There’s nothing like a Progressive who’s not worrying about reelection.  If you thought Barney Frank’s moobs were repellent, wait until you get a look inside Lynn Woolsey’s brain.  The 10-term House Democrat from Marin County is retiring this year, so she finally feels that she can speak freely.  It’s not pretty.

For example, we learn why Woolsey doesn’t like Michelle Bachmann, who holds, not just a JD, but an LL.M. from the prestigious William & Mary School of Law:

“[S]he’s an idiot,” Woolsey said. “It’s not very politic to say that of another member of Congress, but she is.”

As it happens, I’m not overly impressed with academic credentials, since I think they often train people away from decency, logic and common sense, but I feel obligated to point out here that Woolsey’s education consists of . . . well, it’s unclear.  According to Wikipedia, she attended a lot of schools, but doesn’t seem to have emerged with any discernible degrees.  That’s okay.  She clearly had enough education to lose her decency, logic and common sense anyway.

Woolsey doesn’t like Newt Gingrich either:

“He would be the worst president on earth.”

She does concede, though, that he’s got a brain, which would make him more dangerous than the “idiot” Michelle Bachmann.

The Tea Party crowd don’t fare well in Woolsey world, since she sees them as an impediment to saving the world from climate change (never mind that the climate change narrative is unraveling before Woolsey’s eyes):

“Half of them have never held an elected office in their lives; they don’t know nothing,” Woolsey said. “They don’t know why they’re against what they’re against. They don’t know what is happening to our environment. All they know is it’s not something they’re supposed to support.”

Poor Lynn.  She apparently missed the poll showing a wide-spread belief that Tea Party members are better informed than your average 10-term member of the House of Representatives.  I guess it’s axiomatic that the ill-informed are always the last to know to that particular truth about themselves.

Lynn may not like Tea Partiers, but she does love the Occupy crowd:

“I love the Occupiers,” Woolsey said. “They’re such a breath of fresh air for me. I’ve been waiting for them for a long time.”

There’s nothing like a gang of Apple computer toting, drug-taking, dirty, vomiting, defecating, raping, murderous thugs to excite an aging Progressive politician.

Interestingly, Woolsey is not a Barack Obama fan.  Not only is he too conservative for her (“He’s a moderate president. He’s not a progressive.”), she thinks he’s not a very nice person:

“He is kind of a cold, aloof guy.”

Back in 2008, she was rooting for Hillary, both because she thinks Hillary is a more principled Progressive than Obama (there’s a scary thought), but also because she thinks Hillary has the cajones Obama lacks.

Woosley, apparently, isn’t the only one who isn’t thrilled about Barry.  Although Woolsey was speaking to an “overwhelmingly liberal” crowd, I think she sensed a certain chill in the air when it came to Obama.  How else to explain the fact that she felt compelled to tell those in attendance that they must vote for him in 2012:

“Do not stay home,” she said. “Any one of those other people — we thought George Bush was a problem, huh.”

I wish I’d been at Woolsey’s talk.  Seeing the Progressive mind unfettered is kind of like wading in an old swamp.  It looks ugly and smells bad, but there are still interesting things swimming in the depths.

Every two years, like clockwork, Marinites return the execrable Lynn Woolsey to Congress.  She’s so bad — by which I mean such a loopy Leftist — that I didn’t vote for her even when I was a Democrat.  I was a moderate; she was, and is, a nut case.  But still she wins, regularly sweeping in about 70% of the vote.

Voters here don’t care what Woolsey is, what she believes or what she offers; they just like that “D” after her name.  I have no doubt but that she’ll win again this year, for precisely the same reason.

If you’re in Florida’s 22nd District, however, you have the opportunity to vote for someone special.  I don’t know what the Republican/Democratic balance is in the 22nd District but, if it’s close, maybe he can win, and maybe there’ll be a true counterweight in Congress to Woolsey and her ilk.  If anyone has the cojones, as a freshman Congressman, to make waves, it’s West.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey is a liberal among liberals, a Leftist who calls affluent Marin County her home (and Marin voters have sent her back to D.C. over and over again, with about 70% of the vote).  She’s not a very bright woman, but I give her credit for focusing unerringly on what’s wrong with the Senate health care bill:

Rep. Lynn Woolsey said Friday she would not vote for the Senate version of the Democrat’s health care reform bill without substantial changes, even though that is the only clear path toward passage of the legislation.

