Mount Obey Known for Bad Temper
According to colleagues, you haven't lived until Obey's ripped you a new one, Obey's always ill-temptered, and cranky all the time. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/3922.html
Great representation of our values. I need a paper bag for my head when I visit DC later this summer.
Mount Obey erupts on colleagues
By: Josephine Hearn and David Baumann May 9, 2007 06:22 PM EST
The great Mount Obey rumbled to life again Tuesday, producing one of the most spectacular eruptions yet for the Wisconsin volcano and triggering minor flare-ups in peaks as far away as California.
Experts said such breathtaking seismic activity is common for Mount Obey, better known on Capitol Hill as House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, one of the most volatile members of Congress.
Obey's most recent outburst came during a private meeting of House Democrats discussing the latest proposal for funding the war in Iraq through the summer.
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, an anti-war Democrat from Ohio, asked Obey whether the bill would lead to privatization of Iraqi oil reserves, according to lawmakers and aides present at the meeting. Exasperated by the question, Obey let forth a stream of caustic words, asserting that the bill would not privatize Iraqi oil and emphasizing that he had clarified the issue many times already with Kucinich.
Obey was unrepentant Wednesday.
"I told him to read the goddamn language," Obey said in an interview. "If someone's ears are too tender for that language, that's too bad. I did it on purpose."
He said that Kucinich, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is purposely misleading people about the spending bill. "I'm sorry he's only at 1 percent in the polls," Obey said. "He simply does not like me and I don't like him. I make no apology [for] what I said to Kucinich. He had it coming."
Obey gave some insight into how he uses his temper when he elaborated on the incident. "It was purposeful," he said. "People don't listen to half the things that are said in caucus. I did it to get people's attention. And, by God, I got their attention."
Obey continued, "As far as whether I have a temper, frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn. I didn't come here to win a popularity contest."
Kucinich had no comment.
Obey's eruption galvanized Rep. Diane E. Watson (D-Calif.), who rose to say she was offended by the remarks.
"When a member asks a question, I think there should be a response, not a cussing out," she said in an interview. Watson said that she shared Kucinich's concerns that the bill might lead to oil privatization but that Obey "scolded" her.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was similarly taken aback. "He cursed at [Kucinich]. I think Mr. Obey was unfairly harsh and disrespectful."
Waters, Watson and Kucinich are among the handful of Democrats who opposed Obey's last wartime spending bill.
Other lawmakers at the meeting were more forgiving of Obey's temper, noting that such behavior is commonplace for him and not meant to be taken personally.
"You haven't lived until Dave Obey has torn your ass in half," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) quipped to his colleagues.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat who is himself known for profanity-laced outbursts, tried to lighten the mood. "In my family, this is how we talk!" he said. (Indeed, Emanuel's mother is quoted as calling him a "shithead" in a new book, "The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution.")
But Watson was not amused. She rejected arguments that Obey's comments were not meant to be harmful and were simply "the way he is."
"That's the way Imus is," she retorted, referring to radio shock jock Don Imus, who was recently fired after making racially insensitive remarks. "I do not accept what [Obey] said to me."
Mount Obey has long fascinated volcanologists who marvel at its high level of activity. Obey last blew his top two months ago, when he was confronted by an anti-war activist in a Capitol Hill hallway. The topic was again the wartime spending bill, which he has been ushering through the House. Obey himself would like to end the war, but he understands that his bill must take a more moderate approach to gain wider support, congressional aides said.
He unleashed a six-minute diatribe on the activist, railing against "idiot liberals" who did not understand his pragmatism. The exchange was caught on video and posted on YouTube, where it had been viewed more than 151,000 times as of Wednesday.
Obey attacks other lawmakers and congressional aides with regularity, often dubbing a misguided thought as "bullshit." In 1997, he mockingly waved a newspaper article in front of former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) on the House floor, saying it showed Republicans were selling out to lobbyists. DeLay shoved him and called him "chicken shit," according to accounts at the time.
Scott Lilly, who worked with Obey on the House Appropriations Committee for decades and himself got in a tussle with DeLay in 2001, said Obey's volatility is calculated.
"Many of the times he gets angry, it's not uncontrolled," Lilly said. "He gets people's attention when he gets angry, and he's aware of that. It's a more effective way of communicating with people."
First elected in Wisconsin in 1969, Obey is among the most senior members of the House and, as Appropriations chairman, he wields enormous power.
He is also perennially ill-tempered, said another former aide, who asked not to be identified.
"He's cranky all the time," the former aide said. "He's so used to being in a bad mood that if nothing is pissing him off, it makes him angry."
