Uncategorized

Joe Barton Was Right, He Still Thinks (Or At Least His Staff Does) UPDATED

By Michael Scherer | @michaelscherer | June 23, 2010 | +

The gift that keeps on giving for Democrats: As Dave Weigel reports, Barton offered the following tweet just hours after getting news that he would not be stripped of his ranking status on the House Energy Committee.

joebarton.jpg

Now the DNC can spend the rest of the day emailing this news to reporters, supporters and fundraisers.

UPDATE: Indeed, just as I pressed publish on this post, I got an email from Brad Woodhouse at the DNC, written to look like a message to Hari Sevugan, another DNC press official. The subject line is, “Hari–this is mind boggling!!”  They are predictably thrilled. The email continues:

We should flag for reporters. Joe Barton’s apology for his apology to BP was bunk!  He’s really gotten one over on the GOP leadership, huh? (not that they don’t feel the same way, of course).

UPDATE 2: The Barton post has, apparently, been deleted. According to Weigel, the original link in the tweet was to an American Spectator article called, “Joe Barton Was Right.”

UPDATE 3: Joe Barton’s communication’s director, Sean Brown, emails me to explain that Rep. Barton did not know about the tweet when it was posted. This was, apparently, all staff work. Writes Brown:

Since you wrote a blog about it today and have updated it several times…I wanted to let you know…I did it! Without thinking about it much, I added a headline from one of the daily news clips to a website that is, in turn, linked to the congressman’s Twitter account. Mr. Barton was not aware of the Tweet…

Now I will just sit here and wait for the next DNC email or 15 with this news. (Seriously Brad and Hari, is there no limit to how many times you can hit send?)

Related Topics: dnc, Joe Barton, Uncategorized

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  • allthingsinaname

    How timely, now that well is in full leak mode again! When will the GOP ever be held accountable?

  • http://forgottenlord.livejournal.com forgottenlord

    If the President goes to another country and negotiates with the leader for some treaty or another for the betterment of the country, they call it doing his job. If the President goes to congress and negotiates for some piece of legislation for the betterment of the country, they call it doing his job. If the President goes to a corporation and negotiates for something that’s for the betterment of the country, they call it a shakedown

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    Why is the GOP pretending they are not the handmaiden of corporations? I thought they were proud of that fact, because gov’t is evil? They brag about it, don’t they? Barton is simply an analogue of the whole movement, the anti-gov’t regulation party.

  • apollyon07

    Here’s a guy that makes me want to bang my head against a wall over and over. What an embarrassment to the state of Texas and the rest of the country!

  • textee

    “Now the DNC can spend the rest of the day emailing this news to reporters, supporters and fundraisers.”

    Um, “reporters, supporters and fundraisers” is grossly redundant.

    “Reporters” are the DNC’s chief, most loyal, most virulent, most militant and most loony supporters and fundraisers.

    Try: “Now the DNC can spend the rest of the day emailing this so-called ‘news’ to reporters (i.e., the DNC’s chief, most loyal, most virulent and most loony supporters and fundraisers.) The end.

  • constantweader

    How many flips can a flip-flop flap? Okay. First Barton apologized to BP, then he apologized for apologizing, then he tweeted he had nothing to apologize for, then he un-tweeted he had nothing to apologize for. So I guess the apology for the apology stands. For now.

    And this guy a shoo-in to be re-elected, probably with lots of Tea Party backers. Anybody wonder why government doesn’t work?

    The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com

  • http://phd9.blogspot.com Paul Dirks
  • nflfoghorn

    As stupid as Barton is, I’m with him 100% RE the need for a college football playoff.

  • grape_crush

    Why is the GOP pretending they are not the handmaiden of corporations?

    For votes in November. To be fair, there are too many Dems with similar attitudes.

    I thought they were proud of that fact, because gov’t is evil?

    Correction: they think any government that doesn’t have them in charge is evil.

    …

    The big picture is this: The GOP knows that changing demographics and its own self-marginalization is limiting its appeal…to compensate, they have to have massive amounts of money to spend in order to influence the narrative in their direction. That’s gonna come from big business.

    It looks schizophrenic, the GOP having one foot on each side of the fence; kowtowing to business interests while professing their empathy to average America…It shouldn’t work…but a generally cowed, dumb, and distracted media coupled with three decades’ promotion of ‘conservative good-liberal bad’ nonsense has made this mass example of cognitive dissonance possible.

  • m0mentom0ri

    I envision textee, tearfully looking into his webcam, sobbing “Leave BP alooooooooone!”

  • acameronw

    Textee,

    Thank you for pointing out the pro-Democratic bias of reporters. (Sure explains how George Bush was elected twice, doesn’t it? I guess Karl Rove was just too clever for them.)

    Now, can you cite at least one example of how the Joe Barton Corporate Tool Extravaganza has been distorted or misrepresented by the reporters you’re accusing of bias?

  • 53_3
  • 53_3

    Textee:
    .
    Do you mind?
    .
    At least give us a chance to thoroughly kick your arse before you do it yourself.
    .
    Why should you have all the fun…

  • Alex Vallas

    The GOP sure has a lot of weirdos. Barton is just one of them. Think: the obstructionist team of McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor leading the way. Then we have Sourth Carolina (very long list …………..) .Brad Paul, Rush (mega weird), Beck (super weird cry baby) Coulter (androgenous loud mouth) Rove (should be in jail for outing one of our spies) Dumb, Dumb and Dumber Palin (how could anyone be so stupid and get so much attention?) The lying Cheneys, O’Reilly, and numerous others. Today, Cantor said the President should consider keeping General McChrystal. I guess so the President can look weak and strenghen the GOP. The sad thing is that so many place party above country. Of course priority #1 is self preservation. Disgusting.

  • http://derekg.wordpress.com/ Derek

    “”Why is the GOP pretending they are not the handmaiden of corporations?”"
    .
    “For votes in November. To be fair, there are too many Dems with similar attitudes.”
    .
    Agreed.
    .
    “”I thought they were proud of that fact, because gov’t is evil?”"
    .
    “Correction: they think any government that doesn’t have them in charge is evil.”
    .
    The way they put partisan hacks into important positions, when in power, makes me think they don’t like gov’t even when they are in control. They certainly don’t like competent gov’t.

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