Shame On You!

Well it’s that time again. Once more we dive into the pit of despair and ignorance and pull out this month’s winners of the Shame on You awards. As always, it was a tough job narrowing down the nominees, but I think you’ll agree that this month’s winners are more than deserving.

The envelope please:

First place this month goes to lifelong space cadet and Captain Video alumna Michele Bachmann who held her own little Tea Party on the steps of the Capitol last week in protest of the pending vote in the House on healthcare reform – a bill by the way that passed. Not only did Bachmann do her best Glenn Beck impersonation of inciting the throng of malcontents who obviously have nothing better to do than waste an entire day listening to rubbish, but in the process she managed to enlist the participation of many of her Republican colleagues, among them Representatives Steve King of Iowa, Trent Franks of Arizona, Randy Forbes of Virginia, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Louie Gohmert and Ted Poe of Texas. The significance? While they were attending the “Super Bowl of Freedom” as Bachmann referred to it, all missed votes in the House Judiciary committee on Republican-sponsored amendments to the reauthorization of the Patriot Act -- measures that would have toughened the Act, and which narrowly failed.

One measure, offered by Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the committee, would have extended the "lone wolf" provisions of the Act, which would allow the FBI to conduct surveillance or search foreign nationals even if it can't be shown that the person is an agent of a foreign power. Many conservatives believe that had this provision been in effect before 9/11, the FBI might have caught Zacarias Moussaoui. Republicans said that extending the lone wolf provision this time around was crucial to protecting national security. Even some Democrats supported the measure, giving it a good chance of passage. But it failed by a single vote, 15-15. King and Gohmert were absent, no doubt doing their patriotic duty.

Maybe next time a crucial vote in the House comes up, we can all spare a few extra dollars and sponsor a Tea Party of our own on the steps of the Capitol. Maybe if we get enough contributors we can get the entire Republican Party and Fox News to leave Washington long enough so we can get some things done. Maybe Michele Bachmann isn’t so crazy after all; maybe she’s really a Democrat posing as a Republican. Hmmm. On second thought scratch that. That would require intelligence and the ability to feign stupidity. As we all know, dear old Michele is incapable of either. Shame on you, Ms. Bachmann, for posing as an earthling.

Our runner up is House Minority Leader John Boehner (pronounced Bayner, but better known as Boner for his latest faux pas). While attending the “Super Bowl of Freedom” Boehner began to read a passage from what he called the Preamble to the Constitution. The problem for Boehner was the words he was quoting came not from the Constitution, but from the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,” as any grade school student would know does not come from the Preamble to the Constitution. The words Boehner should’ve quoted were as follows: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Perhaps it’s time for Mr. Boehner to go back to the 5th grade. We can accept such ignorance from the likes of a Rush Limbaugh or a Glenn Beck, but not from the senior leader of the Republican Party.

Not content to mangle the Constitution though, Boehner outdid himself by introducing the Republican version of healthcare reform. A bill that insures only an additional three million people, does nothing to curb costs and allows pre-existing clauses to remain in practice. In other words the perfect recipe for an insurance industry that never wanted reform in the first place. The Congressional Budget Office thoroughly trashed the plan. I guess there is justice after all. Seriously though, Boehner and his Republican cronies never expected their plan to get any traction; if was all just a show to convince the gullible that they were desirous of reform when in fact reform is the last thing they want. Shame on you, sir, for pretending to care, as well as have a brain.

Bringing up the rear this month is Connecticut “Independent” Senator Joseph Lieberman, who once more is proving his true colors by threatening to join a Republican filibuster against healthcare reform if it contains a public option.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Lieberman called the controversial public option, which is in the House bill and the Senate version being prepared by Harry Reid, an unnecessary provision intended to bring government-run health insurance in the future. "If the public option is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow the bill to come to a final vote," Lieberman said. He previously has said he won't oppose opening Senate debate on the bill despite the public option provision, and he maintained that stance Sunday.

Connecticut is home to some of the nation’s biggest health insurance companies, among them Aetna, which is the tenth largest contributor to Liebermann’s reelection committee. And Lieberman’s opposition to the public option puts him completely out of step with Connecticut voters. As this polling from 538.com’s Nate Silver shows, voters in every single one of Connecticut’s congressional districts favor the inclusion of a public option in healthcare legislation by wide margins. The stated reason for Lieberman’s stance on the public option — that it would increase the debt and create another entitlement — is misplaced and dishonest. As ThinkProgress has noted before, the public option would be self-sustaining and would cut the deficit. Leibermann knows this all too well.

It is time Democrats showed this pariah the proverbial door. Bad enough he actively campaigned for John McCain and Sarah Palin during last year’s Presidential election, he now threatens to side with Republicans on a bill his own constituents want. Despicable. I say strip him of his committee chairs and tell him if he wants to be a Republican, then he should have the courage to stand officially as one of them. Shame on you, Mr. Liebermann for being a fraud and ignoring your own citizenry.