Yet another politician says something stupid…

This stuff cracks me up.  Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), talking about Truthers and Birthers, makes this statement in a Politico article:

Out-party politicians have long had to deal with conspiracy theorists on their side — the people who think that the Clintons killed Vince Foster or that the Bush administration helped orchestrate the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a conservative Republican district in Minnesota. “That’s why I don’t do town meetings.”

Of course, there are the usual demands for apologies for basically insinuating that a large number of his constituents are nutbags.  Ed Morrisey over at HotAir talks about Peterson’s responsiblity to talk to his people to try and “dispel those paranoid conspiracy theories.”

I say, “Get over it”.

I’d be willing to bet that just about every politician dreads the famous “town hall meeting”.  Rather than have pre-screened reporters and questions, you walk into a room full of locals and basically give them the chance to say or ask any dumbass thing that comes to mind.  I can only assume that these types of meetings bring out both fringes in higher numbers that usual.  25%?  I doubt it, but I bet it feels that way in the middle of a town-hall meeting when some loon keeps asking the same loon question over and over again.

I for one like a little straight-talk in a world of smooth, slick politicians.   That “Twenty-five percent” line sure didn’t roll across a teleprompter anywhere.

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This entry was posted on July 27, 2009 at 9:23 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.