Five years after 9/11, one of the most disappointing features of so many of America’s legislators is their lack of curiosity about the war, the enemy and the terrain. This week Congressman Ric Keller (Republican of Florida) gave what may rank as one of the most witless speeches ever on the subject:
Let me give you an analogy. Imagine that you have a next door neighbor who refuses to mow his lawn, and the weeds are up to his waist. You mow his lawn for him every single week. The neighbor never says thank you, he hates you, and sometimes he takes out a gun and shoots at you.
You’re mowing the lawn of a neighbor who shoots at you? Gee, couldn’t you just get an undocumented immigrant to do it for you? Dean Barnett dismantles Congressman Lawn Boy’s analogy with a clarity even he should be able to understand.
I hope the Lawn Boy’s electors should be proud. This is one for the Profiles in Courage section of the Anthology of Great Parliamentarian Addresses:
Winston Churchill, House of Commons, June 4th 1940:
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills…
Ric Keller, House of Representatives, February 14th 2007:
…but not on the lawns.