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), co-chair of the House Civility Task Force, a group created to lower the level of vitriol among lawmakers, declined to condemn Obey's behavior.
"There have always been characters in Congress, people who are respected for who they are," he said. "He's not being mean; he's just being who he is."
Still, Cleaver said members of Congress should "make sure to give a very civil response." He lamented an overall lack of civility in Congress.
"This place is almost a volcano waiting to erupt,'' he said, "on any issue, at any moment."
Great representation of our values. I need a paper bag for my head when I visit DC later this summer.
Mount Obey erupts on colleagues
By: Josephine Hearn and David Baumann May 9, 2007 06:22 PM EST
The great Mount Obey rumbled to life again Tuesday, producing one of the most spectacular eruptions yet for the Wisconsin volcano and triggering minor flare-ups in peaks as far away as California.
Experts said such breathtaking seismic activity is common for Mount Obey, better known on Capitol Hill as House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey, one of the most volatile members of Congress.
Obey's most recent outburst came during a private meeting of House Democrats discussing the latest proposal for funding the war in Iraq through the summer.
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, an anti-war Democrat from Ohio, asked Obey whether the bill would lead to privatization of Iraqi oil reserves, according to lawmakers and aides present at the meeting. Exasperated by the question, Obey let forth a stream of caustic words, asserting that the bill would not privatize Iraqi oil and emphasizing that he had clarified the issue many times already with Kucinich.
Obey was unrepentant Wednesday.
"I told him to read the goddamn language," Obey said in an interview. "If someone's ears are too tender for that language, that's too bad. I did it on purpose."
He said that Kucinich, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is purposely misleading people about the spending bill. "I'm sorry he's only at 1 percent in the polls," Obey said. "He simply does not like me and I don't like him. I make no apology [for] what I said to Kucinich. He had it coming."
Obey gave some insight into how he uses his temper when he elaborated on the incident. "It was purposeful," he said. "People don't listen to half the things that are said in caucus. I did it to get people's attention. And, by God, I got their attention."
Obey continued, "As far as whether I have a temper, frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn. I didn't come here to win a popularity contest."
Kucinich had no comment.
Obey's eruption galvanized Rep. Diane E. Watson (D-Calif.), who rose to say she was offended by the remarks.
"When a member asks a question, I think there should be a response, not a cussing out," she said in an interview. Watson said that she shared Kucinich's concerns that the bill might lead to oil privatization but that Obey "scolded" her.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) was similarly taken aback. "He cursed at [Kucinich]. I think Mr. Obey was unfairly harsh and disrespectful."
Waters, Watson and Kucinich are among the handful of Democrats who opposed Obey's last wartime spending bill.
Other lawmakers at the meeting were more forgiving of Obey's temper, noting that such behavior is commonplace for him and not meant to be taken personally.
"You haven't lived until Dave Obey has torn your ass in half," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) quipped to his colleagues.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat who is himself known for profanity-laced outbursts, tried to lighten the mood. "In my family, this is how we talk!" he said. (Indeed, Emanuel's mother is quoted as calling him a "shithead" in a new book, "The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution.")
But Watson was not amused. She rejected arguments that Obey's comments were not meant to be harmful and were simply "the way he is."
"That's the way Imus is," she retorted, referring to radio shock jock Don Imus, who was recently fired after making racially insensitive remarks. "I do not accept what [Obey] said to me."
Mount Obey has long fascinated volcanologists who marvel at its high level of activity. Obey last blew his top two months ago, when he was confronted by an anti-war activist in a Capitol Hill hallway. The topic was again the wartime spending bill, which he has been ushering through the House. Obey himself would like to end the war, but he understands that his bill must take a more moderate approach to gain wider support, congressional aides said.
He unleashed a six-minute diatribe on the activist, railing against "idiot liberals" who did not understand his pragmatism. The exchange was caught on video and posted on YouTube, where it had been viewed more than 151,000 times as of Wednesday.
Obey attacks other lawmakers and congressional aides with regularity, often dubbing a misguided thought as "bullshit." In 1997, he mockingly waved a newspaper article in front of former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) on the House floor, saying it showed Republicans were selling out to lobbyists. DeLay shoved him and called him "chicken shit," according to accounts at the time.
Scott Lilly, who worked with Obey on the House Appropriations Committee for decades and himself got in a tussle with DeLay in 2001, said Obey's volatility is calculated.
"Many of the times he gets angry, it's not uncontrolled," Lilly said. "He gets people's attention when he gets angry, and he's aware of that. It's a more effective way of communicating with people."
