Patty's friends admit to stirring up terror fears to win elections

Thanks to the NCDP's Jerimee Richir, we now know what McHorny and his friends plan for the next decade or two: using fear of terrorism like Reagan used communism.

For all the details read Jerimee's review of the Civitas luncheon discussion with McHorny's close ally and Dole strategist Tom Fetzer.

Here's the lowlight:

Fetzer: This isn't like what we did with Reagan. Since we don't have anti-communism to unite the Republican party anymore we'll have to find new issues to agitate our political base.

An audience member then suggested, why don't we just replace fear of communism with fear of terrorism?

Fetzer: Yes, that's the plan.

On health care:

Hawke moved to the next slide which illustrated the point that many North Carolinians don't think that the government should pay for everything for everybody. Apparently not satisified with that simple point, Hawke volunteered that he personally didn't think that he should have to pay any taxes at all.

Martin started to talk but Fetzer interupted: Voters don't understand health care, they aren't intelligent enough to understand it, and that helps the Democrats.

Keep up your alliance, Patty, with these bozos. And start thinking of what you can do for income once you're political career is in the toilet. Oh, that's right. You're a realtor. And you've made a million bucks on real estate since you got elected to Congress (without even a phone number for your so-called realty bidness). So I guess you'll land on your feet in November when Daniel Johnson beats your sorry ass.

news@norman blasts McHenry

No writer named. Ken Fortenberry's photo and name accompany the piece:

McHenry Seems To Blow With The Political Wind

sycophant
SIK-uh-fuhnt\, noun:
1. A person who seeks favor by flattering people of wealth or influence; a parasite; a toady.
2. One who seeks to gain through the powerful and influential.

suck-up
suk'up' noun: Informal
A person who flatters or defers to others obsequiously; a sycophant.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry gives new meaning to the words sycophant and suck-up and it's long past time for the media in the 10th Congressional District to quit giving him a free pass.

Ever since he was elected (and I use the term loosely) by the slimmest of margins in a sham election in 2004, McHenry has been oohing and aahing his way all over Washington to gain influence and build his resume, presumably to replace U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole when she decides to retire.

So far, about the only people McHenry has impressed are those who want something from him, those who have gotten something from him or those he wants something from.

It's time for the charade to end.

I've talked to a number of Republicans in recent weeks who are giving more than a second glance to his GOP opponent, Newton attorney Lance Sigmon.

What Sigmon lacks in money he more than makes up for in character, and that's a word that I think is missing from McHenry's vocabulary.

Many Republicans held their noses and voted to re-elect McHenry in 2006 because there was no one else on the GOP ballot, but this time they have a choice.

A real choice.

Every time I think of McHenry I am reminded of his coziness to now-disgraced former House leader Tom Delay who once mentioned his little buddy as a possible successor. (This was about the time he was being nailed for ethics violations which McHenry vigorously defended).

"I 'm blown away. . . I'm so excited that Tom DeLay would say that about me," McHenry said.

Pardon the play on words, but it seems to me that McHenry is the one who needs to be blown away.

Dem Candidates in Rutherford County tonight

Both Steve Ivester and fundraising leader Daniel Johnson are speaking at the Rutherford County Democratic Party tonight. If anyone sees the event and would like to report on it, email me (using link at upper left) or post your comment here

Anonymity respected if you want.

McHorny's steroid hypocrisy continues to impress

The Raleigh News & Observer's Ryan Teague Beckwith notes that Patrick missed the Clemens hearings after being so gung ho for the similar questioning of the non-Bush connected Mark McGwuire (that were then led by Republicans).

And Watauga Watch's Jerry Williamson, who is particularly interested in Virginia Foxx's own idiocies makes several points after reading the Gaston Gazette's analysis. My favorite was his first:

1. Republican House members were all over the steroids investigation in 2005, when they were in charge of running the place. Congressman Patrick McHenry, particularly, was avid in his grilling of Mark McGuire for alleged steroid use and basked in the media attention.

And coming in a close second for me was the kind of turnaround for which Patty is becoming widely reknowned:

6. With the fall-out from the hearing turning very negative for Clemens and his Republican cheerleaders, McHenry tried to distance himself by saying that steroid use by professional athletes shouldn't even be a subject for Congress to examine, hoping that no one will remember # 1 above.

If writers like Derick Moss keep getting this kind of attention, and readers of the 10th start seeing this kind of analysis and follow-up . . . perhaps concerned constituents will be able to mount some serious challenges to the ludicrous, embarrassing and two-faced hypocritical jokes we currently for representation in US Congress.

With writers like Moss, McHorny would never get away with hiding his wild life in Washington from his fundamentalist Christian constituents in North Carolina.

