Despite the fact that just a few days ago he vociferously denied that he was leaving Congress because of an ethics investigation, Rep. Eric Massa is now claiming that his resignation was engineered by Democratic leaders in order to have one less vote to find for health-care reform. Why Massa would give into this pressure now after spending his legislative career happily ignoring leadership is a question that remains unanswered.
Ever-credulous arbiters of conventional wisdom like ABC's The Note are happy to ignore his past statement and stretch the story to somehow connect with the legislative wheeling and dealing in the health-care bill. Never mind that, for no good reason, these same folks see the reconciliation process -- designed to remove some of those same provisions -- as controversial.
It's hard to see how Massa's allegations will hinder the push for the health-care reform bill -- he was not particularly popular among the House Democrats who are at the center of the current effort. But in case anyone is going to take his appearance on Glenn Beck's show even remotely seriously, it might be nice to recall these comments from 2007:
In fact, the major force separating us is the hate speech and misuse of public airwaves from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glen Beck and Bill O’Reilly – none of whom ever wore a uniform – all of whom attack any Veteran who disagrees with Decider-in-Chief - George Bush.
Misuse of public airwaves, indeed.
-- Tim Fernholz
