In a surprising confession during his weekend radio address, Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) claimed that he was being drummed out of Washington, DC because he did not support the Democratic party’s current health care reform bill.
As you may recall, Massa announced his resignation from the House of Representatives at the beginning of last week, citing a recent cancer scare as the primary reason. Shortly thereafter, the House Ethics committee announced that Massa was the subject of a sexual harassment investigation involving a male staff member. In response, Massa announced on Friday that his resignation would be effective Monday March 8. Massa made it clear that his departure had been accelerated because he wished to spare his family the humiliation of a lengthy sexual harassment investigation.
But on his final Sunday radio show, Massa unleashed a scathing attack against the Democratic party machine, and in particular White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel:
“I was set up for this from the very, very beginning,” he said, on what Massa insisted would be the last broadcast of the Sunday morning show on WKPQ 105.3 FM in Hornell. “You think that somehow they didn’t come after me to get rid of me because my vote is the deciding vote in the health care bill? Then, ladies and gentlemen, you live today in a world that is so innocent as to not understand what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”
… As for the charge that House Democrats set him up, Massa said he only came to belief (sic) after reading two articles on Sunday morning before his broadcast: An Associated Press article in which House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer discussed the ethics investigation, and a Roll Call article about how the recent departure of several Democrats from the House would help pass health care legislation. Massa said he believes he was the swing vote that would decide the fate of the bill–and that Hoyer’s decision to disclose details of the investigation proves Democratic leadership was out to get him.
With Massa’s resignation, Democrats now need only 216 votes in the House to pass the bill.
Massa also described a profanity-filled conversation he had with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel after he voted against the president’s health care legislation last year. Massa called on Emanuel to resign for his own use of profane language during the phone call.
“Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil’s spawn,” Massa added. “He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive.”
Both Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh prominently featured Massa’s story yesterday. Michelle Malkin isn’t buying it, though, and describes Massa as “a sick, desperate pol looking to save his hide and distract from his smelly ethics problems and personal problems.” Another blog entry by Malkin uncovers a video made by Massa in support of the 2007 attempt by Democrats to remove Rush Limbaugh from Armed Forces Radio, based on their dishonest “phony soldiers” smear of Limbaugh.
Our own Kim Priestap reported a colossal gaffe by Massa last August, when he told an impassioned Town Hall audience that he would “vote adamantly against the interests of my district if I actually think what I am doing is going to be helpful.” He immediately clarified his remark to mean voting against the “opinion” of his district if he felt that he was doing the right thing.
Whether Massa’s allegations are true remains to be seen, but I must confess that it is a lot of fun to grab the popcorn and watch Democrats tear at each others throats as they desperately try to pass their incomprehensible and overwhelmingly unpopular health care reform bill.
