THE TEA PARTY ONCE MORE, STEPS IN IT AGAIN!

…Tea Party House Freshman, Trey Radel

Mr. Radel is just another example of why the National Approval Rating of the US Congress is at an all-time low of 9%.

Well, the Republican’s Tea Party members have helped the Republican’s break another congressional record.  Their freshman Florida representative, Mr. Trey Radel, is the first US Representative to be convicted of drug possession.  And of course, his “Drug of Choice” was cocaine.

Mr. Radel, the first-term, Tea Party Republican congressman from Southwest Florida, is a perfect example of what is wrong with this radical-wing of the Republican party. 

When the Tea Party congressman responded in the D.C. Superior Court to Judge Robert Tignor, for his arrest for cocaine possession, he appeared more sorry about getting caught, and for his job, than he was for what he had done or what it was doing to his family.

The reality is that he is very lucky that he did not get arrested in Florida.

Had he been arrested in Florida, it would have been a felony arrest instead of a misdemeanor.  That would have meant a permanent felony charge on his record and possibly 6 months or 1 year in jail.  It also would probably have forced him to resign as a House Representative.

The prosecutor was very clear about what Radel had done with an acquaintance of his with whom he had on, “several previous occasions used cocaine.”  

The two had met for dinner at a Dupont Circle restaurant, where Radel agreed to buy 3.5 grams of cocaine for $250 from what was actually an undercover D.C. cop. For some reason, Radel paid $260, (a tip for his supplier?) and when Radel stepped out of the undercover cop’s car, another federal agent approached.  Then the congressman invited the agents up to his apartment, where he presented them with a vial of cocaine he had purchased earlier.

Obviously, Radel pleaded guilty to a first time misdemeanor charge in D.C. as that situation is usually rewarded in D.C. with a sentence of 1 year of probation.  That’s quite different from what would have happened in Florida.

The real bizarre issue with Mr. Radel is not that he had to admit that he had a problem with alcohol and drugs. 

It is that just last September, this same Tea party Representative voted for Republican legislation that would allow all states, including Florida, (which already tests Food Stamp receivers for drugs), he also voted for all US states to make Americans to pee in a cup before being allowed to receive Food Stamps.

For some reason, this dichotomy did not seem to faze Mr. Radel, and he seems to have been more interested in fixing his job issues than in fixing his health.

After his sentencing, Radel just reinforced the fact that the most important thing to him was his congressional job, not his family or his recovery from alcoholism and drug use.

He said in his statement in court that he planned to “continue serving this country.” His lawyer only made a vague reference about any plans for seeking medical treatment. Treatment is difficult, his lawyer stated, because Radel, “based on his job, spends part of his time in Washington and part with his family in Florida.”  There was obviously no comment about the possibly of his taking a leave of absence for seeking medical help.

Apparently he got seriously blasted by the press for that statement.  About 12 hours later, in a late-night news conference, Radel announced that he is taking a leave of absence from his job to seek inpatient treatment.

If Mr. Radel is going to insist that he will “continue serving this country”, then he might as well instead either take a minimum 6 month leave of absence, or I personally think he should just resign his position.

So, why would I say such a thing at this time.

Well, as was recently reported in a liberal Blog, “The Republicans and Tea Party members in Congress are using the problems with Obamacare as an excuse not to do any work in Congress.  The only surprising thing is that Republicans feel they need an excuse to do nothing. Republicans don’t need an excuse to not do anything. They’re Republicans, that’s what they do...or what they don’t do, as the case may be.

Whether Mr. Radel shows up or not, based on today’s Republican’s in Congress, the end-result would most likely be exactly the same.

Copyright G.Ater  2013