From the AP:
Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana says he supports conservative organizations challenging President Barack Obama's citizenship in court.
Vitter, who is running for re-election, made the comments at a town hall-style event in Metairie, La., on Sunday when a constituent asked what he would do about what the questioner said was Obama's "refusal to produce a valid birth certificate."
Such claims about Obama's birth certificate have been discredited. But with the crowd applauding the question, Vitter responded that although he doesn't personally have legal standing to bring litigation, he supports "conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court," according to a video of the event.
"I think that is the valid and most possibly effective grounds to do it," Vitter said, although he later cautioned that the matter could distract from policy issues.
"I think if we focus on that issue and let our eye off the ball ... I think that's a big mistake," he said. "I'm not dismissing any of this. I think first and foremost, we need to fight the Obama agenda at the ballot box starting this fall."
If the crowd applauds, you go with the crowd, right? But not to the point of actually joining the legal battle, because perhaps, Sen. Vitter, you really do understand that the claims have no legal standing.
Howevah! You may want to reconsider whether it might be a good thing if your constituents focus on the matter of Obama's birth certificate, because it may distract them from the little matter of your retaining a staff member for two years after knowing that he held his girl friend captive and slashed her with a knife. Think about it. That's the ball that you don't want your constituents to have their collective eye on.
There's no mention in the article of any attendees at the town meeting questioning Vitter about the little matter, but perhaps only loyalists were allowed in. In any case, Metairie is one of the bastions of Vitter's support.
H/T to Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly and to Lapin for the link.
Believe Metairie first came to my attention as David Duke's home territory. If so, it's running true to form.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that was Duke's territory, too. I remember the year of the bumper stickers that said, "VOTE FOR THE CROOK".
ReplyDeleteAs long as no one involved is gay, then I'm all for it!
ReplyDelete/snark
wv=frosts Mr. Vitter's lifestyle really frosts my chaps.
Yes, that's what counts, Padre.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your chaps.
I sometimes wonder, though, Mimi, if constituents who are silly enough to applaud the question of Obama's birth certificate really care or grasp the point of the issue of the staff member who assaulted his girlfriend. When people are that partisan they tend to be very selective about what they think matters.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I don't understand. Vitter seems to have a kind of immunity. The slings and arrows bounce off as though he was wearing armor - to mix the metaphors.
ReplyDeleteJust so he spouts the conservative talking points and votes right, according to the non-thinking people of Louisiana, the dirt doesn't count.
Vitter looks like a drunk in every photo I've ever seen of him.
ReplyDeleteJust saying, maybe that's the way Republicans numb themselves to what they're saying.
He's drunk on Republicanism. It's not good for the health, you know.
ReplyDeleteI admit that I choose the least flattering photos of Vitter and Guvna Jindal.
ReplyDeleteYa think, David G.?
Which ball does he have his eye on? I don't meant to be crude ... but I'd say it's more than likely two. It seems to me that Vitter looks out for himself first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking twice before it click "publish your comment" -- I mean we are Episcopalians -- but what the heck ... I'm running with it as written.
A little crude is OK, Robert. When I wrote the headline, I knew it was risky business. :-)
ReplyDelete