On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Steve Scalise, the current U.S. House Representative for Louisiana’s 1st District, who was revealed to have spoken before a group of White Supremacists, EURO in 2002, a group that was actually founded by David Duke. Oh, and Duke says he and Scalise are of like mind, which is easy to believe considering that as a state legislator, Scalise voted against a resolution for the state of Louisiana to apologize for slavery. frequently appeared as a guest on the Fox News Channel as well as maintained a close-knit relationship with the Family Research Council (an anti-gay hate group) that has seen him appear a number of times on Tony Perkins’ Washington Watch program to say they are both “on the right side of history” on their stance against same sex marriage. We noted at the time that Scalise had lied that the Affordable Care Act would “lead to healthcare rationing” while trying to fight tooth and nail from healthcare in any way including contraceptive coverage. He repeatedly kept trying to defund Planned Parenthood, falsely claimed the Bush era tax cuts created an economic boom, denied climate change because President Obama wore a coat to his second inauguration (that would be in January), defended the racist nickname of the Washington D.C. NFL franchise. He also claimed Obama really didn’t want to fight ISIS, and called for his impeachment over his executive orders over immigration.
Now, Scalise coasted to re-election in 2018 with 71% of the vote, and while we usually end up writing a whole rundown of a sitting Congressman’s awful voting record, with Steve Scalise during this session of Congress, that’s a bit tougher a prospect to do, since he missed a plurality of votes after being shot by a deranged gunman during practice for the annual Congressional baseball game. Now, given that Scalise has always been opposed to any and all gun control, we wondered if being the victim of gun violence might make him have a change of heart, and want to do something about stopping a man like the shooter, a man with a history of domestic violence and anger issues from having owned a gun in the future.
NOPE. Scalise learned nothing, and still will be in the pocket of the gun lobby. He has literally said being shot “fortified” his view on gun rights, if by fortified you mean hospitalized for months. James Brady wept.
Anyway, the other detail of the shooting? The woman on the security detail that is largely credited for saving Scalise’s life, and that of other Congressmen present is an African American lesbian. Why, with Steve Scalise’s history of being associated with White Nationalists like David Duke, or his staggering anti-LGBTQ record of votes, maybe he’d have a change of heart there after a woman who’s the embodiment of what Scalise’s pals hate saved his life, right?
NOPE. Four months after a lesbian saved his life, Steve Scalise learned nothing, and went to speak at the “Voter Values Summit”, an annual conference run by the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council. The same FRC that’s run by Tony Perkins, a longtime GOP Platform Committee member who as a state legislator, paid tens of thousands of dollars in 1996 for David Duke’s mailing list. This is like if the ending of a Christmas Carol saw Ebeneezer Scrooge rolling around in a pile of money in bed with a cut to Tiny Tim dying in bed while his family weeps, frankly. The villain, even when presented with his own mortality and given a last chance to change is like, “NAW, F*** IT.”
And we mean that, considering that Scalise defended Donald Trump for celebrating Congressman Greg Gianforte having body-slammed a reporter, saying he was just “ribbing” the Montana Congressman, and not endorsing violence. Well, wouldn’t you know it, within a week of that statement, a Trump supporter mailed off pipe bombs to CNN, Robert DeNiro, and a bunch of high-ranking Democrats, so maybe Scalise is just full of s*** about not seeing a link.
Needless to say we will now stop talking about Steve Scalise, because he’s a special kind of person who inspires you to think “F*** that guy in particular” and we don’t want to dwell on how lucky someone as evil as he is surviving gun violence while so many tens of thousands of others are not so fortunate. That would take us to a dark place, frankly. (Too late.)