It has often been said that watching laws being made is like watching sausage being made - you don't want to see the details. Here is an example of our Legislature making sausage you just do not want to eat. The Senate is debating the confirmation of DATCP Secretary Pfaff.
- Update - Pfaff was not confirmed. 14 Ayes, 19 Nos, strictly along party lines. More later. The Senate has re-convened and is now considering other business.
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China, Cuba, what's the dif? Walker spinner still spins
When last heard from, Republican operative Bruce Pfaff was busy getting Scott Walker elected governor, having already gotten John Gillespie and Cate Zeuske elected to the U.S. Senate, plus helping Scott McCallum beat Jim Doyle.
Pfaff is now in DC, working for the Congress critter known as Mean Jean Schmidt, from Pfaff's native Ohio.
Jean's best known for calling Rep. John Murtha, a decorated war hero, a "coward" for opposing the Iraq war. But that's just one of many of her claims to fame.
She's currently in the news for claiming, like some other misinformed Repubs, that China is drilling for oil off the coast of Florida.
Others who fell for that piece of propaganda, including George Will and Dick Cheney, have already admitted their mistakes.
But not Mean Jean. Her spokesman -- guess who? -- says she stands by her statement, even if it's not true.
Here's his first try:
Schmidt campaign spokesman Bruce Pfaff said he hasn't talked to Schmidt or her office staff yet about the statement.
"This just came up," he said. "We will have a discussion. To us, the real discussion needs to be about which country Cuba is selling the rights to oil to and that communist governments understand the laws of supply and demand better than congressional Democrats."
Pfaff said the information came from "media sources."
When asked which sources, Pfaff cited a New York Times story and said other members of Congress also have referenced the claim.
Later, Think Progress reported this update:
ThinkProgress spoke with a spokesman for Schmidt who said that the congresswoman is standing behind her statement and still believes that the "Communists understand" what the U.S. Congress doesn't -- "We need more oil exploration." He added that "it doesn't matter" which country is doing the drilling as long as Cuba continues to lease plots of land to foreign countries.
So if you say China and it's really Cuba that's it's true. Next Pfaff will announce that the Olympics are going to be held in Havana. By his guidelines, that would also be true.
Maybe Pfaff's in training for the 2010 Walker for governor race, which will require enormous amounts of doublespeak about his record as county exec.
Steve is a member of LION Publishers , the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, the Menomonie Area Chamber of Commerce, the Online News Association, and the Local Media Consortium, and is active in Health Dunn Right.
He has been a computer guy most of his life but has published a political blog, a discussion website, and now Eye On Dunn County.
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