Michigan state Rep. Todd Courser (R)
Just go ahead and
read this story. It's insane. No, it's super mega crazy insanely insane. You
have to read it. The whole thing. Did you really not click?
Click now. Go read. Then come back here. We're not going to summarize it!
Okay, okay. Maybe you're reading this on the subway and there's no signal and you're just dying to know what's up. In that case, you should save the link for when you get back above ground. But maybe you're stuck on the subway because the power went out and you'll be there for who knows how many hours before you see the light of day again and so we'll take pity on you.
The story in question involves two tea-partying Michigan state representatives, Todd Courser and Cindy Gamrat, who had an affair (they're both married—to other people—with kids), then tried to cover it up by asking an aide to anonymously mass-mail Republicans across the state with a fake smear letter claiming that Courser had been "caught behind a Lansing nightclub" paying for sex with another man.
Told you you'd want to click. Anyhow, the aide, Ben Graham, refused but sensibly realized something really messed up was up and recorded more than one conversation with Courser about this psychotic request. (He got fired not long after he declined to participate in this lunacy.) Those recordings made their way to the Detroit News, as did a copy of the email, which was sent out by lord knows who—though certainly at Courser's instigation, since much of the email matched up verbatim with things he told his Graham.
What the hell was Courser thinking? He called this absurd skullduggery a "controlled burn," and explained to Graham, "In a controlled burn, you do a little bit of truth mixed in with a lot of lies." Well, the burn went way, way out of control and has now incinerated Courser's career, along with Gamrat's. Graham advised Courser on tape to resign, and he should have done so back then. It's impossible to imagine he won't have to do so now.
As for why this is appearing on Daily Kos Elections, Courser had been mentioned as a possible successor to GOP Rep. Candice Miller, who represents Michigan's 10th Congressional District and is retiring at the end of this term. Suffice it to say he won't get mentioned again. But seriously, go read the piece.