First elected in Wisconsin in 1969, Obey is among the most senior members of the House and, as Appropriations chairman, he wields enormous power.
He is also perennially ill-tempered, said another former aide, who asked not to be identified.
"He's cranky all the time," the former aide said. "He's so used to being in a bad mood that if nothing is pissing him off, it makes him angry."
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), co-chair of the House Civility Task Force, a group created to lower the level of vitriol among lawmakers, declined to condemn Obey's behavior.
"There have always been characters in Congress, people who are respected for who they are," he said. "He's not being mean; he's just being who he is."
Still, Cleaver said members of Congress should "make sure to give a very civil response." He lamented an overall lack of civility in Congress.
"This place is almost a volcano waiting to erupt,'' he said, "on any issue, at any moment."
posted by ObeyOut2006 at 2:22 PM
20 Comments:
It sounds to me like Obey is giving those liberal tree fairies hell. What's wrong with that? He keeps this up and I may consider voting him for the first time ever in 2008.
Senator Brokeback (icon of the whacko right) Insults Farve While in Wisconsin
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. - Note to Sen. Sam Brownback: In Packerland, it's not cool to diss Brett Favre.
The GOP presidential hopeful drew boos and groans Friday at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention when he used a football analogy to talk about the need to focus on families.
"This is fundamental blocking and tackling," he said. "This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history."
Oops, wrong team to mention in Wisconsin, once described by Gov. Tommy Thompson as the place "where eagles soar, Harleys roar and Packers score."
Realizing what he had said, the Kansas Republican slumped at the podium and put his head in his hands.
"That's really bad," he said. "That will go down in history. I apologize."
His apology brought a smattering of applause and laughter. He tried to recover, saying former Packer Bart Starr may be the greatest of all time, but the crowd was still restless.
"Let's take Favre then," Brownback said. "The Packers are great. I'm sorry. How many passes does he complete without a line?"
"All of them!" more than one person yelled from the back.
"I'm not sure how I recover from this," Brownback said. "My point is we've got to rebuild the family. I'll get off this."
What a moron. Typical of the candidates this site supports though.
the guy messes up a football team as he travels all over the country - probably in a different state every day - and he's a moron? I seem to remember Obey forgeting which decade we're in, what war we're fighting and how we're leaving at a recent press conference on the hill...what would you call that?
Headline:
Cheney in Saudi to seek help on Iraq, Iran
Maybe he can take a little time to help clean up the bodies of 5 dead patriots, then assist with the hunt for the three still missing, since he and Bush are responsible for them being there.
Then again, since they and no one in this administration has any military experience to speak of, and all they know how to say is "Stay the course", I'm sure this little incident will be blamed on someone else and justified as another positve step towards Iraq democracy. Right?
Why President Bush needs a yardstick for failure in Iraq: Having a standard for success isn't enough.
By David Peck
SAN FRANCISCO - President Bush has a (changing) standard for success in Iraq. But does he have a standard for failure? It's the kind of question I've faced with my clients in my work as an executive coach, helping leaders become more effective.
I met recently with a CEO client I've had for years. He has several pet projects that, in my opinion, should be shut down. His view is that, come hell or high water, they will continue until they succeed. We both have our perspectives, and many others have weighed in as well. At our recent meeting, I asked him to describe what success would look like. He did.
But then I asked a tougher question: What is your standard that, if met, would leave no doubt of failure? Something that would say it's time to walk away from Business X or Project Y?
We discovered that he hadn't defined one. So as Business X limped along for nine months without scoring a win, and Project Y looked headed for defeat as well, there would continue to be plenty of opinions – but no definitive action. That's why we agreed on the need for a failure measurement that transcends opinions.
Great leaders set and stick with clear standards for failure as well as success. Others act like gambling addicts, greedily seeing only success, depleting their cash without any off switch.
Similar to my client's situation, there has never been agreement on the status of the war in Iraq because there are no agreed-upon measurements. Until such a yardstick exists, we can't agree about whether the US is winning or losing.
If we can't agree on present conditions, then it's critical that we have tripwires at both ends of the effectiveness spectrum: one for success, and one for failure.
The former is difficult to determine because it's shifted considerably. In 2005, the White House defined victory in Iraq in three stages that culminate in a peaceful, united, stable, and secure partner in the war on terror.
But just this month, President Bush appeared to lower the bar, saying: "Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed. And the definition of success as I described is sectarian violence down...."
Meanwhile, the tripwire for failure doesn't seem to exist.
Obviously, the United States must not share its failure guidelines with the enemy. But if such standards were crystal clear among America's leaders, we would see much greater consensus in Washington, if not an end to the US occupation of Iraq.