“The House bill was compromise enough for the people I represent,” said Woolsey, D-Petaluma. “The Senate bill would go beyond that to the point where we would just hand the insurance companies the gift of 40 million new customers with little or no controls on premiums and no competition from a public option.”

She’s even figured out that Paul Krugman, one of the people I credit with inadvertently helping me see how dysfunctional liberalism is, gets it completely wrong when he says to the Dems “Damn the torpedoes.  Full speed ahead!”  Reconciliation just won’t work because, even though it will turn the health care system economically over to the government, it still won’t fix those vexing liberal problems of how to make every citizen pay for every other citizen’s abortion (something even principled pro-choicers admit is wrong) or how to ensure that every illegal alien gets full medical coverage:

She said, for example, the Senate bill fails to prohibit insurance companies from rejecting customers due to pre-existing health conditions or to ban annual and lifetime caps on coverage.

“Even in reconciliation, we can’t fix that because reconciliation covers only budget issues,” Woolsey said.

The reconciliation process Woolsey referred to is a tactic that would allow Democrats to modify parts of the health care reform bill with just a 51-vote majority in the Senate. Under such an approach, Democrats in the House would first pass the Senate version of the health care bill, then pass a reconciliation bill containing the changes. Republicans have used this so-called “nuclear option” in the past to enact tax cuts.

But changes contained in a reconciliation bill may only deal with taxes and spending to bring the legislation in line with the budget. It would be difficult if not impossible to use reconciliation to address issues such as abortion funding and health care for immigrants.

Woolsey wants to follow Obama’s new suggestion of passing bite-size pieces of reform. The question now, is whether the American people will understand that insurance companies can’t stay in business if people are allowed to hold off on paying for insurance until they actually get sick. It’s really not insurance anymore, with the companies taking actuarial risks. In that case, it’s simply companies getting no benefit whatsoever to pay for our health care. It may be a good deal for the public, but that’s only until the insurance companies go out of business. Of course, then the government steps in and, voila — single payer health care. So I guess this is the start towards a backdoor government takeover.

As many have said, when it comes to liberals and their goals, it never ends.

I got an email poll from my representative Lynn Woolsey.  I was willing to take the poll, even though it would mean newsletters from her, until I actually read the poll.  It’s a dishonest one, and makes intelligent responses impossible.

Here’s the whole email, with my comments in red:

As you may know, Congress is developing new energy legislation which could create millions of new ‘green collar’ jobs, end our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, and confront the threat of global warming.  [We'll just skip quickly past the fact that I think those "green collar" jobs are chimerical, that there are other ways than green to end the nation's dependence on foreign oil, and the threat of global warming is a scam.]  I’m hoping to get your thoughts on this issue, so please complete this very brief survey and let me know what’s on your mind.  At the same time you can subscribe to my electronic newsletter and stay up to date on the latest news from Washington.

Thanks

3 questions on energy

How concerned are you about our nation’s current dependence on fossil fuels? [The problem with the following series of three choices is there predicate, which is that there are only two sources of energy:  foreign fossil fuels and wacky, expensive, often polluting "green" sources.  There are a lot of Americans who believe in domestic drilling and extraction from domestic shale.  With those false choices, all poll results will be skewed.]

Very – Our nation must take immediate steps to develop cleaner, domestic energy alternatives.

Somewhat – This is a long term problem, but currently there is no serious threat, and we don’t have to take any immediate steps.

Not at all – There’s nothing to worry about. The U.S. can continue to rely on foreign fossil fuels.

Which of the following actions do you believe would do the most to end our dependence on foreign oil? [Is it just me or did the three choices given conspicuously (a) leave out ANWR and shale and (b) solely call up the specter of ruining lovely coast lines?]

Significantly increase government spending towards alternative energy production such as solar, wind, and biomass.

