STUPAK: MICHIGAN'S 1ST DISTRICT BENEDICT ARNOLD
Carole "CJ"
Williams
April 5, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
Those
who paid attention in history class will remember learning about Benedict
Arnold, who purposefully sought and obtained command of West Point so
he could surrender it to the British. When his treasonous intention
was discovered, he escaped to England and then led British forces into
battle against American soldiers in Virginia and Connecticut.
The 1st Congressional District of Michigan seems to have its own traitorous
Benedict Arnold in the form of Rep. Bart Stupak, who at the 11th hour
on March 21st voted in favor of government-controlled healthcare.
For months, Benedict Bart basked in the media limelight, leading a small
Democrat battalion of Pro-Life supporters against the most unconstitutional
and personally intrusive pieces of legislation to ever have passed through
the U.S. House of Representatives.
Like Arnold, Benedict Bart sold out to an enemy of We the People. The
traitor was bought with $726,409, earmarked for three of many tiny airports
in his district. The deal was further sweetened with a worthless Pro-Life
Executive Order penned by a Pro-Abortion President, who can rescind
it at anytime.
Had he stood firm, Benedict Bart, as well as the handful of other Democrats
that supposedly supported his pro-life amendment, could have defeated
ObamaCare. Instead, he took to the House microphone and encouraged his
cronies to vote ‘aye’ on an insidiously evil piece of legislation
that can be manipulated by government-approved ‘panelists’
who will be in charge of our personal healthcare. This includes women’s
reproductive health care, which, according
to Hillary Clinton, encompasses access to abortion.
That the Pelosi Gang would choose the Sabbath to do the Devil’s
work is further testimony to the evilness of ObamaCare. But then perhaps
Benedict Bart, who fancies himself one of ‘the Family’s’
chosen and above God’s Law, doesn’t fear Satan or his wicked
ways.
‘The
Family,’ you may recall, is a secretive, religious organization
that owns the C Street “church” where for a decade Stupak
rented a room at a very low price. Though the rent, which includes meals
and maid service, is now purported to be $950 per month, it had been
only $600 in the past.
That’s a darn good deal for a legislator, even one who pulls in
almost $200,000 a year, counting a disability retirement pension along
with a government salary. But apparently he moved out shortly after
the first of the year due to the negative media attention being given
to his
living arrangements.
Interestingly, on March 13th Benedict Bart was reported as claiming
he’d been threatened with an ethics investigation, presumably
because of his insistence that the Stupak Amendment be made a part of
the healthcare bill. Do you suppose a House Ethics Committee probe into
his ‘C Street’ living arrangements has now been taken off
the table? Did the traitor sell his vote for that, too?
If so, he may have escaped scrutiny by his peers, but he’s now
looking down the barrel of two
requests from the private sector for a federal investigation of
the cheap rent deal offered by ‘the Family’. Will the Pelosi
Gang be able to sweep this under the rug, too?
It’s also interesting to note that some reporters are now claiming
that Benedict Bart still has the support of his constituents and will
be a hard man to defeat in November; that his district has always leaned
toward Democrats at the voting booth. Let me assure you, this isn’t
true.
Actually, the history of Michigan’s 1st Congressional District
is a tad odd in that prior to the 1990 census it was located in metropolitan
Detroit. What is now the 1st District had been the 11th District, but
the state was reconfigured and renumbered as a result of the 1990 census.
Stupak’s district became the 1st Congressional District and metro-Detroit
became the 14th.
After the 2000 census, the 1st District was configured again to reflect
an equal voting population of 662,563 with all other districts in the
state. Since then, its
boundaries have grown to include all 15 Upper Peninsula counties
and much of the north and northeastern part of the Lower Peninsula (15
½ counties), making it the second-largest congressional district,
in terms of land mass, east of the Mississippi. It’s also the
home of the second-longest shoreline of any U.S. district, as well as
home to most of the state’s valuable underground natural resources,
including gas, oil and uranium.
Prior to Benedict Bart swearing an Oath of Office on January 3, 1993,
Republicans had since at least 1953 represented the district for all
but one two-year term. The sole Democrat to serve as district representative
during those forty years was Raymond Clevenger (1965-67). The Republicans
elected to represent what is now the 1st Congressional District of Michigan
were Victor Knox (1953-65); Phil Ruppe (1967-79); and Bob Davis (1979-1993).
