Question: Can a state senator insert his head in his own ass? Answer: Yes.

[Lobster Martini]

LM: How many state senators would suggest that the General Assembly would enact slavery and compare Karl Rove to Joseph Goebbels while awaiting trial on 139 federal corruption counts? Only one comes to mind. Throw a bone to Vinnie “Mad Dog” Fumo. (Hell, that’ll get me sued.)

Favorite sentence: "It was kind of like watching an auto wreck while standing on the curb..."

This is from the Philly Inky.

Fumo distances himself from slavery remarks

HARRISBURG - State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's remarks that the General Assembly would enact slavery if given a chance were met yesterday with anger and disbelief, even as the Philadelphia Democrat sought to distance himself from his own words.

Fumo made the slavery comments during an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg on a bill that would define marriage as between a man and a woman - a measure Fumo opposes.

"What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don't think that's right," Fumo told Gilbert Coleman Jr., senior pastor of Freedom Christian Bible Fellowship in Philadelphia, during the hearing. ". . . If we introduced a bill on slavery, it might pass. That doesn't make it right."

"I doubt that, sir," responded Coleman, an African American who testified in support of the measure.

"Oh, don't bet on it in this General Assembly," shot back Fumo, who is preparing to leave the legislature after 30 years. "I know some people up here, especially on a secret ballot, it would be almost unanimous."

The comments were met with a quick rebuke by the chairman of the committee, Sen. Gib Armstrong (R., Lancaster).

"Sen. Fumo, that's out of line," he said.

David Atkinson, a top aide to Armstrong, said those present reacted "with disbelief at what they were hearing."

"It was kind of like watching an auto wreck while standing on the curb," he said. "It's not the kind of thing that you would ever anticipate."

<snip>

…in an April interview that aired on the Pennsylvania Cable Network, Fumo likened President Bush's former top political strategist to the Nazis' Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.

"Karl Rove, I've said on the floor, so I'll say it again, is the greatest propagandist since Joseph Goebbels, who was Adolf Hitler's propagandist," Fumo said in the televised retrospective of his 30-year career.

Fumo will retire from the Senate at the end of his term this year to devote his attention to his scheduled September trial on 139 federal corruption counts.

<snip>

(Link to the full article: http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080501_Fumo_distances_himself_from_slavery_remarks.html)

[Junkdrawer]

1. I agree with him on the Rove/Goebbels remark. n/t

[Orsino]

8. Karl Rove is just a bag man.

I don't know why he is credited with some sort of genius for merely being unscrupulous.

Isn't it funny, though, how all that fake outrage greeted the mention of slavery, and yet tht one-man-one-woman crap is still seriously considered? Fumo is quite correct that it is an effort to take away human rights, and we can see how the legislature jumped at the chance to ignore that point by squealing about slavery.

Four legs good; two legs bad.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. Wait .......

Fumo just said what everyone knows, especially in PA, my home Commonwealth.

That the minister, who is black, was offended by his "legalizing slavery" comment is especially laughable, since the minister was there to make sure gays never have the chance to marry.

Political correctness has, I see, hit the PA legislators, always a fine bunch of hypocrites.

Good for Fumo.

[zbdent]

3. Actually, I disagree that the slavery bill would pass ...

I believe that the Republicans would hate to have slavery back ... because when you owned slaves, you actually had to be responsible for their well-being, aside from the fact that they had no rights.

There would be consequences if a person did something to cause the destruction (death/disability) of another person's property (the slave), and the perpetrator of said offense would have to compensate the owner ...

Without slavery (and I am not advocating slavery), something happens to an extremely low-wage employee (read: illegal immigrant who cannot complain about his/her work conditions or the "employer" might get them deported), the employer just grabs the next person who cannot complain about the extremely low wages and dangerous work conditions and make them work for the pittance ...

[zbdent]

4. Joseph Goebbels, through a medium was quoted on the comparison ...

"I just threw up a bit, in my mouth ..."

[sinkingfeeling]

5. I think he's probably right on both counts.

[BigDaddy44]

6. Thats funny....

From what I recall, the general consensus yesterday was that this guy was right on.

[coriolis]

7. Are you agreeing with the African bigot here?

:wtf: