By Steve Rhodes
“A Republican congressman hoping to chair the powerful House Energy Committee refers to the Bible and God on the issue of global warming,” the Daily Mail reports. (h/t: Capitol Fax)
That Republican congressman would be Illinois’ very own John Shimkus.
“Shimkus insists we shouldn’t concerned about the planet being destroyed because God promised Noah it wouldn’t happen again after the great flood.”
“Speaking before a House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Environment hearing in March, 2009, Shimkus quoted Chapter 8, Verse 22 of the Book of Genesis.
“He said: ‘As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.'”
Now Shimkus has launched a “long-shot bid” for the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairmanship, Crain’s reports.
The Shimkus crazy quotient is nothing new, but now bears reviewing.
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“The House ethics panel was harshly critical of how Illinois Republicans House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Rep. John Shimkus and Hastert staffers handled the Mark Foley page scandal allegations and various judgment calls they made along the way,” Lynn Sweet reported in 2006.
“As the chairman of the House page board, he never told other board members of allegations against Foley. He went to talk to Foley – to tell him to cut out contacts with pages – after only seeing fragments of e-mails. He told me in an interview he never pushed to see more because the parents of the former page who got the e-mails objected. The investigators found that the family never objected to sharing the e-mails with ‘appropriate House members or staff.’
“The panel determined that Shimkus should have informed the other board members and ‘should have demanded copies of all relevant e-mails or other documents,’ and that not doing so was ‘imprudent.’
“‘At a minimum, Rep. Shimkus had an obligation to learn more facts regarding the e-mails before concluding that he could handle the matter himself,’ the report said.”
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Shimkus was in charge of the page program.
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The Tribune endorsed Shimkus that year (and ever since) for re-election, by the way, calling him “a decent, honorable man.” The Sun-Times also endorsed him.
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Not so that year (or since) in the Beachwood:
“I am not going to leave because of political attacks,” Shimkus said.
Will you leave because you suck?
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“The investigation found that after Foley resigned, Shimkus told another Republican member of the page board why he never informed the Democratic member of the board, Rep. Dale Kildee of Michigan, about Foley: ‘Dale’s a nice guy, but he’s a Democrat, and I was afraid it would be blown out of proportion,’ Shimkus told Rep. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia,” the Springfield State Journal-Register reported then.
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And:
Tribune questionnaire 2010:
Q. Do you believe the ethics laws governing behavior by members of Congress are or aren’t adequate?
A. I believe they are adequate.
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Finally:
“Illinois Republican John Shimkus rose on the House floor today to compare the Democrats’ position on the war to an imaginary St. Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs baseball game in which ‘my beloved Cardinals’ simply leave the field in the 15th inning to let ‘the much-despised Cubs’ win,” the Tribune reported in 2007.
The King of Dark Money
Is Illinois.
Guilty Pleasures
A disturbing new list from Drew Adamek.
The Blue & Orange
Like Asian carp waiting for Godot.
Fantasy Land
Arrows up for Jay Cutler and Chester Taylor.
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Office Chatter
Me: I just finished posting.
College football correspondent Mike Luce: Beachwood’s on Pacific Coast time today.
Me: (chuckle)
Luce: Beachwood’s going West Coast!
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Bows and arrows.
Posted on November 10, 2010