Debbie Schlussel: Jihad Darrell, Hezbo's Fave GOP Congressman: 9/11 "Simply" a Plane Crash
I've been on the case of gazillionaire GOP Congressman Darrell Issa a/k/a "Jihad Darrell", since just after 9/11, when he praised Hezbollah as a "humanitarian" group of "farmers" and went to Ramallah to become Yasser Arafat's personal taste tester (not kidding). Since then, Issa's continued to fete the Assads of Syria, the Hezbos of Lebanon, the Fatah-niks of the so-called Palestinian authority, and has called Israel an "apartheid" state a la Jimmy "Jimmuh" Carter. Nancy Pelosi's got nothin' on Jihad Darrell.
That's not to mention Issa's lengthy criminal and marred military record, and the sickening way Issa stole a company out from under his boss and went on to make millions by stealing patents and litigating everyone out of business.
As readers know, I've repeatedly written about Issa in the New York Post and elsewhere, and the thing that most galls me is the way the GOP gloms onto this guy, rather than disowning him the way they did David Duke in the Reagan days.
But things are changing, and I hope it's a trend.
Last year, after I wrote a NYPost column about the San Diego Republican's bid to become House Republican Policy chief and about his record of pandering to America's Islamic terrorist enemies, the article was circulated among House Republicans. And Issa was defeated by a more than 2-1 margin. Since then, though, top Republicans--like the retiring Rep. Tom Davis--have been pushing Issa for key Republican posts, like budget czar and procurement chief.
But Issa's antics, this week, may finally shut the lid on his ambitions. On Wednesday, Issa called the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America "'simply' a plane crash." He made comments like this in House hearings regarding continuing federal assistance to 9/11 first responders, many of whom are stricken with life-threatening ailments because they inhaled the fumes of the attacks or were otherwise seriously injured.
The New York Daily News reports that Issa
suggest[ed] the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center.
That any American Congressman--no less, a so-called conservative Republican--would say such a thing about the largest, most outrageous attack on American soil, is disgusting.
It's frankly time for Issa to go. Several years ago, Issa--who has ambitions of running for the U.S. Senate and Governor of California--bankrolled the recall petitions against then-Governor Grey Davis. He planned to run for Governor in the recall election, and with his deep pockets, he might have won. But Karl Rove and other Republican bigwigs pushed him aside in favor of Schwarzenegger. And that's because Democrats have been watching what I've written about Issa's support for Islamic terrorists, and they were planning to use it against him. The GOP couldn't afford to blow the golden opportunity of running California, so they demanded he bow out, which he reluctantly did (in a tear-filled speech).
Since the GOP has had several years and ample opportunity to learn Issa's pan-jihadist views, it's about time they asked him to step aside and resign from office, altogether.
They did so with David Duke. And Issa is far scarier, since he has mainstream respect and a following that the fringe-character Duke never had.
If the GOP wants to continue to legitimately attack Congressmen like Jim McDermott, John Conyers, and other far-left Democrats who kowtow to our Islamist enemies on American soil, the party needs to nip their own similar problem child--Darrell Issa--in the bud, once and for all.
I hope Republicans will take the words of two of Issa's GOP colleagues to heart:
"It seems that with the passage of time, something happened along the way where the scope of the problem and the real extent of the problem has not drifted out to California," fumed Staten Island GOP Rep. Vito Fossella. . . ."New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn't have to be attacked by Congress," added Long Island Rep. Pete King, a Republican.
"I'm really surprised by Darrell Issa," King added. "It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It's wrong and inexcusable."
But, since his pan-Islamist antics have been legion since 9/11, none of Issa's actions should surprise these men.
More:
The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks "simply" a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families.San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center.
"That is a pretty distorted view of things," said Frank Fraone, a Menlo Park, Calif., fire chief who led a 67-man crew at Ground Zero. "Whether they're a couple of planes or a couple of missiles, they still did the same damage." . . .
Lorie Van Aucken, who lost her husband, Kenneth, in the attacks, slammed Issa's "cruel and heartless" comments.
"It's really discouraging. People stepped up and did the right thing. They sacrificed themselves and now a lot of people are getting really horrible illnesses," she added.
Under pressure from all sides, the Golden State pol - who got rich selling car alarms after getting busted for car theft as a teen - pulled a partial U-turn. He issued a statement but cowered from the press. . . .
But he didn't retract his wacked-out rhetoric claiming the feds "just threw" buckets of cash at New York for an attack "that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it." . . .
"The sound I'm hearing is him slamming the brakes and going in reverse," crowed Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn-Queens). Issa also belatedly admitted 9/11 was "an attack on America" in his statement.
Thank G-d there wasn't a dirty bomb or chemical munitions on 9/11. The toxic fumes American victims breathed there were harmful enough.
But what's also harmful is that we continue to tolerate outrageous men like Darrell Issa in leadership positions in our government.
Like I said, time for the GOP to tell him where to go.
Thanks to the many outraged readers who sent me tips on this latest deranged behavior by Jihad Darrell.
Related:
* My New York Post column on Jihad Darrell
* Jihad Darrell: Terrorism's Manchurian Candidate
Posted by Debbie on April 4, 2008 11:35 AM to Debbie Schlussel