I know. It's hard to believe that Florida has a Representative that rises so far above the rest of the craziness in this state that she earns the title of "wingnut" but it's true.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is already well-known for her call to assassinate Fidel Castro on video. You might remember that she denied it and accused the news crew who filmed it of altering the tape to get out of it. The BBC came back with a strong denial and she was forced to back down. I think she's in the same spot now.
Think Progress caught the brouhaha from yesterday's International Relations Committee hearing. Ros-Lehtinen, in continuing her unwavering support for the war in Iraq, questioned the GAO's ability to render a judgement about the situation in Iraq.
“I just feel uncomfortable listening to a report by the Government Accountability Office about a war effort.”
This is the investigative arm of the US Congress, for pity's sake! As Faiz rightly points out, apparently she only thinks the GAO is not qualified when it doesn't agree with her agenda.
Ros-Lehtinen has had no problem citing the work of the GAO in a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff or enlisting the GAO’s resources to pursue her agenda. It’s only when she doesn’t like the agencies’ conclusions that she finds fault with the work of the office.
But GAO Comptroller General David Walker called her on it, using a decidedly Republican tactic. You know the one: we don't have to be in the military to wage war, we just have to listen to the Generals, the people on the ground.
While we know they don't really listen, the GAO did and issued a scathing report on Iraq and the surge and, of course, the failure to meet almost 85% of the set benchmarks . If she thinks that report is "uncomfortable", she'll probably go ballistic when she gets this report:
Iraq's Interior Ministry is regarded as "dysfunctional and sectarian," and the National Police should be "disbanded and reorganized," according to an independent report obtained by CNN.
The report was put together by the Independent Commission on Security Forces in Iraq. Oops, this investigation is headed by General James L. Jones. What will she say to try to discredit it - Jones isn't serving in Iraq so he can't know anything about it?
Really, this woman is a schizophrenic disgrace. How can someone who gets an A+ on Darfur continue to support a war that is creating a humanitarian crisis that is the sole creation of the Bush, Cheney and the neo-cons? She supports immigration reform, yet advocates assassination? She supports the GAO but she doesn't?!?
Someone call a psychiatrist. This woman needs help. Wait, she can't - her Scientologist supporters don't believe in that.