Improve efficiency standards for cars, trucks, household appliances, and factories.

Expanded domestic oil drilling in areas such as the California and Florida coasts.

None of the above.

Would you support efforts to require corporations to pay for the pollution they generate, and, in turn, reinvest this revenue in the development of alternative energy? [This is the only semi-honest question asked. You know which answer I would pick. Indeed, this question is good enough that it may be worth filling out that darn poll. What do you think?]

Yes – Energy independence must be one of our nation’s top priorities. These are long term investments that will increase our future economic and national security, and protect the planet.

No – The federal government should not get involved in individual industries. In addition, efforts to decrease pollution will harm businesses at a time when our nation’s economy is already in trouble.

Not sure, haven’t made up my mind.

Town Councils are supposed to be involved with town business: fire departments, police departments, flood plans, earthquake plans, local zoning ordinances, etc. They are not supposed to be involved with national politics. Residents have their national political representatives in the form of their elected congress people. That didn’t stop the always idiotic Lynn Woolsey from attempting to coerce local town councils into weighing in on the Iraq War. Fortunately, in Mill Valley, California, sanity prevailed:

Despite the pleas of a vocal audience Monday night, the Mill Valley City Council chose not to weigh in on the Iraq war.The council voted 4-0, with Garry Lion absent, against changing city policy and considering an anti-war resolution. Instead, the council asked the city staff to investigate the possibility of an open forum with higher elected officials.

“We need to be able to be able to agree to disagree,” said Mayor Shawn Marshall. “We tried to find a middle ground here.”

You can read the rest here. I can assure you that if my town council decides to wade into international political waters, I will work hard to unseat every incumbent in the next election. As it is, my local town council is doing a good job with local politics, and it should stick to what it knows.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but Lynn Woolsey represents me in Congress. I didn’t vote for her — but this is what you get in a majority style democracy. Marin County has many virtues, which is why I like to live here, but wise political choices are not among those virtues.

Right now, as progress in Iraq gets better and better, Woolsey is attempting to subvert local councils by pressing them to denounce the war as “unwinnable.” Fortunately, in most communities, the council’s have figured out that (a) such denunciations are beyond their area of responsibility and (b) they really don’t want to end up looking like the Berkeley City Council:

REP. LYNN WOOLSEY wants Marin’s city councils to join her in opposing the war in Iraq.

Woolsey has made no secret that she wants the troops to pack up and return home .

Aside from the Fairfax Town Council, which often jumps into politics that stretch far beyond town borders, many Marin councils have rebuffed pressure to take official stands on the war.

They cite policies that limit their vision to local or state issues that directly affect their towns.

Local peace activists are hoping that Woolsey’s political prodding will be enough to get them to depart from business as usual. A petition is making the rounds in Mill Valley, asking the City Council to take a stand against the war, just as it did opposing the Vietnam war in 1968.

Woolsey asked local mayors: “To bring an end to the occupation and to halt the hemorrhage of tax dollars from local projects, I encourage local governments to add your voices to your constituents; by adopting resolutions sending a strong message to Washington – our troops have done everything that has been asked of them, and it’s time to bring them home.”

Woolsey said the war is “unwinnable” and affects every citizen.

Larkspur Mayor Kathy Hartzell said she hasn’t seen Woolsey’s letter, and Mill Valley’s was mailed to an old post office box address, said Mayor Shawn Marshall.

Hartzell added the Larkspur council doesn’t take stands on matters “that are outside the parameter of our responsibilities.”

Boro said he’s not planning to put Woolsey’s request on his council’s agenda, either.

There’s not a lot of political support for the war on the San Rafael council, he said – adding it is not an issue the council can control or have an impact on.

I’m too lazy to look into it, but I’d be willing to bet that Woolsey has never talked to Petraeus or anyone else with feet on the ground information about Iraq, and I also suspect that she’s never actually visited Iraq on a fact-finding mission. Facts don’t drive her; ideology does. As Bugs says, what a maroon.

UPDATE:  I dashed off the above post this morning, without a lot of effort.  Marooned in Marin, however, did put a lot of effort in a post on the same topic, and it’s well worth reading.