(Mint Press) – With Election Day three days into repressed memory, the tatters of two years of panicked speculation, endless polls, countless hours of campaigning and reporting and mountains of empty aspirin and mini vodka bottles are being cleared away, just in time for Christmas season. However, some hanger-ons refuse to clear the floor. Such as Allen West.
Allen West is a loser, as in he lost his bid for the House’s Florida 18th district seat. But don’t tell him that. In a wave that saw the vast majority of the 2010 freshman tea party class washed out of Congress, West — a one-time tea party star — was swept away in the tide. However, West — who once before lost in the 2008 elections — feels that a fight is warranted, even though the margin of victory by his opponent, Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) is great enough not to trigger an automatic recount.
Redistricting convinced West to abandon his 22nd district seat in favor of the 18th district. The 22nd, post-redistricting, has became a Democratic hold that most experts suspected West would lose handedly. The 18th district, which contained the majority of the former 16th district — a major Republican demographic in central Florida — was available in light of Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) switching from the 16th to the 17th. Most suspected that the move would improve West’s chances, but only slightly.
In light of his loss, West recently filed an injunction against Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties’ supervisors of elections to impound the counties’ voting machines and paper ballots. In addition, West is demanding a hand recount in St. Lucie County. This is despite the fact that for the margin of victory being considered — 157,872 votes — an automatic recount is not available.
West’s campaign manager Tim Edison released a statement Wednesday morning:
“…Late last night Congressman West maintained a district-wide lead of nearly 2000 votes until the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections «recounted» thousands of early ballots. Following that «recount» Congressman West trailed by 2,400 votes. In addition, there were numerous other disturbing irregularities reported at polls across St. Lucie County including the doors to polling places being locked when the polls closed, in direct violation of Florida law, thereby preventing the public from witnessing the procedures used to tabulate results. The St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections office clearly ignored proper rules and procedures, and the scene at the Supervisor’s office last night could only be described as complete chaos. Given the hostility and demonstrated incompetence of the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections, we believe it is critical that a full hand recount of the ballots take place in St. Lucie County. We will continue to fight to ensure every vote is counted properly and fairly, and accordingly will pursue all legal means necessary.”
This loss was a shock to the system of most experts, especially considering that West out-funded Murphy $17 million to $3.6 million, and considering that West has name recognition in this mostly Republican district. This race was considered particularly nasty, with West using a 2003 mugshot of Murphy in his ads. Murphy was arrested for disorderly intoxication and fake identification (he was college-aged at the time). Murphy responded with ads highlighting West’s actions in the military.
PolitiFact rated only 28 percent of all campaign statements given by West for this campaign true, mostly true or half true. A whopping 72 percent of all of West’s statements were mostly false, false or “pants on fire.”
It was felt that West shot himself in the foot with the negative campaign. Many experts suspected that the people actually voted against West and not for Murphy. That’s not to say that Murphy didn’t contribute; aggressive campaigning for the moderate Republican vote pushed Murphy to victory.
However, West once said, “It’s not over until it’s over,” meaning we are all in for a mildly interesting legal drama.
The distinguished gentleman from Florida
On Feb. 20, 2010, West spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and won the endorsement of former Alaska governor and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. One of 32 African-American Republican candidates for Congress in 2010, he embraced the tea party, criticizing anyone who denounced the party on racist grounds as being brainwashed by “liberal critics and the news media.” He defeated Ron Klein in a rematch by a margin of 8.8 percent and went on to join the Tea Party Caucus. With Tim Scott (R-S.C.), West became the first African-American Republican congressman since the retirement of J. C. Watts. West joined the Congressional Black Caucus in January of 2011.
In Pamela Gellar’s (who is a noted Islamic opponent who famously railed against the building of an Islamic community center near the World trade Center site) Atlas Shrugs blog, West famously gripes, “There are those who will hate your own country, America, regardless of the self-evident truths. To you I say that life just does not get any better than the ‘Land of the all night IHOP’ … and if you truly hate America so much, you are also free to find another home. There is surely an illegal immigrant who will be happy in yours.”
It is no great secret that West has true animosity against Islam and those that practice Islam. He typically idealizes his time in the Middle East, when asked about it, in regards to American following the footsteps of the 300 at the Battle of Thermopylae, or Martel at the Battle of Tours; he sees American activity in the Middle East as America saving the Western World from the Muslim threat. West once said in regards to Islam, “Something happened when Mohammed enacted the Hijra and he left Mecca and he went out to Medina, it became violence.”
