October 28, 2008
D.C.'s New Congressional Hero: Rep. Don Young
We thought that it would be close to impossible to dethrone Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.) as the District's King of Hearts, for having said the scummiest thing related to D.C.'s non-voting status in Congress that we had ever heard. But ladies and gentlemen, we were wrong. Meet the new King: Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska).
Young gave the following reaction to Anchorage Daily News reporter Lisa Demer upon hearing about his colleague Sen. Ted Stevens' conviction on seven felony counts for lying about receiving $250,000 in gifts:
"You have to understand that this was not a jury of his peers. It was in Washington, D.C. , which most people in Washington, D.C., don't look very favorably on the Congress because we run them. I don't know why anybody didn't bring that out. They're not a self-governing city like they say they are. We actually make decisions for them. Makes us very, very suspicious."Allow DCist to thank you, Rep. Young, on behalf of all D.C. residents for taking the time to let us know that we're petulant, ungrateful subjects. We're so glad someone of your level of moral superiority is here to tell us just where we stand in the eyes of the U.S. Congress. It's not like you're also under federal investigation over your ties to Bill Allen and VECO Corp. or anything. You're absolutely in a position to tell us who is capable of making an impartial verdict in the Stevens case, and we are not. Thanks for clearing that up.
Ahem.
Imagine the gall of this guy. Here he is, under federal investigation, part of what appears to be the most corrupt congressional delegation in history, and he's throwing mud at the 600,000 disenfranchised residents of the District of Columbia. Oh, and surprise, surprise, guess who voted against the D.C. Voting Rights Act? Rep. Don Young.
And we're sure Mayor Fenty and the D.C. Council would love to hear more about how they don't actually make any decisions for their city. Not to say that we wouldn't love to see the Home Rule charter finally fixed so that we have complete budget autonomy, but still.
If for some reason Young manages to defeat Democratic opponent Ethan Berkowitz in next week's election, we're sure you'll all find his office's contact information useful. Naturally, Young will want to help improve the reputation of Congress among District residents by performing a few thousand constituent services tasks for us before he's brought to trial himself. And besides, Young said it: he rules us. Stuff like potholes and broken street lamps in the District obviously need the steady hand of the Alaska congressman.
Office of Rep. Don Young
2111 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5765
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A politician makes a stupid comment?! Stop the presses!
*yawn*
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A veritable Douchebag for Liberty, it seems.
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Stevens had the right to a bench trial if he deems us unworthy of being his peers.
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I'm starting to think I'm with First Dude Palin on this whole "Alaska independence" thing.
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He's right. I f*cking hate d-bags like him and Uncle Ted - I resent the fact that they're my colonial masters, and feel no shame about it.
On the other hand, I recently served on a jury at the very same court where Uncle Ted was tried and convicted, and it was as impartial and responsible a group of citizens as you could hope to find to decide a case.
So guess what? Now I hate Don Young even more.
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Don Young is right. There's a reason DOJ filed the Ted Stevens case in DC and the William Jefferson case in Virginia. DOJ wants a conviction in the most favorable venue.
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Have you ever seen a jury in DC? I served on one in Superior Court for 6 weeks and I can tell you Stevens was judged by a jury of his peers; they're all made up of old people.
One woman was so confused she couldn't find her way out of the jury box. So yeah, it sounds about right for Ted the Tubes Stevens.
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god, i want to call his office so badly, but i just don't know what to say. anyone have some good ideas here? i'd really like to talk to papa young about getting the bike lanes finished on 14th street, but i wonder if he's ever left the 3 blocks around the capitol other than to drive to virginia.
snooze-tag!
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Phoooooooot! You Hill People are nothing but a stinking pile of nepotized scoundrels!
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Suddenly I feel compelled to contribute to Young's opponent... Ethan Berkowitz, who evidently isn't doing half bad against Rep. douchebag.
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Do something about it. Donate to Ethan Berkowitz:
http://www.actblue.com/page/dumpdonyoung
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I honestly can't believe that race is even CLOSE.
I'm guessing the projections will change after word spreads a little more of the guilty charge for T.Stevens. Keeping an old bag like this as a rep of Alaska is just trouble.
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IMGoph, since he said "we actually make decisions for them," I think you would call his office for input on every single decision you need to make for a day: what color socks to wear, tuna melt or ham & swiss for lunch, trenchcoat or windbreaker, carry and umbrella or no.... - heaven knows you can't be trusted with decisions, so Let Don Do It!
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I like this part best:
"[M]ost people in Washington, D.C., don't look very favorably on the Congress because we run them."
Translation:
"most people in Washington D.C. don't look very favorably on the Congress because we run them (AND WE DO A CRAP JOB OF IT)."
Stop messing with our local decisions every once in awhile just to make some asinine political point, give us a vote, and we promise, Congress, we'll be your BFF.
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Yeah that's ridiculous. A DC jury isn't predisposed against all congressmen, they're predisposed against all republicans. And come January, there's not going to be very many of those left around here, so what's the big deal?
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I'm glad to hear someone is running DC. Half the time it looks like no one is.
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So, what are the odds on Young staying in the area to work for a local lobby or policy shop if he loses the election, rather than going back to Alaska? I'd say better than 50/50.
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I agree.
50 percent chance he stays in D.C.
50 percent chance he moves to a country that doesn’t extradite.
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I think y'all are missing the point. Alaska was granted statehood as a compromise and has been a failure since: residents still paid to live there (Alaska Permanent Fund), highest per capita federal spending, corrupt leadership, wanting to drill in ANWR when oil was at $35/barrel, etc. Now if DC were granted statehood, we're likely to make the same mistakes. Just put the words 'US Senator' in front of any given council member and climb aboard the fail bus. But the point is, we never got ours. So eff you and your patchy beard.
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Hawaii gets a free pass; Magnum PI was the greatest show created .. by humans.
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Is it a requirement that to hold political office in Alaska you must be a criminal Republican dumbass?
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i think bethesdaist has a point, despite actually being represented. i wonder what it would do if we all called their office just once a day asking what to have for lunch, or if you can wear blue socks with brown shoes, or why Alaskans seem to have a big ole hard on for corrupt, foolish, right wing nuts. probably nothing, but at least it might irritate him the way he irritates us.
vote AIP!!! and heres an idea, maybe since were having people rule us from Russia's backyard, maybe we can rule them. DC voting rights in Alaska! then we can vote them out of the union and take their place as state 50. after all, their whole damn state only has 100k more people than the district, and they get paid to live there.
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"It was in Washington, D.C. , which most people in Washington, D.C., don't look very favorably on the Congress because we run them."
To semi-quote Val Kilmer-
The residents of the District of Columbia are not stock-cars, nobody 'runs' them.
Apologies to any and all stock-cars I might have overlooked.
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does anyone else think that there's a bit of a racial undertone in this, or am i just looking to stir up shit where nothing exists?
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IMGoph: I'd lean towards the latter. I see where you're coming from, and I think I'd agree if all Young had said was "This wasn't a jury of his peers". But I think the argument he is making is clearly not racially based, but based on the disenfranchisement of DC citizens.
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"Hawaii gets a free pass; Magnum PI was the greatest show created .. by humans."
It was everybody's dream - live for free on a lush waterfront estate with a pissy caretaker there for comic relief.
I'm not sure but I think that's the thinking man's conceptual heaven.