C Walker's Future? Male Version of Barbara Cubin (R. WY)

[westcoastcavalier]

Not to out right disrespect( ) CWALKER, but based on this article, it wouldn't surprised me that the illogical nonsense he has been spewing, he should get Barbara Cubin to become his mentor. In fact Walker may find a multitude of fellow idiots (ex Republicans) at The House, who believe in his lily-white, non-racist utopia (or what America should be).



Cubin Tactic Angers Blacks

By TED MONOSON Washington bureau

 
 
 
WASHINGTON -- Wyoming representative Barbara Cubin was involved in a racially charged argument on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday after asking if an amendment that would have prohibited gun sales to drug dealers would affect sales to all blacks.

The House was debating a bill that would give manufacturers and sellers of guns and ammunition immunity from some civil lawsuits.

The Republican lawmaker was arguing against an amendment that would have permitted lawsuits against a storeowner who sells a gun to a drug dealer.

"My sons are 25 and 30," Cubin said. "They are blond haired and blue eyed. One amendment today said we could not sell guns to anybody under drug treatment. So does that mean that if you go into a black community, you cannot sell a gun to any black person? Or does that mean because my ...."

Cubin said later that because Democratic Rep. Melvin Watt of North Carolina, who is black, interrupted her at that point, the meaning of her statement was distorted.

"The point I was trying to make was that because my sons look like the Columbine (High School) killers should they be prevented from buying guns and just because some black people sell drugs should all black people be prevented from buying guns?" Cubin said. "If I had not been interrupted it would have been clear."

On the floor, Watt demanded that Cubin be punished for the statement.

He specifically asked for her words to be "taken down," a disciplinary procedure which would have banned Cubin from speaking on the floor for the rest of the day.

It was ruled that Cubin's statement had not violated House rules and would not be taken down.

Watt appealed, prompting a vote on the matter. Representatives voted 227-195 to set aside Watt's appeal of the ruling. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii, voted present and 11 members did not vote. Four Democrats voted to set aside Watt's appeal: John Dingell, Mich.; Rick Boucher, Va.; Barney Frank, Mass.; and David Obey, Wis.

In a conversation on the floor before the vote, Cubin failed to mollify the North Carolina legislator.

"I certainly never would say anything or even think anything that would offend my neighbors on the other side," Cubin said. "I wish to apologize to my colleague for his sensitivities."

Watt made it clear that he was looking for a different type of apology.

"I don't need the gentle lady to apologize for my sensibilities," Watt said "She needs to apologize for using words that are insulting to the entire African-American race."

Watt grew up in a tin-roofed shack in rural North Carolina. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina and earned a law degree from Yale University. He practiced civil rights law for 22 years before being elected to Congress.

Cubin blamed the incident on a combination of Watt's sensitivity and politics and was pleased by the support that she received from Republicans and the four Democrats.

"I do feel vindicated because I didn't say anything wrong," Cubin said. "I did not say anything that would not have offended someone who did not have a chip on his shoulder. Some folks have a chip on their shoulder and Mel is one."

While blaming the incident on Watt's sensitivity, Cubin also questioned his sincerity.

"Congressman Watt got his law degree from Yale and he is a good lawyer," Cubin said. "He was looking for something to object to. I do not see how he could have genuinely been offended. It was just a sham. It was all politics."

Cubin said that after the incident she had a cordial conversation with Watt.

"Afterward he came up and was very nice and said thank you," Cubin said. When asked what he was thanking her for, Cubin said her apology on the floor of the House.

Watt declined to talk about the confrontation on the floor or what happened afterward.

Although Cubin said, "literally dozens of Democrats came up to me and said they supported me," the party line was in opposition to her comments.

"These kind of offensive comments have no place in the House of Representatives, nor should they have a place in anyone's vocabulary," Rep. Robert T. Matsui, D-Calif., said in a press release. "The least the House could have done is to vote to condemn these words as disorderly and not fit for the House floor. I can't understand why House Republicans would view Representative Cubin's offensive comments as appropriate for House debate."

As the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman, Matsui is in charge of recruiting Democrats to run for the House and coordinating Democratic House members' fundraising efforts.

The flap comes four months after Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., was forced to step down as majority leader after making remarks interpreted as racist and damaging to the Republican Party's efforts to broaden its base among black voters.

Wyoming Democrats were quick to condemn Cubin's words and to remind local Republicans of their commitment to fighting racism.

"Since Cubin's words were not taken down, the citizens of Wyoming are left with an embarrassing situation and a slap in the face to our African American friends and neighbors," said Linda Stoval, chairwoman of the Wyoming Democratic Party.

Stoval recalled Republican charges of racism leveled in the 2002 gubernatorial campaign when Democratic candidate Dave Freudenthal called Republican candidate Eli Bebout an organ grinder and some people working for him, his monkeys.

Freudenthal denounced the charges of racism leveled by the Committee for Integrity and said his accusers need to "grow up."

"I certainly hope that the Committee for Integrity in Wyoming ... is ready to act on this. They must be outraged and placing their ads in the newspapers over these remarks by our U.S. Congresswoman," Stoval said, tongue in cheek. "The handling of this incident will show us whether these Republicans really oppose bigotry and racism or not," Stoval said.

Cubin previously ran afoul of minority groups nationwide in 1995 when she compared welfare recipients to pen-reared wolves that will not leave their cages.

"Just like with any animal of the species, when you take away their freedom they can't provide for themselves,'' she said during final debate on a welfare reform act.