Gen. David Petraeus and Mr. Bush ask that we wait until we assess the "surge." They, like my CEO client, won't know when to give up unless they develop a failure standard.
Being stubborn helps leaders rise to the top. They like to get their way, to be right, and to win. Taken too far, that lovable bull-headedness becomes naked obsession, ego, or self-will – signs of addiction. Recovering addicts, like great leaders, know when to admit defeat. It's not too late for our leaders to set and stick with an objective, measurable standard for losing.
Online at:http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0511/p09s02-coop.html?page=2
"Bush's wink becomes a royal pain
By D. PARVAZ
COLUMNIST
Oh, he tried. He really did.
And yet President Bush managed to come off as a yokel during Queen Elizabeth's U.S. visit. He stumbled over dates in his speech, adding two centuries to the British monarch's age by indicating that she'd visited the U.S. in 1776 rather than 1976.
And then he winked at her majesty as though she were a waitress at the IHOP (or Karl Rove). Then he referred to her as his mother."
More online...
And speaking of the moron, while he is acting like an ass and planning his annual 31 day August vacation in texas, 5 more american soldiers die and 3 are probably being tortured.
And there are still the idiots in our party that swear that his will be a tough standard to match.
if you want to publish articles, do it on your own blog. people read and post comments to discuss the headline topic, not read more posts that are not related. thanks!
Somewhere out there is certainly one angry little liberal. It seems that all he can do is come on this site and cut a paste articles from liberal newspapers. I don't know if I should laugh, or feel sorry for him. As I think he and Obey are having to compensate for something that's lacking. We can all guess where.
Agreed, this poser is both funny and sad at the same time. He probably thinks he's bothering the rest of us. Jokes on him.
Anyway, this is classic Obey. Like a two year old that doesn't get his way, he throws a temper tantrum. He has been known to treat citizens this way when they call him on his far left positions, including high school kids who ask him about abortion. What a disgrace, I mean, can’t the dems do better than this?
Tposts by the same person in one hour.... THAT is pathetic.
What I find ironic is that the Bush defenders make no attempt at refuting the posts about his lack of capability, accountability and acceptance of the true situation in Iraq.
Of course, they are just following his direction on this.
maybe because we're wanting to read and refute material on Obey...if i wanted to go to left wing, bush basing site and defend it, i would. but, not here.
Angry little liberal,
When a blog owner posts an article the comment section is for people to respond or agree with the original post. Not a forum for wacko's from the other side to create new posts on different topics!
If you want to do that, start your own blog.
"Angry little liberal"? Again, it seems that anyone who would oppose the extremist right is labled an enemy. Of course, this would be in line with bush's "If your're not with us your're against us" non-accountable way of dealing with reality.
The country, and the people of the 7th, have tired of this the type of rhetoric posted here which offers little in the way of substance and can only spout venom and vomit.
Perhaps the little posse that started this blog two years ago as a way of promoting Nick Reid should worry moreabout keeping their extremist hold on their little Lake Superior counties, rather than continuing to say they speak for the district as a whole.
"should worry moreabout keeping their extremist hold on their little Lake Superior counties, rather than continuing to say they speak for the district as a whole."
Name the street and time...
"Name the street and time... "
Typical. Fear of losing your extremist neo-conservative grip over the little isolated santuary up north in an approaching election renders you capable of only one thing: threatening violence.
Thanks for clearly showing how consistant our leadership in Washington is mirrored by this cheap, free blog. It lends further credence to the fact that you are out of step with true Republican values, morals and ethics.
Actually, it's because of the Northern Lake Superior Counties that Dave Obey wins. Where is the extremist "grip"?
...and, by the way, you spelled "inconsistent" wrong.
I am curious to see who the crazy liberal in conservative clothing is voting for in 2008 - both presidential and congressional. He bashes a lot, but never seems to offer a solution....it's always "typical" or "extreme conservatism" or "cheap free blog." Please, enlighten us grasshopper...how have we been misguided? who SHOULD we vote for in 2008?
My guess, his response will be something like this, "Typical. Just another whacko conservative trying to change the subject at hand. You should stop promoting Nickie Reid and focus on someone who represents our true conservative values. Everyone running represents the futile spewing of lord and dictator Bush."
Some people want the whacko off the bolg, but he is the same kind of person that is an alcoholic but won't admit it, or a crazy person that thinks they are of a sound mind. He makes us look better, not worse. Let him continue his blathering because he doesn't get it and never will.
Cheers!
Jeff Tyberg is running for congress again.
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