On Fridays We Salute Meritorious Republicans

No! No! Not this guy!This is State Representative Douglas Bruce who represents my home town, Colorado Springs, Colorado. I do not have an affinity for either home town or its state congressman.

Douglas Bruce has distinguished himself in this still-young 2008:

• This jerk was not even elected; he was appointed to his office in mid-term.
• Leading up to his swearing in, he got in a sustained dispute with the House Speaker about the time of his being sworn in.
• On the day he took office, Jan. 14, Bruce outraged the entire body. Minutes after the photo at the top of this thread was taken during a ceremonial prayer, he kicked photographer Javier Manzano, of the Rocky Mountain News in the knees!

No, I'm not celebrating this anti-tax turkey from my home town.

Instead, I'm celebrating all of the Republicans who joined with their democratic peers to pass a motion of censure. The censure motion was carried by a vote of 162-1. So, a whole lot of Republicans felt Bruce

failed to uphold the honor and dignity of the House of Representatives and reflects poorly on the state.

It was the first censure in the 131-year history of the state house.

Mr. Bruce, an anti-tax crusader who was appointed by his party to fill a vacancy, became the first member of the Colorado General Assembly to face censure. Just before he was censured, Mr. Bruce gave a speech on the House floor comparing himself to the main character in the film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” in which he said Jimmy Stewart plays a rookie senator who is hounded by the press until he physically attacks them. Republican Representative Al White derided him,

You’re not Jimmy Stewart. This is not a 1939 movie. This is today. Your actions were wrong.

Representative Frank McNulty, also a Republican said,

What I find particularly disturbing is that after the incident, Representative Bruce failed to take responsibility for his own action.

This degree of bipartisanship has not been much in evidence since the rise of George Bush, Tom DeLay and Karl Rove.

So, this Friday, I salute Mssrs. Frank McNulty, Al White, et. al., all those Republicans who put the interests of their normally deliberative body ahead of narrow partisan support.