Democrat Congressman With Hussein Ties Fundraises for Republicans

Well, if this isn't the height of irony.

A few weeks ago it was disclosed that Democrat Congressman Jim McDermott's trip to Baghdad in the run-up to the Iraq war was secretly funded by Saddam Hussein himself, the cash allegedly being funneled through a domestic charity now under federal indictment.

Well, it's an understatement that McDermott has long been a controversial figure in American politics, even among the far left. But a recent, unrelated federal court decision provides Jim (who is, regrettably, my member of Congress) with an entirely new and unfamiliar task: fundraising for the Republican Party.

It begins with an ancient scandal, long forgotten: the 1996 Democrat leak of illegally taped cell phone conversations of then Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. That leak, which McDermott grudgingly admitted to after six years of stonewalling, got him in hot water with the feds.

The actual cell transmission originated from Congressman John Boehner, now the House Republican leader, who rightly filed a lawsuit. (As an aside, it's interesting that some Democrats consider the illegal wiretapping of political opponents to be perfectly acceptable, while the legal wiretapping of al Qaeda terrorists throws them into apoplectic conniptions.)

After more than a decade of litigation, a federal appeals judge recently awarded Boehner nearly $1.1 million in damages. McDermott won't actually pay up himself, but will likely raise it from wealthy west coast liberals by way of his Legal Defense Fund (which, it should be noted, has also received funding, later returned, from Hussein agents).

So McDermott has a considerable wad of cash to wrangle up. Being a truly clever man, Boehner has pledged to use the large infusion of McDermott funds to help elect Republicans. Of course, this is a fairly transparent ploy to hamper McDermott's task--honestly, what upstanding, smug, wealthy, urban liberal would give to a legal defense fund knowing full well that the same cash would be quickly deposited in the coffers of a right-winger?

Wait, it gets better. A recent Supreme Court decision has left in place a controversial "Top Two" primary system in Washington State, which allows the top two finishers in any primary to advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. This means that in an 80% Democrat city like Seattle, McDermott will likely not face a quixotic, sacrificial Republican to which he is accustomed, but rather another Democrat. With McDermott being one of two Democrats in the general, his seat is, for once in his career, in very real peril, making it even more difficult to raise funds.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I met Congressman Boehner two months ago in California and the first thing I told him while we were shaking hands was that I was a constituent of Jim McDermott's and that I hoped with all my heart he would keep fighting the guy. The Congressman's eyes immediately lit up, he grabbed my forearm with his other hand and said, "I'll tell you what, we're going to get that c***s***er for everything he's worth." I won't lie; it was incredibly refreshing to see a conservative Republican leader with a fighting spirit.

Of course, schadenfreude and vengeance are uniquely malevolent forces both for one personally and in our nation's politics. But as someone who loves the rule of law and absolutely hates totalitarianism, the eminent fall of Jim McDermott seems most certainly just.