Apparently, I’ve offended the delicate sensibilities of the TNT’s Patrick O’Callahan, who thinks my posts on Dave Reichert’s brain are “vile.”
A rather vile post on the thestranger.com two weeks ago, “What’s wrong with Reichert’s brain?,” speculated that the head injury U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert suffered last February had more or less left the 8th District Republican a confused punch-drunk unfit for Congress.
The author, David Goldstein, cut-and-pasted excerpts from a UCLA medical website into lurid accounts of Reichert’s injury and theorized that the congressman had an atrophied brain – “Which leaves me wondering if the 8th CD is on the verge of re-electing a congressman with an… um… intellectual disability.”
Uh-huh. You know what some people might also find kinda “vile” Patrick, especially coming from the editorial page editor of an almost-major daily newspaper? Completely mischaracterizing somebody else’s words. For example, far from describing Reichert as “a confused punch-drunk unfit for Congress,” I merely quoted Reichert’s own “lurid account” of his injury, cited the medical literature, and then posited this rather measured conclusion:
Thus it is not unreasonable to expect that a brain trauma as severe as that described by Reichert, in a man of his age, and untreated for so long, could very well have resulted in some degree of permanent neurological impairment.
To be honest, Reichert has always struck me as “a confused punch-drunk unfit for Congress,” even before his injury, but those are O’Callahan’s pithy words, not mine.
Of course, it’s not really my words that O’Callahan and others find vile, but rather, the subject matter. What offends O’Callahan is that I would dare speak publicly what his colleagues have been whispering quietly for some time. So in my own defense, I’d like to suggest the following analogy:
Let’s say the Mariners were about to sign a particularly sought after free agent pitcher who, one of the TNT’s sportswriters discovers, had failed to disclose the severity of an injury to the elbow on his throwing arm, suffered during a freak, off-season gardening accident. Would it be vile to report on the details of this injury, and to speculate whether he may have suffered any long term or permanent damage?
No, of course not. We pay pitchers to hurl balls, so an elbow injury would be rather relevant.
Congressmen, on the other hand, we pay to make decisions. To deliberate. To negotiate. To, dare I say, debate.
In other words, we hire our congressmen to use their brains, in the same way we hire pitchers to use their arms.
Dave Reichert, by his own admission, suffered a severe brain trauma — much, much, much more severe than he or his staff at first let on — and while it may be an uncomfortable and sensitive subject to broach, it is completely and utterly relevant to the job he is seeking. And that, I assume, is why both Politico and the Seattle Times eventually picked up the story.
No, if there’s anything “vile” about this incident, it’s the way some local journalists, out of politeness or civility or whatnot, have been complicit in Reichert’s effort to hide his condition from voters.
I’ve had a few dealings with O’Callahan he’s a real POS. He likes to make up lies about and mischaracterize the environmental community too, so you’re in good company.
Patrick O’Callahan shouldn’t be confused with the TNT columnist Peter Callaghan (it happens). Callaghan’s good people.
Love the headline!
Ah, this is all a red herring. It does not matter if he is “a confused punch-drunk unfit for Congress.” Reichert doesn’t need to think. After all, he is told how to vote. He even said so in that recorded interview a while back.
From a behavioral standpoint, it would be difficult to prove that Sheriff is any more brain damged now than he ever was.
We have to keep in mind that we were the first to elect a black preident, but they were the first to elect a retarded one.
heh- Lost is a confused punch-drunk unfit for commenting.
So how many victims died after Reichert personally decided Ridgeway was not the Green River Killer, and let him go on killing?
I forgot the number….
Reichert’s claim to fame is making one of the worst calls in Police history.
Goldy,
Keep it up about Reichert. Something is wrong about him–he is not campaigning because he can’t stand on his own two feet, nor defend any position that he’s ever taken. Of course, he was never able to think for himself in the first place. He takes his orders from GOP Central or Glenn Beck. He represents a district with some of the most creative minds in this country. There is a sad irony about that.
