Sorry for the language, but what a fucking embarassment:
Officials in Indiana and Washington, D.C., said they are dumbfounded by a statement U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris made about a terrorist plot to blow up a power grid in Indiana.
In making the statement during a speech to 600 people Monday night in Venice, Harris either shared a closely held secret or passed along second-hand information as fact.
WTF? It gets better:
She said in the speech that a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested in the plot and that explosives were found in his home in Carmel, a suburb north of Indianapolis.
Harris, a Republican from Longboat Key who is running for re-election, said the case was an example of the nation’s success in fighting terrorism.
A helping of overt racism to go with your bullshit sandwich?
He said that making such statements without providing specific details to back them up “only serves to erode public confidence” in the credibility of government.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security would not comment Tuesday on Harris’ statements.
Probably because it is DHS policy not to call sitting Congressmen “stupid assholes.”
You know- it is stupid half-wits like this that let shit-heels like Howard Dean claim Republicans are exploiting terrorism for partisan gain.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass, Kathy. And I really don’t want to lose the House, but you are just in over your head, dear- one Patty Murray on Capitol Hill is enough.
(via Talk Left)
S-Train
What is with some people? Didn’t she know a statement like that was going to get checked out? Now she’ll explain it all away as a “simple misunderstanding”. Whatever…
HH
If only there were one Patty Murray… sadly, there is Corinne Brown and Cynthia McKinney is on the way.
Mason
Okay, this looks like a really, really stupid thing for her to have done, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I have to wonder…? One of the articles linked to by TalkLeft says this:
Contacted Monday night, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said a man was arrested two years ago and was sent to the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
He said he knew of no explosives or threats to blow up the power grid, however.
—
So is Harris an outright liar, or giving out classified info? How many people have been arrested inside the US and sent to Gitmo? I don’t get it.
Article Link from Talkleft: http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20040803&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=408030443&SectionCat=SPORTS&Template=printart
jack
I keep thinking that this is unusually specific despite being called ‘vague’–and that she must have known that it was going to be checked up on.
Therefore, she is either a complete idiot or she spilled something that no one wants spilled.
I am inclined to favor the latter explanation…
Noah
As a resident of fair Carmel, IN, this had a lot of people scratching their heads.
Now, the news that Brainard said something about someone being arrested and sent to Gitmo is, well, news to me. I’d have remembered something like that, as the local news channels and paper would have jumped on it with both feet, especially in ’02.
Maybe there was something (secret), maybe there wasn’t (making stuff up).
But Harris is still a moron for spouting off, either way.