I didn’t intend to return to the subject, but Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) keeps pushing the envelope, and it’s hard to turn away.
To briefly recap, on Tuesday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) criticized West for supporting a radical House budget plan that would require deep Medicare cuts. This led West to have something of a breakdown, writing her an email calling the DNC chair “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives.” Allen added that he would “defend” himself against her “heinous characterless behavior,” concluding that Wasserman Schultz is “not a lady.”
Allen’s over-the-top fury caused a stir yesterday, complicated by the fact that he apparently lied to a reporter about apologizing to the congresswoman.
Last night, the right-wing lawmaker appeared on Mark Levin’s radio show to offer his big-picture analysis.
“Well the thing is when you look at myself, or even think about what Jon Stewart said about Herman Cain — you know, the remark about how he doesn’t want to read — people who are black conservatives,” said West, referring to Stewart’s jokes about Cain’s declaration that he would only allow Congressional bills to be up to three pages in length (Cain later said that this was an exaggeration, not an “absolute promise.)
“I grew up in the inner city, strong values, came from a strong military family and background,” West continues. “What we do is we totally invalidate the liberal social welfare policies and programs. And you know, I’m the threat because I’m the guy that got off their 21st-century plantation, and they cannot afford to have a strong voice such as mine out there, reverberating and resonating across this country.”
So, a Democrat criticized West for wanting to cut Medicare. West lost his cool. Democrats criticized him for losing his cool. And this is all the result of some perceived racial conflict?
This morning on Fox Business, West said his excessive rhetoric is the result of his military service.
This guy is deeply strange.
Also note, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee* began using West’s outburst for fundraising yesterday, which in turn led West to begin his own fundraising campaign, urging GOP donors to help him defend himself against the DNC’s “vicious attack.”
* Correction: I’d originally said the DNC was doing the fundraising. It’s actually the DCCC.
