the troops?"