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Promoted from the diaries by Rosi Efthim - - I've read some really counterproductive crap about Frank Pallone the last couple weeks, on another site and not by us.. And though I'm all for having high standards even for quality legislators, it's high time for a reality check. Clammy delivers it.
I'll preface by saying 2 things: (1) I speak solely for myself here, and (2) while I can probably count the number of times I defended a Congressional Democrat (not praised, but defended) on one hand, I can't even count how many times I have been critical of one of our elected D's.
I live in a crap district, Congressman-wise, New Jersey's fifth. My Rep., Scott Garrett, sucks. When the vote is 400-30, he is ALWAYS one of the 30. His staff leave his office to work for Michelle Bachmann (seriously). One of McCain's former political directors called him a "nut".
But this isn't about Scott Garrett. It is about Congressman Frank Pallone Jr.
I'm in awe of the overall effort that the netroots has undertaken with respect to healthcare reform - the FDL whip count, the "carrots, not sticks", the HCAN action items, Standing with Dr. Dean and all of the people behind this. And what sucks to me is that right here in my state - right here in my district, is someone who "represents" me that couldn't be more opposed to pretty much everything I hold dear and I have no hope of anything other than maybe getting him out of office (in a pretty red district).
So I blog quite a bit at Blue Jersey. Mostly on the Governor's race and national issues. Lately, I've been doing a series on the Public Option, which has a banner talking up the Firedoglake WHIP count at the top of our main page. We got Congressman Rush Holt to take the pledge on our BlogTalkRadio show (nice work, Jason) and did a "carrots, not sticks" diary as well.
What that means is that my only shot at having any impact on this debate and bill is to try and help other progressives in NJ stand behind their Representatives who are and have been out in front on this, and many other issues, for a hell of a long time.
One of those Representatives, Congressman Frank Pallone, has been given a real real bad rap and deserves a whole lot better. Take it from someone who not only lives in his state, but lives in a District represented by a Grade A dickweed and knows what Frank Pallone means to the Democratic Party, New Jersey and progressives (and no, I have absolutely no connection to him or his campaign in any way).
He is a friend of progressives. A friend of the netroots. A contributor to the Blue Jersey community, who has been on BlueJerseyRadio recently (and will be coming on again). He is approachable - both to his constituents and professionally (his team has been incredibly responsive to me with a request from my "real job", even though I live outside his district).
He is loyal to the cause - he is the Chairman of Governor Corzine's campaign, and has been one of the biggest, not to mention most vocal proponents of shedding sunlight on Chris Christie's no bid deals and deferred prosecution arrangements - even holding hearings recently. He spoke out strongly and praised Blue Jersey for staying on top of the warrantless monitoring that Chris Christie's office did while US Attorney. His House Subcommittee (which he Chairs) worked on HR 3200, which he is a co-sponsor of. He's been a strong proponent of a strong public option for a long time.
I saw the video of him not committing to voting against any bill without a public option. But I also know (even though I wasn't there) that video was shot right before what he knew was going to be a long night of very hostile Health Care Town Halls. And this was a discussion with progressives at a time when he was about to be bombarded with verbal assaults from teabaggers.
Did he commit as strongly as we would have liked at that moment? Of course not. Does he fit into the category of those who deserve "carrots" for being as vocal as we would like them to be on drawing a line in the sand on the public option? No. Should he have stuck around more earlier today to reply to comments (some very personal and borderline gratuitous)? Sure.
But if those are things that merit him being written off or why anyone wants to say he is not with progressives or whatever else was thrown at him (by many who know very little about what a progressive and friend of the netroots he is) then I don't know who is.
Congressman Pallone is one of the good ones. "Black or white" litmus tests and "superhero or scumbag" aren't always the only options.
He deserves better.
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