Perhaps the district’s turn-around in 1992 was due in part to
the House
banking scandal. Though the scandal involved hundreds of representatives
who were kiting checks, the House Ethics Committee targeted only twenty-two.
Three were Republicans; Bob Davis was one of them.
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No
doubt Stupak’s pro-life, pro-gun stance during the 1992 election
campaign also caused some district Republicans to view him as a ‘Democrat
in name only’ (DINO) and they voted accordingly. We’ve since
learned, however, that the faux DINO votes with the Pelosi Gang about
97% of the time and, though he’s purportedly pro-life, he’s
also pro-Planned Parenthood, which offers abortion referral services
or performs abortions in their own health
center clinics. Were he truly pro-life, Stupak would have voted
for the Pence Amendment, not against
it, as the amendment would have prevented federal funding for abortion.
To the best of my knowledge, Benedict Bart has never had to run in a
Democrat primary other than when he first ran for Congress in 1992.
Had there not been three running then, he might not even have won that
race. He may not be so fortunate this time around, however, as he appears
to have blown it in the ‘trust department’ and some Democrats
are throwing their support behind another candidate for his seat.
On the 1st District of Michigan Republican side of the fence, there
are, as of this writing, four contenders. Of them all, Dr. Daniel Benishek
of Crystal Falls seems to have taken the country by storm.
Within a week’s time after Benedict Bart’s March 21st betrayal,
Dr. Dan had gained well over
21,000 new ‘friends’ on his campaign Face Book friend’s
page. That page has since evolved into hundreds of messages urging him
to unseat the man who caved in to the Obama-Pelosi cartel.
To show their support, a great many ‘friends’ from within
the district and all over America have contributed what they can to
help Dr. Dan reach his goal of $1,000
for each of the 219 votes that were cast in favor of ObamaCare.
He’s likely to do that and then some, but with Benedict Bart being
gifted
with PAC money, the Benishek campaign is going to need all the financial
help it can muster.
I recently had the honor of personally meeting Dr. and Mrs. Benishek
at an Upper Peninsula of Michigan Round-up of GOP candidates running
for state and federal office. His friendly and sincere manner was a
welcome change from the pontificating of polished politicians like Stupak,
who spout one thing to their constituents during townhall meetings and
then go to DC and do Pelosi’s bidding.
During many radio interviews, Benishek has assured listeners that he
feels his first duty should be to represent his constituents and We
the People, not the Republican Party bosses. How refreshing to know
that there are still some who aren’t willing to negotiate our
freedoms for the sake of bipartisanship.
Dr. Dan, who was born in 1952 in Iron River, is a native “Yooper”
(U.Per), as those who live above the mighty Mackinac Bridge are known.
We’re a hardy lot, used to adversity and tough times, particularly
since Michigan’s economy tanked long before the rest of the nation
started to feel the pinch. Dan Benishek, however, learned how to deal
with adversity at age five when his father was killed in an iron mine
accident.
Raised by his mother and grandmother, he grew up helping out with their
family business, the Iron River Hotel, where among other things he says
he made beds and emptied spittoons.
He was able to put himself through college and downstate Michigan med school by making good use of scholarships and loans. After years of keeping his nose to the grindstone, he became a general surgeon and returned to the U.P. where he began a 27-year career at the Dickinson County Memorial Hospital. For the past twenty years, Dr. Dan has also attended to veterans at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, which serves over 33,000 military vets from the U.P. and northeastern Wisconsin.
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Dr.
Dan Benishek and his pretty wife Judy, who is a registered nurse, share
five children and two grandchildren. Those who would like to learn more
about the man who hopes to unseat Benedict Bart can read about his stand
on some of the issues
here.
Clearly, America is oozing its life-blood from a thousand wounds, many
of them inflicted since the 2008 presidential election. Perhaps the
best prescription for the 1st District and the nation is to put a Michigan
doctor in the House.
� 2010 Carole "C.J." Williams - All Rights Reserved
