Discussion:

Sounds like a disillusioned true believer, those are always the best kind. He has impressive Reich chops that will make his hard to discredit. If a cement head like this can see the mark in this elaborate con game then it must have been REALLY overt.

Also, a listicle needs to have 5 things. Not 4. Five. Another TPM fail.

He appears to fit the Bush Administration pattern of Ambassador Wilson and Valerie Plame, and of the US Attorneys who Alberto Gonzales fired. The country is full of conscientious, good-faith, conservative individuals who do serious work and take their work seriously. Nevertheless, for reasons of cultural bias, the way they were raised, or who knows what they’re thinking, they vote Republican.

Call it the tragedy of the Tea Party. Thoughtful, sensible conservatives are politically homeless today. They’re unwelcome in the Republican Party and will be swiftly thrown under the bus for failure to abuse their position for partisan advantage. They can’t bring themselves to vote Democratic because of their own dispositions and biases.

They deserve better, regardless of who they voted for.

I have yet to see a denial from a Republican regarding this guy’s story.
Is he for real, or are the repubs just huddling until they can get their story straight?

The fifth thing is how he’s unbalanced with questionable character. (via the GOP).

Actually some people take their jobs seriously. He thought he was doing research on what happened in Benghazi, and instead told to do a witch hunt instead.

Here’s what the Rude Pundit has to say about Benghazi and he’s dead right!

In fairness, given that the hire date implied in the article (September 2014) was about the time the committee was gearing up , he was almost certainly an independent contractor, rather than a Congressional employee. Two minutes of googling indicates that a rough rule of thumb is that to equal what a full-time “W2 employee” earns in salary and benefits, an independent contractor has to make 80-100% more in straight dollars to earn the equivalent amount of total compensation.

Reversing the math, that puts him making the equivalent to about $50,000-$60,000/year if he were a full-time employee of the House. Not bad, but not absurd either.

To be clear, I do not defend the existence of the committee. It should have never been approved. My point is that our side’s credibility is helped by not making up things to go after that aren’t really there—the Teahadists provide ample substantive targets on their own.

Wait a minute–that was a bad date? Compared to that, my bad dates are Scorsese fodder.

Most of this means absolutely nothing in reference to his allegations that the Teatrolls attempted to politicize his work on the committee. It certainly helps his credibility that he has conservative bona fides and has served in the AF long-term, but other than that, meh.

The whole blind date thing sounds like millions of blind dates everyone has been on and it’s remarkable that TPM felt it was at all newsworthy…TMZ maybe, but TPM?

This is where one hopes some sense of conscience–
translates into those (R)s simply sitting out next November’s election.
Might be the least that could be done by those affronted by the TeaJob’s coup of their party.

jw1

When you’re too crackpot for a guy like this…

He has contended that his colleagues on the select committee were annoyed that he needed to take a leave

Colleague might or might not be the right word, depending on exactly who was annoyed. If it was the other staffers who were annoyed, then his colleagues were annoyed. If the Members of the committee were annoyed, then he got his bosses mad at him. That’s a whole order of magnitude worse than aggravating fellow worker bees. Also, he isn’t a member of the select committee. Staffers are not members.

Sounds like a charming fellow…

Sounds like “free stuff” to me!

I believe him. He sounds like a straight shooter who has suddenly become disillusioned that the Republican party he’s supported his whole adult life is a corrupt organization, unwilling to return the loyalty. They will seek to assassinate his character next, perhaps news of a DUI will be forthcoming?

And he’s got the “being a dick” part of being a Republican down very well.

I don’t know, I’ve never gone on a blind date and then very publicly dissed my date, but then I’m not a Republican. Maybe that’s standard operating procedure for them.

People expect whistleblowers to be courageous or “likable”, often they are not. Much of this seems irrelevant–he clearly is someone who looked good on paper to the committee but may have recognized what bs operation it was.

If he’s a bad date and a jerk, who cares?

Agree. The ruination of the Republican party by the bagger rabble has shoved plenty of experienced, well-intentioned career politicians out into the snow. It has rejuggled the political landscape, and there will be new alliances.

One hopes those who have been abandoned will overcome their biases and rethink their role in public life. They can still contribute to a party that still cherishes our country. We’ve seen a slow trickle of former Republicans go independent, then Democratic. After the absurd circus of this season’s Republican debates, perhaps more will be convinced to join us.