The key question filtering through Washington this morning: Absent a pair of horse-blinders, how can one possibly speak in front of a group of white nationalists without knowing what they're about?
U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, the third-ranking Republican in the House, is in hot water for appearing at a 2002 conference by a white nationalist group.
:
"I didn't know who all of these groups were and I detest any kind of hate group. For anyone to suggest that I was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous," Scalise said Monday in a telephone interview ....
"David Duke was never at any group that I spoke to," said Scalise, who added that he didn't recall the EURO conference.
Scalise added: "I didn't have a scheduler back then. I was without the advantages of a tool like Google."
Erick Erickson, the WSB Radio host, who lived in Louisiana before moving to Georgia, doesn't buy the I-couldn't-Google excuse. From his RedState.com post:
How the hell does somebody show up at a David Duke organized event in 2002 and claim ignorance?
Trent Lott was driven from the field in 2001 for something less than this.
And the very GOP establishment now lining up behind Steve Scalise threw Chris McDaniel under the bus for speaking to a Sons of the Confederate Veterans event.
The Washington Post puts the flap in context for House Republicans as they prepare to gavel in the 114th Congress next week:
Rep. Michael G. Grimm (R-N.Y.), who represents Staten Island, pleaded guilty last week to felony tax fraud and on Monday privately signaled he was readying to resign, according to House Republican staffers familiar with his calls to House GOP leaders. [In fact, he has now done so.] And Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.) has been accused by a fired former staffer of creating a hostile work environment. The staffer has sued, alleging that the congressman "regularly drank to excess" and made sexually inappropriate comments to another co-worker.
***
That post about Gov. Nathan Deal getting indicted soon -- the one Team Deal forcefully shot down Monday afternoon -- has been taken down from the Liberal America website and the Daily Kos, which now just give error messages at those links. (Many thanks to Bradley George for the tip.)
***
In the never-ending fight at the state Capitol over jury awards, lawyers have been given two paragraphs of ammunition in today's New York Times. An article on the role that state liability caps played in keeping under wraps a faulty General Motors ignition switch includes this passage:
"It increases the ability of a plaintiff to bring a claim," said the lawyer, Lance Cooper of Marietta, Ga., who filed a lawsuit in 2011 in the case of 29-year-old Brooke Melton, who died in a Chevrolet Cobalt crash.
***
Gov. Nathan Deal this morning announced his new floor leadership teams in the House and Senate for next year's session of the General Assembly.
Robert Dickey, R-Musella, and Terry Rogers, R-Clarkesville, will join Chad Nimmer, R-Blackshear, and Christian Coomer, R-Cartersville, to guide the governor’s legislation in the House.
In the Senate, Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, and senator-elect John F. Kennedy, R-Macon, will team up with Bill Jackson, R-Appling.
Miller may be the most interesting choice in the lot. The Gainesville senator was a shoo-in for Senate majority leader this fall when he up and challenged David Shafer, R-Duluth, for president pro tem – the No. 2 leadership position in the chamber. Miller lost.
***
Over at GeorgiaPundit.com, Todd Rehm has published the schedule leading up to this year's state Republican convention:
-- Precinct mass meetings on Feb. 7;
-- County conventions on March 14;
-- Congressional district conventions on April 18;
-- State convention in Athens, May 15-16.
About the Author
