I have to admit, I had a good deal of respect for Tom Davis (R-VA11). He seemed like one of the few Repubs who actually had some scruples. For a long time, I thought his lapses into the thuggery more typical of his more conservative buddies was due to being squeezed into doing so by the leadership. I actually thought he was above the sort of thuggery that his wife, State Senator Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis, stooped to when she sent out a campaign attack flyer listing the home address and phone number of her Dem opponent, Chap Petersen--along with the names of his kids.
Well, not anymore. Joe Sudbay relays a bizarre story:
Ten years ago, in a former job, my organization sent out a mailing against Ms. Devolites when she was running for state delegate. Congressman Tom Davis exploded. He called me screaming about the mailing (which was factual, by the way.) He called my boss screaming. He demanded both of us show up at his Congressional office to yell at us in person about doing a mailing against the beloved Devolites.
So let's see if we have this right. In the world of the Davises, sending out campaign flyers attacking them is out of bounds. And yet, they at the very least condone sending out flyers revealing their opponent's personally identifiable information. The mind reels. Oh, I forgot--IOKYAR.
Even more disturbing is how Tom demanded that Sudbay and his boss show up at his office. I haven't heard of any instances of even the loony wing of the Repub leadership doing that to any of his opponents. Nope, not even Tom DeLay.