Please do not share this message on the blog, it might make Rupert even madder at me.
Welcome to MY club! When you have finished this turn to the dark side, I will bet RM will be happy to offer you a regular slot with my best bud Hannity. (We pay lots better than the Stranger too!)
You can play the liberal and he will play the conservative, the ratings will be mmmmmm mmmmmmmm delicious.
I do have a couple of suggestions about strengthening your act. One really good one would be to absolutely deny that you ever claimed that Reichert was gay. I wold do this with a picture of that great hair pinned to the backdrop, then turn and pat the hair and see hmm with a dumb look on your face.
Another good trick is to send out some obnoxious friend of yours, lee or SJ would be good, to interview Dave by asking him if he can count backwards from 99. Watch how fast he flees!
Give me a call if you need some help.
Glenn.
You think Reichert is punch-drunk? That’s nothing, wait ’til you see which amendments to the U.S. Constitution the “Prefers Tea Party” candidates want to REPEAL:
Three Teaparty candidates for U.S. Senate —Mike Lee (Utah), Joe Miller (Alaska), and Ken Buck (Colorado), joined by congressional candidate Steve Southerland (Florida), think the 17th Amendment should be repealed. This amendment changed the selection of U.S. Senators from appointment by state legislatures to direct election by voters. I guess these guys don’t believe in democracy.
U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle (Nevada), joined by Rep. Paul Broun (Georgia) and congressional candidate Jeff Landry (Louisiana), have endorsed repealing the 16th Amendment, which authorizes the federal income tax. I guess these folks either favor a 30% federal sales tax or gigantic budget deficits — or maybe they think we shouldn’t have a federal government at all.
Mike Lee and Rand Paul favor repealing the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause. If they succeed, nobody will be a citizen. I mean, if being born here isn’t enough, then what is?
http://www.aolnews.com/surge-d.....n/19665204
I’m just waiting for some Tea Partier to criticize Reichert as “too liberal.”
Okay, let’s review. Bush administration policies based on conservative free-market ideology plunged us into the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression. The bank bailout, which prevented Great Depression 2.0, and was supported by both Bush and Obama, has ended up costing taxpayers nothing — it saved the world and we got all our money back. But the hysterical fuckwads of the far right call it “socialism” which puts it on a par with Stalin’s gulags in their tiny minds. They’d rather inflict 25% unemployment on the American people in the name of ideology than exercise damage control that has limited unemployment to about 9.6%. Why in God’s name would anyone vote for these numbskulls? They want to repeal the Federal Reserve, put us back on the gold standard (which was the #1 cause of the Great Depression, if you know anything about economic history), and would even repeal the prohibition against slavery if they could. You have to be an immoral jerk to vote for these people.
they’re both for war. what’s the damn difference who casts the votes?
Rabbit,
“…and would even repeal the prohibition against slavery if they could.”
Nice bit of hyperbole Rabbit. But you forgot the hysterical claims that we want to burn witches. Maybe insinuate that bringing back public hangings and the stocks is at the top of the Republican agenda, and you can really rally the troops for November! Of course, most of what you write is about half the story , but as a former attorney telling only your half the story probably becomes second nature.
Actually, lost, I’m pretty sure that Rabbit has you pegged. I don’t have much doubt about it. And, don’t diss attorneys. After all, you could not make it through law school. Oh, and by the way, who wrote the fucking Constitution?
Re 15
I didn’t realize that there even was a Constitution just for fucking. I guess I left law school before that class. Sounds like I missed some of the more entertaining course work. Damn.
gee who have i heard of trying this before? i know it’ll come to me.
Barack Obama accused of exaggerating terror threat for political gain
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl.....eat-claims
Hell if that was true he fits right in with the Obama Reid Pelosi robberbarrons. You should be jumping with joy to keep one of your own.
Reichert will be returning to Congress this year, there’s not a ghost chance in hell in this environment hell be replaced with any dem.
