Associated Press
It was a bad sign when Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) forced a recount in his district, and over the weekend, ended up falling further behind. This morning, left with no credible options, the right-wing lawmaker finally gave up.
Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West is announcing today that he won't challenge Democrat Patrick Murphy's narrow victory in their nationally watched battle for the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast congressional District 18 seat.
"While many questions remain unanswered, today I am announcing that I will take no further action to contest the outcome of this election," West says in a statement released this morning.
Murphy has led by less than 1 percent since election night. Final results Sunday from Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties gave the Democrat a lead over West of 1,904 votes or 0.58 percent.
Allen's concession marks the end, at least for now, of one of the strangest political careers in recent memory.
West first gained notoriety during his military service in Iraq, when he was forced to retire from the Army for engaging in abusive interrogation techniques. As a congressional candidate,he incorporated violent rhetoric into his campaign speeches, and made demonstrably ridiculous claims about his own background. Shortly before the 2010 midterms, we learned about West's ties to a violent gang of criminals, which the Justice Department believed was involved in drug running, arson, prostitution, robbery, and murder.
Despite all of this, West won anyway -- and that's when the Republican got really weird.
Though West was only in office for one two-year term, it's challenging to note all of his unhinged antics -- Tim Murphy pulled together a greatest-hits list of sorts yesterday -- but I'd remiss if I neglected to note some of my favorites.
In West's mind, if you disagree with him, you're (a) a communist; (b) a supporter of slavery; or (c) quite possibly a communistic supporter of slavery. He doesn't believe Muslims should be allowed to serve in Congress; he saw the AOL-Huffington merger as a secret plot to undermine conservatives; and he called for the U.S. government to censor news organizations.
West also once famously told Democratic leaders, "[G]et the hell out of the United States of America."
We don't yet know what West will do next -- he may very well run again in two years, and start the cycle of nonsense all over again -- but for now, he's poised to leave the congressional stage after blazing quite a trail.
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We had an election, and elections have consequences. This is something conservatives in the GOP have yet to grasp since the President won a second term. Republicans remain quagmired in the status quo of the Tea Party and kitchen-sink campaigning. They aren't interested in cooperating. Mitch McConnell's new goal is to prevent a Democratic victory in 2016, now that his other first priority of destroying Obama failed so miserably. Conservatives are still operating in a land of unskewed polls and Dick Morris pep talks about a Romney landslide. The rest of the country is rapidly leaving these intractable partisans behind. - progressive
yay!!! time to pack your stuff and leave.
Prediction: He'll be baaaaack. . . .
I predict he will end up in prison. Can't hide what he is for long.
They really need to have some manner of physiological screening for these type of candidates. This guy has PTSD .
Hopefully this signals an end to the deployment of the crazy as Republican candidates
You're right - West probably does have PTSD and needs counseling along with medication.
As for the deployment of republican crazy don't hold your breath just look at - McShame, Graham, McTurtle, Ron & Rand Paul, Bachmann, Cornyn, Gohmert... - I think you see where I'm going with this...
Don't go away mad, Colonel Step'n Fetchit (the only kind of African American Republicans like). Just go away.
Perhaps he can go work for Linda McMahon as a WWE announcer.
I'm not sure that West is mentally stable enough to realize that pro wrestling is a scripted fake. It wouldn't be good for West to pull a piece and apply "Second Amendment remedies".
On the other hand the McMahons have shown such a callous disregard for the wellbeing of their employees and a willingness to sink to any depth to boost ratings, that they might think it's a good idea.
I would keep a secret service detail on him. He's nutty. Who knows what he'll do.
This morning I am feeling sorry for Republicans taken in by the crazy. I had an argument with one of them last night who continues to believe in his heart of hearts that the President is a communist, socialist, mau-mau Kenyan. I asked for proof and he told me that the President was a friend of Bill Ayers. I told him that was guilt by association and he grumbled. I told him the President has won election twice and has governed for four years. I asked for more proof from his years as President. He told me just look at Obamacare which he called a prime example of socialism. I told him Obamacare was invented at the Heritage Foundation as the Republican answer to Hillarycare and that Mitt Romney deployed it in Massachusetts. I told him to look it up. He sputtered some more.I told him to turn off Fox News for a few days and get a grip. He hung up the phone.
There is a lot of pain out there right now. A lot of good people who were duped by grifters like Newt Gingrich and crazies like Alan West are just now waking up to just how badly they have been used by the conservative entertainment industry. My friend lives in Alan West's district, which is a pretty tony district indeed. A lot of the rubes spent a lot of money supporting Republicans this cycle. Many of them are our bosses. Most of them are very loyal Americans who have been the victims of a gigantic grift. We need to help them back to sanity. We also need to be careful to never get caught up in a mirror image delusion.
