There Isn't A Penalty for Guys Like Steve King

You know, I am not surprised that Iowa Rep. Steve King is hanging in regarding the jackass comments he made regarding drug mule immigrants with calves like cantaloupes from schlepping as much as 75 lbs of reefer (on foot!) across the desert. This is who he is. This is what he says all the time. He's been a US Representative since 2003 with these very views. He's been a birther. He gets on tv. John Boehner can comment on King's actions, but you know what? He doesn't penalize him by taking away his position on any committees. He doesn't call for a censure.

And Steve King isn't alone. Take Louie Gohmert. He recently went out of his way to compare the civil rights of minorities to that of "snail darters" and other assorted wildlife. This is a guy who rambled on about "terror babies"   He's been a US Representative since 2005. He says crazy shit all the time. Doesn't hurt him any.  If anything, he grows stronger in the Derp side of the Force every day.

People can talk about there being lines you can't cross in our political discourse, and maybe to an extent, they might try and classify racism as being a certain line--but that line isn't in the same place in every region of the country. And these guys kind of show that even if there is a line you don't cross--as such, it can be politically profitable (to them, anyway) to come up to that line, sometimes, and just kick the bejesus out of it.

And I tend to believe that the kind of person who would return a Steve King or a Louie Gohmert to Congress for term after term? Probably is not susceptible to shame over their shenanigans either. I have wondered if these folks are like villagers who just send their idiot to Washington so that they can have a vacation from him, but no. I think they are more like people who have mistakenly become pursuaded that political contests are not about establishing who is a more competent office-holder, but a bid for who might be a more attention-getting mascot.

This is sad, and I am not sure what the corrective would be.

(X-posted at Rumproast.)