“Disgraced Former” Congressmen Promote Baucus “Drunk” Smear

The smear against Senator Max Baucus is summed up by Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent.

This seems like a slow-news-week joke story to most people, but I find it truly bizarre that this “story” took off. It’s like one of those photos that catches a celebrity at a bad angle and is run in the National Enquirer as proof that So-and-So has ballooned to 200 pounds. Actually, it’s sillier than that, because Baucus talks like this all the time. Here’s a December 2008 interview with Baucus in which he discusses “mil’income tax cuts.”

So is Baucus “drunk” every time he speaks? Ellen Miller, who worked for Tom DeLay, writes:

Sunday, former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) wrote “breathalyser for members of congress”on his Facebook wall, along with a video clip of the Baucus speech from YouTube entitled “Senator Max Baucus Drunk / Intoxicated on Senate Floor – Shouts Down Wicker.”

Miller continues:

After his initial posting about Baucus, Foley updated his wall with: “This is the senator that hired his staffer and then took her on trips . . . and divorced his wife . . . and they had me run out of town”. On Monday, Foley added: “My facebook page just hit the top of Drudge (Report).”

Foley resigned his seat in the wake of a scandal in which ABC News uncovered sexually explicit e-mails and instant messages the congressman sent to former House pages. Foley, who went to rehab in Arizona after the scandal broke, is now a radio talk show host.

I know Foley from when he was a deputy whip when I was communications director for then-Majority Whip Tom DeLay. On Monday, I e-mailed Foley to ask if he was saying that Baucus has a drinking problem. Foley responded: “I am in no position to judge the senators drinking habits, but it is clearly not advisable to take to the Senate floor for a major debate on health policy if you have been consuming alcoholic beverages to the degree it impairs your speech…”

Foley isn’t the only “disgraced former” congressman to go after Baucus.

Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) — who, coincidentally, also was a deputy whip, resigned his seat in the wake of a scandal, went to rehab and is hosting a radio talk show — tweeted Monday: “i will send him my 12 step book! Bizarre Baucus Behavior on Senate Floor Ignored by MSM

We contacted Mark Foley to come on my radio show tonight.  Foley declined, telling us his Facebook posting was “blown out of proportion and was meant to be tongue-in-cheek.”

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.