These stances won him the praise of the conservative factions, but the scorn of the Democrats. Sarah Palin and Ted Nugent have both recommended him for vice president, while Glenn Beck recommended him for president. West is infamous for his inflammatory rants, from calling the president “an abject failure,” ordering pro-Palestine demonstrators and “chicken man” Democrats to “get the hell out” of the United States, saying that drivers with Obama bumper stickers are “a threat to the gene pool,” and asserting that Black Democrats are trying to keep modern-day African-Americans “on the plantation.”
He sees himself as a modern-day Harriet Tubman “ferrying them to rescue.”
West has called Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), an African-American Muslim, the representation of the “antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established.”
In an interview with Richard Perez, host of “The Shalom Show,” West replied in regards to working with those he disagree with, such as Ellison:
“Well I think it’s most important that I stand upon the principles that people elected me to go to Washington, D.C., and represent them on Capitol Hill. So that when you run into someone that is counter, or someone that really does represent the antithesis of the principles upon which this country was established, you’ve got to be able to defeat them intellectually in debate and discourse, and you to just have to be able to challenge each and every one of their assertions very wisely and very forthright.”
West later attributed this comment to Ellison’s support of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). To the Miami leader of CAIR after he “corrected” himself, West told him that, «I will always defend your right to practice a free religion under the First Amendment, but what you must understand, if I am speaking the truth, I am not going to stop speaking the truth. The truth is not subjective.”
On July 19, 2011, West sent an e-mail to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) in response to comments directed at him from the House’s floor by the Congresswoman:
From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz
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. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!
I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.
You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!
Steadfast and Loyal
Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)
The comment that drew this ire was this: «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.» In regards to the legislation, she added that it would «slashes Medicaid and critical investments essential to winning the future in favor of protecting tax breaks for Big Oil, millionaires, and companies who ship American jobs overseas.»
This April, West was asked what percentage of Congress does he think are Marxist or International Socialists. West responded that 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party are Communists. “It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” he quipped.
Becoming Allen West
Allen West was born Feb. 7, 1961 in Atlanta, Ga. to two registered Democrats who are still scratching their head on how their son went so terribly wrong. To Rep. West’s credit, he did attribute his childhood as being a conservative one. He grew up in a military home; his older brother served in Vietnam, his father in World War II and his mother was a civilian employee of the Marine Corps.
In the 10th grade, West joined the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training corps (J-ROTC) and entered into officer training in the Army in 1983, after earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee. West is a member of the third of four consecutive generations to serve in the Armed Forces. In 1986, he earned his Master of Arts in political science from Kansas State University, and his Master of Military Arts and Sciences in political theory, military history and operations in 1997 from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
In his military career, he earned the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with clusters and valor device, the Army Achievement Medal with cluster, the Valorous Unit Award, the Air Assault Badge and the Master Parachutist Badge. He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was deployed in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, and the Iraq War in 2003.
While in Iraq, West received information about a possible plot to ambush his unit. The alleged plot involved a civilian Iraqi police officer, Yahya Jhodri Hamoodi. West ordered Hamoodi’s detention, and Hamoodi was severely beaten by soldiers of the 2/20th Field Artillery Battalion, under the defense that Hamoodi was reaching for a weapon. West then fired his sidearm near Hamoodi’s head in an attempt to draw information that Hamoodi later discounted as “meaningless information induced by fear and pain.” The plan never panned out and weapons were never found. West would later say, “At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It’s possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi.”
West was charged with violations of Article 128 (general assault) and Article 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. In an Article 32 (preliminary hearing) investigation, West attested that he knew what he did was wrong, but he did it to protect his fellow soldiers. Ultimately, West was referred to an Article 15 (non-judicial proceeding) in lieu of a court-martial and was fined $5,000 and offered a honorable discharge, which West accepted. After he retired, a letter signed by 95 members of Congress in support of West was delivered to the secretary of the Army.
Immediately after this, West moved his family to Florida and taught high school for a year. After that, he spent two years with a defense contractor, Military Professional Resources Inc. While with MPRI, he worked in Afghanistan.
In 2008, West challenged Ron Klein (D-Fla.) for the 22nd Congressional district seat in Florida. West lost by 9.4 percent of the votes.