And you know it!
We need to send them all the new “Budgeting for Dummies” book. On sale at Amazon.com
Ha Ha Ha Ha
9th Circuit Court upholds ban on felons voting
http://seattletimes.nwsource.c.....ing08.html
The Dead can no longer Vote
How is a dem to win an election any more
I guess there is still the illegals
Goldy–
The desperation is more & more evident.
You have become so deranged Goldy, you don’t even know what vile is anymore.
Do you really feel good about this kind of garbage? It shows the Atheist Progressive Movement as one that won’t debate the real issues. Just smear & sideshows…because you have already lost the arguments.
Obama’s Stimulus package at work:
72,000 stimulus payments went to dead people – 18 million down the drain
$4.3 million went to a little more than 17,000 prison inmates
Id, you’re an idiot.
Well see come November whose an Idiot.
Thanks for confirming my judgment of your intellect.
Oh By the way Bernanke, Greenspan, Clinton and the Chief of Staff agree if the deficit does not get put in order, we are in for some serious trouble. So lets talk whose intellect needs tweaking and whose party is spending like drunkin sailors.
So where were you deficit hawks when Bush took a considerable surplus from Clinton and turned it into a record deficit! Reichert is a do-nothing politician. Always has been. He did not catch the GR killer. Ridgeway was eventually caught because a younger, smarter cop thought to take DNA from him when they had him in custody one time. Even though DNA was not widely used, this smart cop actually kept up on- dare I say it – SCIENCE, and thought it might be useful someday. It was. Reichert was not bright enough to even consider the possibility, and he is absolutely not smart enough to be our elected representative. He knows that. That’s why he refuses to debate.
You people have had the purse strings for how many years?
Goldy,
Hard to believe he’d lie like this, but check out this quote from Reichert *YESTERDAY*:
““I haven’t been asked [to debate],” he told me.”
When you’re a puppet who cares. He can be as drunk as DeLay every day and no one would notice. He will just get a text message every so often that says “yes” or “no” and he will push the button on his desk.
Being a Republican is easy.
@26 ld, it would be easy to take care of the deficit. Try taxing the top 1% that makes half the money in this country, and the 83 out of our largest 100 corporations that also don’t pay taxes.
The Republicans think they can balance the budget by starving the poor, and that is their only plan.
Republicans Are A Disease
So ld. How much Chinese money is Rossi, and Reichert getting to pay for their attack ads?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Mentally Retarded Republicans don’t want to know anything. They are just waiting for someone to herd them somewhere.
Dear Christine O’Donnell
It’s not that rats have human brains.
It’s you Christine that has a rats brain.
Reichert is a shoe in
Starving the poor – during your watch 43 million are on food stamps
9.6 – 10.1% unemployment not getting any better
13.6 Trillion dollar deficit
No budget they are so ashamed of it
No tax cut action despite their BS promise, not to mention all the taxes and fees in the Obamacare bill which will hit every income bracket despite Obama’s stated promise that no one under $250,000 would pay one dime in new taxes.
Lies Lies and Damn Lies
[Deleted — see HA Comment Policy]
[Deleted — see HA Comment Policy]
@34, and I bet ld voted for Bush, the most honest pollitishun of them all!
Instead of voting for Reichert, ld should check in somewhere.
By the way, how much money has The People’s Republic of China poured into Reichert’s campaign?
Inquiring minds want to know.
@37 – zero dollars from PRC – check FEC.gov. Only Al.Gore takes $$ from the Chinese, Einstein
Goldbutt, how would you possibly know if Reichert is campaigning? He never gets media coverage from the lib media and I doubt you’re on his campaign mailing list. Instead he fights his own campaign battles and wins reelection based on his solid record of public service. Oh and by the way, he actually votes in every election .
With a 4.5 margin of error, Reichert could very well be at 52% in DelBenzene’s fantasy internal poll. This one is over. Move on…….