Scalise, Bipartisan? Puh-lease!

Did Appointed Congressman Steve Scalise really just claim to have had a record of working across party lines?

Yes, it looks like he did.

The claim couldn't be further from the truth as Steve Scalise has been amongst the most partisan in Congress.

It's an interesting tactic for someone running in what is supposed to be one of the nation's reddest Congressional districts. Would Congressman Scalise like to back up his claims of reasonable moderation by, I don't know, rejecting and repudiating the endorsement of racist State Rep. John LaBruzzo? Rep. LaBruzzo proposed a revolting and roundly-rejected eugenics program a month ago.

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Wait, a minute...

Where's that link I like to use?

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One of these lists of Steve Scalise endorsers doesn't look like the other. This is a screen shot from October 6th. And here is the same site in its current form.

What was the catalyst for the removal of Rep. LaBruzzo's name? Why did it take a whole month for Congressman Scalise to do so? Does he wish to explain why he made such a decision?

Repeated calls to the Congressman's campaign office have not been returned.
I will be happy to let them speak for themselves in this space if they'd decide to get back to me.

Ditto Rep. LaBruzzo's office, who has not returned an email seeking comment. He may not yet know of the slight from Scalise.

Because there seems to be no official explanation for the removal, I feel it reasonable to infer that the campaign is trying to have it both ways. By removing the endorsement, the Scalise team may be hoping to deprive Jim Harlan of a potential rallying point, given that the LaBruzzo eugenics plan became a point of national embarrassment. Yet by doing so in the quietest way possible, Scalise may be betting word does not spread his racist base of Jefferson Parish GOP stalwarts.

It's also fascinating that Scalise kept the endorsement from LaBruzzo online for quite some time even after LaBruzzo had been stripped of his post on the health committee (by a Republican) and was mostly thrown under the bus by the vast majority of his party's leadership, including Governor Jindal.

Only now, after those darn local bloggers kept hammering him on it, has Scalise made an unannounced adjustment.

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Maybe my friends working in the mainstream media will have better luck getting their phone calls returned.

And once again, my offer for uninterrupted space for comment from either Congressman Scalise or Representative LaBruzzo stands.

Ditto for Jim Harlan, if he'd like to comment.

Why not?

Disgraced LaBruzzo Stripped of Committee Chair, Scalise Still Proud To Call Him A Supporter

From the T-P:

In making the change, House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, said the Legislature "will undertake the enormous and difficult task of reforming health care in Louisiana in the next several months. Some of the comments made by Rep. LaBruzzo recently have impeded his abilities to help lead critical health-care reform and be an effective member of our leadership team."

See, even the GOP reason for the removal was indeed his Nazi-esque eugenics proposal. They didn't even do him the charity of allowing him to "step down" on his own cliche desire to spend more time with his family or work on other projects. And it would appear that the move came as much as a result of the request of the Jindal administration as it did the Legislative Black Caucus. This might be the only time I applaud anything to come out of Jindal chief of staff Timmy Teepell's mouth:

“We have a lot of important work to do and it (LaBruzzo’s idea) was a distraction,” said Teepell, who said he had talked to Tucker about the situation last week.

Asked whether he sought LaBruzzo’s ouster, Teepell said, “I’m not going to go into details of a private conversation.”

Teepell earlier said LaBruzzo’s sterilization idea was “a non-starter” and “absurd.”

So it would appear that the state of Louisiana might be demonstrating some basic maturity here. It is now absolute consensus that John LaBruzzo's eugenics bill represents an embarrassment to the entire body politic.

Well...

Actually there's one high level conservative leader in the state of Louisiana who has maintained an eerie silence about the whole thing.

His name is Steve Scalise and he's running for reelection to Congress. In what is amongst the most conservative districts in the country, a supposed cakewalk for an incumbent Republican, Steve Scalise is bleeding in the polls against the uber-qualified Jim Harlan. He's also struggling badly in terms of campaign cash, which is why he was forced to hold a swanky downtown fundraiser with the Walking Undisclosed Location.

John LaBruzzo has already given Scalise close to $1000 for this election cycle and the Congressman continues to tout Rep. LaBruzzo's endorsement on his campaign website.

Steve Scalise the man would, I'm so sure, ordinarily have no issues with denouncing eugenics and racism. But this year, Steve Scalise the failed Congressman and flailing candidate literally can't afford to send back LaBruzzo's checks. Perhaps more despicably, neither can Scalise afford to alienate his racist electoral base.

The Sleaze Rubs Elbows With The Most Dangerous Man in America

Remember that time a major Hurricane devastated Steve Scalise's community and the Vice President spent the whole time on vacation in Wyoming and house shopping on the Chesapeake and then manipulated a tax loophole created to encourage donations to Katrina relief charities to lower his own personal obligation to fund the troops even though his contributions went to non-Katrina causes?

Water under the bridge, apparently!

Today, future ex-congressman Steve "the sleaze" Scalise held a private fundraising lunch at one of the city's most exclusive restaurants. A thousand bucks to get in, $2,300 to take a picture. No media allowed.

Was eugenics proponent and prominent Scalise-backer John LaBruzzo there too?

Steve the Sleaze STILL Touting Racist's Support, Now Touting Traitor's Support

Steve Scalise is in such big trouble in his District 01 race out in Jefferson Parish that he can't afford to alienate the white supremacist vote by ditching eugenics proponent John LaBruzzo's endorsement.

