QUOTE OF THE DAY…. The bad news is, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) was elected and will have a voice in shaping federal law in the United States for the next two years. The good news is, as one of Congress’ most ridiculous members, he’s very likely to offer quite a bit of fodder for blog posts.
Take this week, for example. West told a radio audience that U.S. officials “should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled” WikiLeaks, and that such media outlets were “aiding and abetting” a “crime.” It’s not common for elected lawmakers to call for the “censoring” of major media outlets — especially when the lawmaker characterizes himself as a “constitutional conservative” — but West’s extremism is almost limitless.
After this generated some attention, West responded, not with an apology, but by claiming he was misunderstood.
On his Facebook page, West responded with a note claiming that he never called for censoring the media. “I am heard on the African-American Conservative Radio Show saying the media should be censured- meaning ‘harshly criticized,’” wrote West.
So, West would have us believe he said U.S. officials should be “censuring” American news organizations, not “censoring.”
In addition to the fact that this doesn’t really make sense, there’s the inconvenient fact that the audio of his remarks has been published online. Listeners are free, of course, to draw their own conclusions, but I think most reasonable people would agree he said “censoring.”
Stepping back, though, what I find interesting is that West felt compelled to lie. Part of me just assumed he’d stick with his anti-First Amendment line and take the heat. It’s not like he and his supporters really care that much about constitutional principles anyway.
Steve M. added, “I’ve listened to the clip a few times, Mr. West. You did say ‘censor.’ You know you did. You know you used the word. Now be a man and own up to it.”
