How petty has Washington become?

[CitizenBBN]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/sen...enager-sources

Senator Menendez, who was tried for corruption and ended in a hung jury, is holding up Issa's nomination to a federal position in the Administration over his use of his military ID when he was 17. it was doctored by someone to make him older so he could drink in bars, which was 18 in military bars and some states at the time.

I freakin' kid you not.

For those who don't know, Darrell Issa was a Representative for 18 years (California) and was Chair of House Oversight Committee, and had top secret clearance as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. That's a big deal, making him one of the most "in the know" Congressmen for many years.

And he's being held up for a position as Director of US Trade and Development. Not Sec of Defense, just a trade position.

Now that is petty.

[Doc]

I saw this yesterday and did a facepalm. Had a fake ID while serving in the military decades ago. Old enough to go to war, old enough to kill somebody, but not old enough to drink a beer. But that is a topic for a different thread.

I expect some feminist to come out of the woodwork and accuse him of sexual assault when he was in middle school, but can not say where it happened or when.

It is crap like this that disgusts me. It isn't a President who calls Rosie O'Donnell a fat pig, or refers to Elizabeth Warren as Fauxcahontas. It is more all the surrounding BS like this.

[Doc]

Who didn't have a "fake ID"? Me, I went to DMV with my older brothers birth certificate and claimed I lost my license. Had a new official KY valid drivers license issued with my picture but his info. Prior to that I had the old rub on letters over the info (0.6 text letter size works fine IIRC---for bars that don't care..ala Surf City aka Smurf City back in the day). And I will bet dollars to donuts that ol' Menendez had one too, or at least had some method to get booze while underage

[ukpumacat]

I have mentioned before that I know Issa. I have had dinner with him...he lives literally 10 minutes from me. And we have served on some of the same Non-profit boards.

I can tell you this about him: the "issue" in his FBI file is NOT over a fake ID. That is 100% just a straw man response from him. Now, should he be disqualified based on what is in there? Likely not. But I am telling you without a doubt that is not what is being referred to by Menendez's comments.

[dan_bgblue]

May be Hoffa's drivers license and a picture of the real Roswell alien in the file instead of a fake DL

Darrell Issa was a Representative for 18 years (California) and was Chair of House Oversight Committee, and had top secret clearance as a member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

I respect your opinion of the security clearance and have no doubt that once upon a time it was a big deal. The Manhattan project would never have ended successfully if it had been just a nice piece of vellum with a few fancy words scrolled across the top, but today I do not think it means jack **** outside the military.

Hell, Hillary sported the same clearance level.

[CitizenBBN]

I have mentioned before that I know Issa. I have had dinner with him...he lives literally 10 minutes from me. And we have served on some of the same Non-profit boards.

I can tell you this about him: the "issue" in his FBI file is NOT over a fake ID. That is 100% just a straw man response from him. Now, should he be disqualified based on what is in there? Likely not. But I am telling you without a doubt that is not what is being referred to by Menendez's comments.

And if there's a reason he shouldn't get the post then great, but despite your or his personal feelings about the guy he's probably basically qualified for the job, and certainly not more of an issue than any many tens of thousands in such positions.

I see it as part of the "resist" thing where almost every nomination, every appointment has been slow walked, and that's a pretty accurate statement.

Presidents have LOTS of guys with issues in their administration, and there is a general assumption they should get to pick their own team unless there is a clear issue.

Issa based on your insight sounds like he has about the same issues as most Congressmen, which is a sad statement, but unfortunately DC is full of them so it's not really disqualifying.

[CitizenBBN]

I respect your opinion of the security clearance and have no doubt that once upon a time it was a big deal. The Manhattan project would never have ended successfully if it had been just a nice piece of vellum with a few fancy words scrolled across the top, but today I do not think it means jack **** outside the military.

Hell, Hillary sported the same clearance level.

I'm not saying it makes him trustworthy, I'm just saying it does qualify him for a basic trade representative position.

Esp. coming from a guy who was actually tried for political corruption.

[ukpumacat]

Issa based on your insight sounds like he has about the same issues as most Congressmen, which is a sad statement, but unfortunately DC is full of them so it's not really disqualifying.

Yes, I should have been a little more clear. I do not know of anything in his past that should disqualify him for this. He def has some major question marks but nothing that was "proven", etc. Its pretty common knowledge around here that he committed arson on an old business of his. He denies it of course and they never proved it but almost everyone I have ever met (including staunch republicans) knows he did it. But, I do still believe in "innocent until proven guilty" and he was never charged.
My interactions with him have always been positive ones.

The end of his career as a member of the House was just odd locally. There were constant protests and he frankly didn't handle them very well. At one time, he was quite popular. My area is a center right area politically. We typically have conservative mayors and in the past have had conservative congressmen. But between he and Duncan Hunter its just been weird lately. Both went from very popular to very unpopular.

If anything this is a moderate area. Fiscally conservative and Socially liberal. And Trump is terribly unpopular with just about everyone (Republican and Democrat alike).
Issa barely won his last election but when he publicly supported Trump, the writing was on the wall.

[ukpumacat]

This might sound dumb...but one thing I have always liked/respected about Issa is that he is terribly wealthy, but has lived in the same house here for as long as I can remember. Its a nice house but nothing like what you might expect for someone as wealthy as he is.
I always liked that about him. He was independently wealthy before but he lives in as normal of a suburb as you can imagine.
I have no doubt his place in DC is nice. And he may have several vacation homes I don't know about (all the power to him). But as for his family home here...its very modest.