Eric Cantor just might have been officially dethroned as the Congressional King of Arrogance when Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) unleashed a mini tirade on some of his constituents at his “Cup of Joe” (how cute) town hall meeting this past weekend.
One gentleman had the audacity to suggest that politicians are “in the back pocket” of the big banks, and that set Joe off.
“Don’t blame banks and don’t blame the marketplace for the mess we’re in right now.
I’m tired of hearin’ that crap; this pisses me off, too many people don’t listen… Do you want more regulation, is that what you want?”
(Well, yeah Einstein, I think that was one of the points being made.)
The poor constituent, who erroneously believed the purpose of the town hall was for the voters to be heard, made the mistake of questioning Walsh’s premise; BIG NO-NO.
Walsh loses it on the guy yelling,
“Quiet for a minute! Quiet for a minute! Quiet for a minute, or I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.
You need to listen, or I’m gonna ask you to leave.”
Joe, Joe, Joe, you never should have taken that Paul Ryan How to Be an Ass at Your Town Hall class.
Of course Walsh’s little tantrum was recorded for posterity by one of the attendees, and has since been playing across the internet.
He issued a statement on his official website regarding his temporary psychotic break:
“As my constituents know, I am passionate about our freedom, fighting for taxpayers, and standing up against big government.”…
(They now also know you’re not so passionate about standing up against big banks.)
…”Constituents with opposing views have every right to argue with me,”…
(But if you do, I'll throw you out.)
…“and I have every right to argue passionately for my conservative values.”…
(and throw you out.)
…“I hold these because I welcome this open discussion and will continue to keep this direct line of contact with those who I proudly represent.”…
(And if you’re not one of those, I’ll throw you out.)
Just FYI- Politico says:
“Despite the fact Walsh’s biggest campaign benefactors come from the banking industry — $132,329 in campaign contributions from the finance industry and $18,400 from bank employees — the freshman congressman claims that he’s “no pal of the big banks.”
After this little meltdown maybe he should cozy up to the pharmaceuticals industry.