Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Local Weasel Plans To Duck Constituents


Some years ago the people of Illinois' 13th congressional district unwisely elected a Republican named Rodney Davis to the United States House of Representatives.  This came as a surprise to exactly no one for two reasons:  First, before running he was a political operative and errand boy for Illinois' odious climate-denying "Congressman from Coal" John Shimkus and, two, despite frequent redistricting efforts, the Illinois 13th has sent a Republican to congress in every election since 1894.

Yes, the last Democrat from the Illinois 13th  was "...appointed by President Grover Cleveland as a United States judge for the northern district of Indian Territory and chief justice of the United States Court of Appeals of Indian Territory."  The last Democrat before that was the original Adlai Stevenson.  

Hey, here's a fun fact:  before he became famous for simultaneously wrecking the United States military and the United States treasury and King's English, Don Rumsfeld was a congressman from the Illinois 13th.

Very Republican, the 13th.

Still, I kinda wonder if maybe we can't change that.  Or at least force the Party of Trump to spend serious money to hang onto this seat.  Because as of right now, Rodney Davis is opting to hide out from his own constituents who have serious concerns about the fact that he and his party just elected an unhinged racist halfwit to the most powerful office on Earth.

Representative Davis appears to have run for Congress for a lot of the same reasons that Stuart Best ran for Congress: because people gave him money and Congress has a great dental plan.


And for three terms, Representative Davis was able to basically sit on his ass, do little beyond pontificating about the Horrors of Obamacare and cash a paycheck safe in the knowledge that, like the rest of his depraved party, he would never have to actually do any of the things he gassed on and on about.

He could warm a spot on the back bench forever and quietly help his party ruin the country and the bell would never toll for Rodney Davis.

But then his party's unhinged, racist candidate actually won, promising that he would deliver unto us "great health care at a fraction of the cost" and, as the kids say...


...shit just got real.

And that's when outspoken Obamacare Critic and Fix-It Man, Representative Rodney Davis, decided that discretion was suddenly the better part of valor and that his constituent's interests were best served by hiding under his desk and praying that somehow this will all blow over:

Rodney Davis: No plans for C-U meeting

Tom’s Mailbag goes live at 2 p.m. Fridays (submit questions here). A hot topic this week: Rodney Davis, who appeared on WDWS 1400-AM on Friday morning. A sample ..
“There’s been a lot of chatter about trying to get (U.S. Rep.) Rodney Davis to host a town hall meeting somewhere in the district. When was his last one in the district, and when was his last one in the C-U area? Also, as a point of comparison, how often did Tim Johnson host town halls? I recall that one of his hallmarks was being very accessible to constituents.”
Based on a review of stories in our News-Gazette archives, Davis has never done a town hall meeting in Champaign-Urbana.

And it doesn’t sound like he’s going to do one this spring, despite calls from a number of local constituents.

He said during an interview this morning on WDWS that the request for town hall meetings is stirred by Democrats and Democrat-backed groups.

“Those are the things that are happening across the nation. My colleagues, we kind of joke, it’s happening in districts across the nation,” the three-term Republican congressman said. “Everyone, regardless of whether it’s a Democrat district or a Republican district or a 50-50 district like mine, that’s exactly what we thought they would do. That’s what the opposition does when they don’t have control over any levers of government.

“We did the same thing when the Democrats took over in 2008.”
...

Asked by WDWS’ Elizabeth Hess if there are any plans to have a town hall meeting, he said: “I don’t like grandstanding events. I’ve never done those. We continue to meet with people on a regular basis. I can’t be in two places at once when I’m out here in Washington and I’m asked to do something on someone else’s schedule back home.”...
Honestly, given how many Republican lawmakers are now sticking their heads out of their bolt holes to find angry crowds of patriots demanding to know just exactly how they plan to make good on their bullshit promises, I can't blame Representative Davis for taking French leave from his congressional duties now that the shit has gotten real.

He is, after all, a Republican.  And talking out of one's ass when it costs you nothing and then ducking out when the bill comes due is the most Republican thing there is.

5 comments:

MelissaM said...

That's why a genius created Flat Rodney Davis, so folks in his district can meet and interact with him. The response from Flat Rodney is about the same as from real Rodney.
http://www.smilepolitely.com/splog/flat_rodney_davis_is_adventuring_around_cu_today/

trgahan said...

Rep. Chaffetz is having a town hall tonight in the geographically small, population large gerrymandered blue part of his district. They have already had to move it to accommodate the RSVP's.

Since he just won re-election by wide margin and seems to eyeing the next for years as a tryout for higher office in the conservative welfare state, I don't think he'll much care so many people are coming to yell at him.

Hell, it will probably make good propaganda footage for the rest of this district. "Look how scary, rude, and mean liberals are! At least we were gracious when their side won!"

Besides his townhalls in the rest of his district will be full of 12 people tell him how proud they are he went after that b@tch Hillary and fought to keep that n#$%er in his place.

trgahan said...

Oops...silly me.

The state Republican party is going to pack Chaffetz town hall with the "real 13th District." Since there is literally a mountain range between the townhall location and "the real 13th District" my guess this means the party is going to bus people, or out of district meatheads.

Expect this tactic to grow if liberals keep being strident.

Robt said...

Murphy Brown clip is so prophetic. What once was creative comedy became the republican blueprint to success. With consideration of how one defines success taken into account.

Odd, My House Rep. actually campaigned on having these meetings and accused the Representative he beat of not having them at all when he had them about every 2 weeks. Like nationally, Right wing media blared his accusations and the so called moderate media didn't address it. But if someone of this district had been on their first few sips of coffee. They would have been aware the accusation was false. He will repeal Obamacare. He will cut taxes that will create jobs because government cannot create jobs and needs to get out of the way. But this is an AG state and Government is AG Welfare that is never to be spoken of.
Yes, an outpost far away from the Corn field Resistance Central Command. Reports intel that the unpopulated farmland Trump voters actually begin to itch and want these town halls.
Seems the farmers and ranchers woke up from their november ( I won) hangover with aching parts all over their skulls.
Looking for that Waco Juice to cure the hangover reality.
Farmers and Ranchers are concerned about their workers getting deported. They meant deport those other illegals not their low wage workers they depend on? That shaking up the liberals and punishing them with blowing up NAFTA and relationship with Ole Mexico would mean drastic declines in sales of the AG products.
They seem to have expected Trump to already appoint "anything for Ag", guy to head AG. Not a Wall Street city slicker. As the itching gets worse. They are now scratching and spreading the irritant to find themselves scratching more. Calamine Lotion doesn't seem to sooth this weedy growth bearing down on them.
They thought they were voting to punish liberals, big city welfare LGBT Queens. Even those illegal Mexican Muslim gang bangers who shot up a perfectly good historic church in South Carolina. Getting rid of the termites that inhabited the Church.

So I speculate with confidence that the Rodney Davis virus is legion and had already came to an Congressional office near you.

Guess there were more reasons HW Bush's young VP (the future) was so obsessed negatively over the Murphy Brown TV show during that era. Not just the single mom in the workforce Christian Conservative condemning for that portrayal of such a mom having any success in life. How did the GOP portray it?
Liberals celebrating sin? The liberal immorality of secularism?.

Are these part of the good old days the GOP pine for?

Unknown said...

I too loved the Murphy Brown clip. Funny and prescient, plus Shawn Wallace has always been a favorite of mine.