McHenry sacked by Gaston Gazette

Last week the Roger Clemens hearings provided our Patty one more opportunity to make an ass out of himself. And finally, a local reporter figured it out.

Kudos to Derick Moss of the Gaston Gazette . . . Never heard of him? That's because you've been reading the news. For decent coverage of a US congressman, at least in the 10th, you need to turn to the sports section.

Derick covered the Clemens hearing as well as any national press I'd read and far and away above any other local "political" reporter

Check it out:

Take the case of our local representative, Patrick McHenry, a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform which put on the most recent dog and pony show. McHenry did not attend the hearing, and also did not respond to requests this week for an interview. But on Wednesday he issued the following statement via press release:

“This circus could only impress P.T. Barnum,” the statement said. “Apparently, Democrats think the economy and illegal immigration will solve themselves. So instead of working on that, they’re playing with baseball.”

Sounds like he's stuck with the typical McHorny grandstanding quote. But no, no, no. Derick has not been drinking 10th District Republican kool-aid.

But here’s what McHenry told The Gazette in 2005 on the afternoon after he’d just grilled Mark McGwire about his alleged steroid use (and had plenty of national TV exposure in the process):

“It’s not about the baseball players. We’re trying to bring attention to this matter because there’s been a tremendous rise in the use of steroids among young people in this country. The message professional sports is sending, especially professional baseball, is that if you want to be a professional baseball player you need to use some performance-enhancing drugs. That’s the worst message.”

Takedown!

And, still, Derick is not done. He continues to go where other local reporters dare not. Not only does he note McHorny's hypocrisy, he actually makes an attempt to analyze it!

What happened between then and now to change his mind? Plenty.

For starters, his party was in the majority in 2005 and was actually the body that called for the hearings in the first place. Now that the Dems are calling the plays, McHenry wants to stay on the sidelines.

And he even noticed that while Patty exulted in criticizing McGuire, he is actually inaccurate in this case, for criticizing Democrats. It was Clemens who asked to speak. Not the other way around.

“The only reason we held this hearing is because Roger Clemens insisted on it,” Waxman added.

Wow, a reporter who notices hypocrisy, analyzes it, and does some research.

Go ahead and follow the link to read his speculation as to why Republicans were defending Clemens when they skewered McGuire. (Yes, there are quite a few mentions of our President.) Good job, Gaston Gazette.

The Hickory Daily Record and the Shelby Star didn't quite figure it out. The Star swallowed (and regurgitated) McHorny's tired and sputtering spin.

The Record had the nerve to give McHorny a headline that makes it seem they were asking the hard questions. And they did ask him some hard questions. Problem is they just printed his answers as if they are not supposed to (or able to) factcheck.

And really, they were letting him get away with avoiding a debate scheduled by the Catawba County Republican Party.

So, now I know why so many people turn to the sports pages first. That's where you'll find the truth.

One more debate update: still no answer

Why didn't Patty agree to the Monday debate scheduled (for his convenience) by the Catawba County Democratic Party? We asked last week and got a rude reply* from Jeff Lominac, chair of the NC Christian Coalition (which I guess is endorsing McHorny without even talking to challenger Lance Sigmon).

Here's his reply to the Hickory Record:

McHenry plans to officially file for re-election within a week or two and hasn’t had much time to campaign.

He said the Republican Party’s 10th District officials will host a debate, but is unsure of the date. McHenry recently said he couldn’t make a March 18 debate hosted by the Catawba County Republican Party.

He said having 10th District officials host the debate would be the “proper venue.”
McHenry didn’t say whether he would make any other debates, saying he has “a lot of obligations to meet,” in Congress between now and July.

*Lominac's comment from last week: "The Catawba County GOP set up a debate with out asking anybody with McHenrey if the debate date was ok. If Mr. McHenrey is not in congress that day, that does not mean that he does not have something else scheduled. Evan though some leaders of the Catawba County GOP help run and schedule Mr. McHenrey's opponent's campaign, they do not run and schedule Mr. McHenrey's day to day activities."

McHorny's hypocrisies exposed by WaPo (finally)

Finally the mainstream DC press is catching on to how McHorny talks one way one day and another way the next:

At a private meeting of conservatives in the House of Representatives last month, Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (N.C.) ridiculed Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), asking why his fellow right-wing activists "shouldn't be physically ill at the prospects of a President McCain."

On Monday, McHenry -- apparently feeling fine -- joined the chorus of voices calling for conservatives to unify around McCain as the likely Republican nominee, and he accused former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee of waging a pointless nomination battle because he is "in there for himself."

Now if only the local press would figure out that he talks and acts one way in DC and the other in the district.

h/t jlgolden at BlueNC.