Captain Queeg

Congressman Allen West has issues. The man's behavior in the past has been borderline psychotic. Of course that makes him an ideal candidate for a leadership position in the Republican party. Most literate people have heard about West's latest kerfuffle with fellow Florida Congressman Debbie Wasserman Shultz but let me break it down for you just in case.

Wasserman Schultz was on the house floor earlier this week and took issue with her colleague, albeit in a fairly modest tone.

“The gentleman from Florida, who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a member from South Florida,” Ms. Schultz said in a speech on the House floor.

West, on hearing about the speech, flipped out, calling her “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives” for having the temerity to challenge him. “Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige,” he wrote. West added that “from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior.”

He concluded by saying that “you have proven repeatedly that you are not a lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!” and signed off with: “Steadfast and Loyal.” He went on by calling her a coward and refused to apologize for his rant.

I think that this guy West has some serious woman issues. We know from his past that he has significant anger issues that border on sadism and suffers from major lapses of judgement.

***

Allen West is a 49 year old freshman congressman from the 22nd District in Florida who was a Lt. Colonel in Iraq for the U.S. Army. West lost his command and retired after an investigation was held where he was found to have directed the brutal beating of an innocent Iraqi policeman that culminated in him firing off a couple rounds right next to the poor guy's head. From Wiki:

While serving in Taji, Iraq, West received information from an intelligence specialist about a reported plot to ambush him and his men.[11] The alleged plot reportedly involved Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi, a civilian Iraqi police officer.[11] West, who was not responsible for conducting interrogations in Iraq and had never conducted nor witnessed one, had his men detain Hamoodi.[11] In the process of detaining Mr. Hamoodi, soldiers testified that Mr. Hamoodi appeared to reach for his weapon and needed to be subdued.[11] Hamoodi was beaten by four soldiers from the 220th Field Artillery Battalion on the head and body.[12] West then fired his pistol near Hamoodi's head,[11] after which Hamoodi provided West with names and information, which Hamoodi later described as "meaningless information induced by fear and pain."[11] At least one of these suspects was arrested as a result, but no plans for attacks or weapons were found.[11] West said "At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It's possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi."[11]

West was charged with violating articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During a hearing held as part of an Article 32 investigation in November 2003, West stated, "I know the method I used was not right, but I wanted to take care of my soldiers."[12] The charges were ultimately referred to an Article 15 proceeding rather than court-martial, at which West was fined $5,000.[11] LTC West accepted the judgment and retired with full benefits in the summer of 2004. Asked if he would act differently under similar circumstances again, West testified, "If it's about the lives of my soldiers at stake, I'd go through hell with a gasoline can."[13]

From "An Oath Betrayed:

“… West promptly sent his soldiers to arrest Mr. Hamoodi. They beat and shackled him and loaded him into their vehicle. When they arrived at th base in Taji, Iraq, they threw him off the Humvee. A medic cleared Mr. Hamoodi for questioning even though his ribs had been hurt by the beating.

Soldiers took Hamoodi to an interrogation room. Colonel West told interrogators that they had one hour to obtain information or he would come down and do it himself. Hamoodi was kicked and beaten by four soldiers for forty minutes. During the latter part of this interrogation, Colonel West sat facing the prisoner with a cocked pistol on his lap that he would occasionally point at Mr. Hamoodi. Colonel West tells how he became increasingly angry and threatened Mr. Hamoodi’s life. In a sworn statement, a soldier reported that West told the prisoner, “I have come here for one of two reasons: one, to get the information I need, or two, to kill you.” A soldier displayed a knife and the translator told Mr. Hamoodi that his toes or fingernails would be cut off if he did not tell the truth. An apalled soldier left the room after reminding West of the Geneva Conventions, an appeal that West rejected. Finally, Colonel West had his soldiers blindfold Hamoodi and escort him outside, where six soldiers surrounded him with guns as the interrogation continued for another fifteen minutes. A translator told Hamoodi, “If you don’t talk, they will kill you.” West counted down from 10 and shot in the air. Two soldiers forced Hamoodi’s head into a barrel. West did another countdown and, angling his gun close to the prisoner’s head, fired into the barrel.

Hamoodi became hysterical and “admitted there would be attacks and called out names.” A physician’s assistant then examined him and found bruises but no serious injury or bleeding. Colonel West’s violation of Army interrogation regulations was investigated and charges were filed against him. West then asked to retire. Ultimately, he was removed from command, fined $5,000 and allowed to retire with benefits.

West may have thought that he did the right thing and that any war abuses he may have committed could be justified. In September 2010 he spoke in defense of a group of U.S. military personnel known as the "Leavenworth 10" who were convicted of war crimes. Veteran Richard Allen Smith wrote a nice article about West's behavior in today's HuffPo.

Fellow misogynist Rush Limbaugh came sliming to the congressman's defense today regarding the spat with Schultz. From NewsMax:

“So what did [Wasserman Schultz] do? She ran like a little crybaby to all these other left wing women of the Democrat party to help her out, and they start returning fire that West is the racist and West is the sexist and so forth,” Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh discounted the accusations of Wasserman Schultz and her supporters that West’s comments were sexist, and even went so far as to define feminism as a singular liberal cause that exists solely to defend legal abortion.

“I don’t think they’re to be taken seriously,” he said. “They are liberals. Their concern for womenhood is really a concern for liberalism. We all know that. Feminism is not really about women’s rights. It’s about the sacrament to the religion of liberalism, which is abortion.”