Allen West knows better.
The congressman's statement that 78 to 81 members of Congress are "members of the Communist Party" is ridiculous. He knows it. What makes it even worse, he asked about "card-carrying Marxists", yet pushed his absurd claim.
Yes, there are those in Congress who lean socialist. Some may even cross the line to small-c communist or Marxist. But West crossed into fantasy territory with his initial comment invoking the more formal Communist Party.
West's office released a longer video of the exchange showing West went on to add a qualifier to his comment. “It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” he said. But the qualifier came after an awkward pause, and plenty of murmurs from the auidience. West knew then he'd crossed the line.
To those of us who see damage being done to our country by a government that increasingly leans socialist, West has hindered our ability to sound a credible alarm. His big-C Communist spin gave the left (and the media) an easy straw man to knock down. I bet many of those in Congress West refers to don't even realize they embrace philosophies that lean communist or Marxist. They're too caught up in their progressive label.
I have to wonder if those now cheering West's comments are following his record in Washington. After pledging to be a small government Tea Party adherent, West caved and voted to raise the debt ceiling last summer. Despite objections raised by many conservatives and libertarians to elements of the National Defense Authorization Act, he backed that too.
In West's latest crusade, he's aligned himself with the insurance lobby in support of federal law that would mandate states abide by new national standards for more restrictive teen drivers licenses or lose federal highway funding. Think about it. Allen West now sponsors a bill to diminish states' rights, and pushes a big government, central planning agenda. Sounds just a wee-bit small-c commie to me.
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