Reading your "discussion" with the Republican reminded me of the Monty Python sketch "Argument Clinic".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTl9zYS3_dc
I'd have to disagree that this "lot of good people" were duped at all. They wanted to hear what they were told. They cheered it and put up their signs in support of all of the craziness that West, Romney, et al spewed. They allowed themselves to be used because they thought they had a chance of getting what they wanted. At best, they were willing victims. And I don't know if peole like that can be helped back to a sanity that they don't seem to have had in the first place.
There was a Redstate.com posting about Allen West and his effort to force a recount when one wasn't required by law. I dropped a comment about respecting his tenacity to fight for his position as an elected official, but that Congress might be better served with members who demonstrate a more mature and respectful behavior...
...and I got flamed, then banned. Right out of the gate.
(sigh) There's something deeply broken about conservative personalities.
That is life in conservative ville, ignore everything around you and drive anyone away that not only forces you to see reality but question your exceptionalism. You know what the conservatives accuse the vine of every time they are banned for their obnoxious posts about some Fox news fake outrage. Which reminds me has anyone also noticed that the number of Koch trolls posting here has dropped since the election.
LOL. I used to have a Redstate account too. They really force the kool-aid down your throat there. All you have to do to get banned is talk back. Or tell the truth.
I agree with sick-and-effin-tired, this guy needs a psychiatrist immediately. He is a weapon away from a really bad day.
Get the straight jacket ready.
I'm actually perplexed by the vehemence and determination to defend their positions demonstrated by conservatives after this election. What I'm wondering is a chicken/egg kind of thing. Were they already delusional, and therefore easily swayed, prior to the campaign season; or has there been some brain-washing machine that's turned them into crazy-bots? After all, almost half of the people in Allen West's district voted for him. How can they NOT see the insanity?
I'm familiar with the World's Greatest Authority syndrome, where the moment a person utters an opinion, he's just heard the world's greatest authority and will defend his own position tooth and nail. That's human nature, but you'd think there would be some limit, beyond which a reasonable person would say, "Geez, now that I have more information, let me give this some thought."
I think a lot of the problem here is that many of the people we are talking about are one-issue voters who stopped listening when they heard what they wanted to hear from a candidate. It made no difference what other positions they had on other issues, the candidate agreed with their position and that is that. These candidates counted on this and are dumbfounded this tactic did not get them elected. The fact that a major party would nominate Alan West, Todd Akin, etc. for national office says more about the PARTY than the candidate.
I actually blame a lot of this on Citizens United. There is WAY TOO MUCH money in these elections. People that are certifiable crazy are backed by money that doesn't CARE who you are or what you think as long as you have an R in front of your candidacy. LOCAL parties know exactly who the candidates are but...in our state we were going along in the race for Governor hearing the issues, listening to the candidates when all of a sudden you could see the BIG MONEY start flowing in...the ads got really nasty and were LIES but nobody challenged them. Then they started to become talking points. There was even a fight on who was a TRUE Washingtonian since one candidate served in DC in Congress (for the STATE) and one had stayed in the state as attorney general. These 'pacs' are just a business...they aren't idealogical. They want 'their side' to win but not because they will be the 'best person' for the job.
Ha ha ha ha!
The only unanswered question he should have is, "Exactly, at what point, did I the scale start to tip to far towards the crazy?"
Please, Florida, don't pick miscreants like him again... KTHXBYE
I sincerely hope West doesn't run again. Though I will keep the faith that if he does run, Floridians will vote against him again. Hopefully, not in a close election like the one that just ended.
It's about time. He was just another repo, that cried over his lose!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Mr. west should have done, what the old cowboys use-to do. Just ride off into the sun set. But this time, never to be heard from again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally!
In early September I arrived at the Atlanta airport from Boston. I grabbed a cab to a downtown hotel. My cab driver handed me about ten business cards that read S. Malik for 13th Congressional District. He said "I am Malik, would you mind giving these out to the workers in the hotel"? He spoke in a barely understandable mid-east accent.
So I engage him, mostly to humor myself, because, I think its some cable TV cab show. Its apparent that he dislikes Obama, loves the Tea Party, calls the federal budget unconstitutional spending, and any constitutional provision that infringes on his freedom must be removed. He repeatedly refers to Zerobama and said the Senate is passing mind control funding through federal education. He thought Nancy Pelosi is a witch. He was just using his first initial in the ballot because he didn't want people to be biased against his religion. I'm laughing as I tell him he must be nuts if people will vote for him. At the same time I wonder what a great country America is that a newly naturalized citizen can run for congress so soon after immigrating.
I admit I am shielded from this Tea Party lunacy up here in Massachusetts. What I read about these candidates is troubling and it leads me to believe the House is turning into a cesspool of disillusioned people that share no common ground but their anger. There is no concern for policy making unless it is a vehicle to spew anger.
How many more candidates like these two, West and S. Malik, were on the Tea Party ticket and is it worse in the state house elections?
So the Tea Party is short another Mad Hatter.
I keep thinking the country will eventually climb back out of the Rabbit Hole, and we'll no longer be told to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
We shall see.
He will next show up at the Animal Shelter, after some treatment, be available for adoption but may need a muzzle.