Thursday, February 5, 2009
Politics / Woods Cooper Finds New Ways to Piss Off Everyone
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 5:55 AM
On Liberadio! Cooper pissed off the White House by claiming administration officials quietly encouraged him to speak out against the bill. Then he angered congressional leaders by calling them "old bulls" and saying "they don't care what's in the bill."
"They just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous. They don't mind the partisan fighting cause that's what they are used to. In fact, they're really good at it. And they're a little bit worried about what a post-partisan future might look like. If members actually had to read the bills and figure out whether they are any good or not. We're just told how to vote. We're treated like mushrooms most of the time."
Yesterday, Cooper had to put out a statement of clarification, but he didn't entirely recant, as Politico points out.
All of which reminds me just how two-faced Cooper has always been. In 1994, when Cooper was running for the Senate, Bill Clinton was the president and wildly unpopular in Tennessee. Across the state, Cooper made a point of painting himself as a maverick, desperately distancing himself from the president. But then one evening, I watched Cooper give an interview on a black radio station in Nashville. Clinton remained very popular with blacks, if no one else, and Cooper told listeners, "I have voted with President Clinton 90 percent of the time."
It was an audacious display of hypocrisy. Cooper plays the upright guardian of the public interest but he's no different than most politicians, just a lot squirrelier. A big phony, he tailors what he says to suit his audience. That's what he's doing here. He wants to oppose wasteful spending, but he doesn't want to buck the popular new president. He's not agile enough to walk that tightrope.
Update: The idea of Cooper at HHS "is only slightly less ludicrous than the silly idea of Newt Gingrich in the job." Update II: More from Politico.
Comments (4)
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Okay, I know I'm just a girl and all, but what does "Every time he opens his mouth, he steps on his dick." even mean? Are you trying to insinuate that, even though he's a doofus, he has an unnaturally large penis or, he's a doofus with extraordinarily short legs who trips over his own dick like most people trip over their feet?
Don't get me wrong. I laughed when I read it, but I'm not sure it's an insult. He should be so lucky to have a future in porn.
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When I wrote him asking that he vote against the other "government giveaway" his return letter basically said.. We up here on the hill know much more that you citizens.. I think he is pompous ass, and like all the other politicians, doesn't have a clue about how the normal citizen lives.
Think of "stepping on his dick" like stepping on his foot – only with a little more zip.
Cooper was bluest of blue in his earlier incarnation as the representative of 4th. He liberaled up when setting his sights on Clement's spot.
His support of the President early on was more an ABC vote than a prObama.
Still, he is a fellow alum and I must support him till the end. It says so on our diplomas. Really.