UPDATE:

Now Steve Scalise is celebrating the arrival of the most dangerous Vice President since Aaron Burr. That's right, Dick Cheney is coming to help raise money for Steve the Sleaze.

Dick Cheney of course is as close to a treason indictment as he is to being vindicated by history.

I know Jefferson Parish is conservative but there's not a place in America where Dick Cheney's popularity endures. He's poison.

Get into the Details?

I don't want to dwell on LaBruzzo for ever and ever. His shocking and abhorrent proposal is not something I want to continue to talk about. It discriminates based on race, class, and sex both in theory and in practice. It is hateful in every respect. It is also impractical and stupid from the get-go. As the Times-Picayune pointed out today, welfare expenditures actually represent an almost insignificant portion of the budget. LaBruzzo's proposal is a typical racist's attempt to deflect criticism of the excesses of the wealthy onto minorities.

Eugenics is pure evil. Period. LaBruzzo can never recover from this ever. He's finished in my book. Finished!

The controversy does remain of critical relevance.

Why?

Because look who else has exposed themselves to be racist:

(Excerpted from today's T-P)

Some of LaBruzzo's political backers, meanwhile, responded cautiously to his controversial pronouncements.

"It definitely caught me by surprise," said lawyer James Garvey, a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. He has given $1,000 to LaBruzzo's campaign treasury. "I guess I would say that Johnny is a really good guy and really bright guy and that he comes up with ideas that have not been thought of by many other people. Some are good. Some are bad."

Garvey said he had not given LaBruzzo's sterilization idea enough thought to take a position on it. "This might turn out to be a horrible idea," he said, "but you can't get his good ideas without getting some of his off-the-wall ideas."

Real estate developer Henry Shane, who has given LaBruzzo $2,000, also was noncommittal, saying he has not digested the proposal or talked to LaBruzzo about it.

"I'd have to know what he is actually proposing," Shane said. "It sounds like it might be unusual, but when you get into the details of it, it may make sense."

WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There is no due diligence here. When someone proposes genocide through sterilization you condemn it automatically. There's no 'oh well he's a great guy, there might be something good in here' or 'yeah you know I'm not ready to take a position until I see the proposal.' THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST RACIST BILLS ANYONE COULD EVER PROPOSE. EVER.

James Garvey is on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and may soon rubber stamp a proposal that closes New Orleans public schools. Do you think he cares about the public education of the poor minority children of Orleans? Sounds to me like he wants them to have never been born. If James Garvey is the type of guy to take a pro-eugenics bill 'under advisement,' he has no business being in government, let alone on a board with jurisdiction over the lives of children.

This petition prevents the BESE board from rubber stamping the master plan until Orleans Parish voters get their say through a new school board. You should probably sign it, unless you're a soulless fool that thinks eugenics bills should be entertained.

This other guy, Henry Shane, whoever he is (a big Vitter-booster), also appears to be a flaming racist. He's suggesting that LaBruzzo's eugenics proposal might "make sense" if us crazies only took the time to look at the details.

Beyond that, we see that Congressman Steve Scalise continues to tout the endorsement he got from LaHitler on his website. I'd love to know what Mr. "the Sleaze" has to say about his friend's proposal. Until he repudiates it publicly, rejects and denounces LaHitler's endorsement, and returns any and all money LaHitler helped raise, I'll just have to go ahead an assume that Scalise is a white supremacist too. We're 48 hours and counting. Anything to say Scasleaze?

Perhaps Mr. Scalise is worried about alienating his base, the racists of Jefferson Parish. He has a difficult political calculation to make because he needs strong racist turnout if he's to retain his seat against the surging Jim Harlan, who not only rejects and denounces 19th century white supremacist philosophies like eugenics, but has a bold plan to move forward on coastal restoration. I fully expect that Mr. Harlan will have no problem pointing out this key difference with his opponent.

Mr. Harlan is closing the gap toward single digits! Prove reasonable people wrong, Jefferson Parish. Vote against politicians like Steve Scalise and his white supremacist friend, Eugenicsathan LaGenocide.

Ashamed

I don't even know where to begin on State Rep. John LaBruzzo, Republican from Metairie. If you think you can stomach some really 19th century craziness, go take a look at the filth Jeffrey has brought to our attention.

Eugenics? In 2008?

LaBruzzo is basically trying to come up with a "solution" to the "problem" that "nobody's talking about," which is that there won't be a white majority forever and ever.

Now, as of 1:16 AM on Wednesday morning, Rep. Steve Scalise is still touting State Rep. LaBruzzo's endorsement on his website, which is indicative of why I'm endorsing Jim Harlan for Steve the Sleaze's seat in US Congress.

Look, we all know that Jefferson Parish is one of the most racist places in America and that the Republican Party there is spawn of white supremicist social networks. State Rep. Labruzzo is merely carrying the mantle that David Duke once did when he represented that very same district in the Louisiana legislature. It's disturbing to think about but it's 100% true.

It's hard to believe that this disgusting creature holds a leadership position. Way to stay in the news there, guy. I'm ashamed to live in the same galaxy as you.

UPDATE: It's 5pm Wednesday evening and Steve Scalise still touts Rep. LaRacist's endorsement.