Partisan Gridlock

Politics, religion, society. Liberally, with Geoff Berg.

Allen West unable to formulate argument suitable for internet commentary


The standard for commenting on the internet is very low. I get a lot of email from people demanding to know why I haven’t approved what they had to say in response to one post or another. I usually direct them to this blog’s comment policy, which offers general guidance about what kinds of comments are and are not likely to be approved:


For example, “Kevin” remarked in response to one post:

You are a shrill, mindless, demogogue [sic].  Glad I don’t have to spend time with you, and I feel sorry for your acquantances [sic].

True though Kevin’s observation may have been, it didn’t have much to do with a comparison between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama’s tax policies, which happened to be what the post was about. Since it added nothing to the debate and reflected only the commenter’s frustration at his apparent inability to formulate a substantive counterargument, it wasn’t approved.

Anyone who moderates a blog spends time deleting yawn-inducing, poorly spelled personal attacks. Not only does it get boring, it teaches you a lesson you never really wanted to learn: There are a lot of people without the wherewithal to say much other than “you’re stupid.” Sometimes, maybe most of the time, that’s what you expect from the internet.

Thanks to freshman tea party Republican Allen West, we can expect it from Congress too. Yesterday West got all twisted out of shape because of what his colleague, Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz (who represents West because he lives in her district, not his own) said on the House floor. She pointed out that West, like virtually all of his House Republican colleagues, wants to do away with Medicare as we know it:

Apparently unable to figure out a substantive way to respond, West sent Wasserman Schultz an email in which he called her the “most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the US House of Representatives.” He ended by saying she was “not a Lady.”

What her gender has to do with anything is not clear, except that even before reaching Congress, West distinguished himself by saying that liberal women were “neutering” American men, and that caused the debt to grow.

So congratulations, Representative West. You aren’t qualified to post comments on a blog. Enjoy your time in Congress.

Categories: General
Geoff Berg

4 Responses

  1. BigWilly says:

    Remarks like West’s tell me there is a substantive output problem with American culture and it’s not simply political culture because the political culture occurs within the context of the larger culture.

    I guess when you attempt to exculturate concepts such as temperance and moderation and encourage aggressiveness and competition in their place you get what we got.

    When I was active in the Party I found that over time my conception of etiquette evolved as I interacted with other Party members, so much so that eventually I left the Party because I found them to be morally repulsive.

    Which is why, of late, I’ve been favoring my left.

  2. Cecil says:

    I don’t know who said what about whom or why, but I agree that Wasserman has often been vile and unprofessional in her remarks on the floor about colleagues and to the press about conservatives in general. There are other adjectives that would also be appropriate.

    Gender is not an issue. As a member of the Congress, men are expected to act like gentlemen and ladys are supposed to be lady like.

    She doesn’t like him and he doesn’t like her. So they say unkind things about each other. In truth it doesn’t amount to much, and I don’t think very many people actually care, but you never miss an opportunity to repeat liberal talking points (oops, hope I don’t get censored).

  3. lab-handler says:

    I think he summed her up rather accurately. Now that Weiner is gone, she represents liberal democrats the way most of them are. Not much good anyone can say about that woman.

    • Congressman West’s email comments were for show, to give evidence of his virility. He just can’t tolerate the verbal emasculation from an articulate female Democrat. A common problem for those of his following. As a military officer he was was automatically assumed to be a gentleman. Perhaps too much was made of that assumption. I certainly see no evidence of it.