Rep. Joe Walsh: hypocrite par excellence

Let us begin with the acknowledgement that tea-party Republicans disgust me. In that light, gentle readers will understand my delight in my new hero, television host and political commentator Lawrence O’Donnell who last night took one of the proud tea party Republican non-compromisers to task for flagrant hypocrisy.

Let it first be said that I confess to being imperfect and I typically do not gloat over another’s being hoist by his own petard, but in this case, the hubris of Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) begs smug satisfaction, and I am proud to confess to it.

In his July 30 telecast, Mr. O’Donnell played several clips of Mr. Walsh being what I would characterize as smug and overbearing. The third of these clips showed the Congressman staring intently into the camera and, justifying his tea-party resistance to raising the debt ceiling to carefully enunciating he refuses to “place one more dollar of debt on the backs of my kids.”

Mr. O’Donnell used the occasion not only to make a clear point, but also to send a warning shot across the bow of those who invoke the name of “children” to validate an unpopular position. Mr. Lawrence built slowly toward the climax:

“Once you start using your children as exhibits” he said “….once you start talking about the financial burdens they will face in the future….” you have opened the door to fair questions about burdens they face now. With that, Mr. O’Donnell revealed that Mr. Walsh owes $117, 347, several years of child support, to the mother of his first three children. He owes that money, despite having $35,000 to lend his own political campaign or having the wherewithal to take vacations to Mexico and Italy with his girlfriend in 2004, while refusing to pay child support, or any share of medical costs or educational expenses.

“It is time to deny deadbeat dad Joe Walsh some advantages,” Mr. O’Donnell concluded. “In order to teach deadbeat dad Joe Walsh a lesson about family values, yes, the very same family values that so many Republicans try to exploit politically while failing to come close to living up to them in their own lives, deadbeat dad Joe Walsh is hereby banned from this program. He can go tell his lies about his family values and his sense of fiscal responsibility elsewhere.

“I can only hope that a ban on deadbeat dad politicians who lie about their family values will extend to all political television programs on all networks…..

“If you want to hear the political ravings of deadbeat dad Joe Walsh, you will have to go elsewhere.”

Mr. O’Donnell said that he would welcome back this “no compromise father” when he has honored his obligation to pay child support for his fist three children.

For this action, we are proud to award the first Clive award for making my day to Lawrence O’Donnell.

See the video at http://www.mediaite.com/tv/lawrence-odonnell-bans-tea-party-rep-joe-walsh-from-show-for-being-a-deadbeat-dad