According to Talking Points Memo, today on the floor of the House Representative Steve King made a speech about ACORN and President Obama -
In a lengthy speech on the House floor today, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) declared that President Obama is "the star of ACORN, the lead, chief organizer."
Railing against ACORN, King mentioned Obama's comment on Sunday that he hasn't paid much attention to the scandal.
"Really, Mr. President?" King said, revealing [a faux "socialist" poster of Obama reproduced at the link].
"He's not interested in ACORN? He's ambivalent about it?" King asked. "Curious."
King went on about Obama's involvement with the housing group, saying it was part of the "genesis" of Obama's political life. "He walks with them all the way through."
Representative King's comments may well have violated House rules regarding decorum in debate. Accordingly, the House should consider whether his remarks should be "taken down", in accordance with those rules. The House majority shouldn't put up with this garbage, because if they do public discourse is only going to get worse. More details below.
As an aside, the poster is actually from a National Review cover, depicting the President with the caption, "Our Socialist Future". But that's not what's really important, other than the fact that it illustrates Representative King's intention to fling the "socialist" accusation on the floor of the House of Representatives.
According to a recent article on OpenCongress.org entitled Censure and Reprimand in the United States Congress -
A CRS Report on decorum rules in Congress states, "References to the President that have been ruled unparliamentary include calling the President a "liar," attributing "hypocrisy" to him, accusing him of "demagoguery" and alluding to alleged personal misconduct or a "propensity of unethical behavior" on the President’s part."
Representative King's comments are clearly not designed to enlighten or persuade, but instead are another snide attempt on his part to get a "sound bite" on right-wing media, and associate the President with whatever misconduct might eventually be established from the recent "ambush" videos of ACORN workers. But, leaving that aside, I have to ask:
Did Representative King think he was calling the President a "liar"? I think he did.
Did Representative King think he was accusing the President of "hypocrisy"? I think he did.
Did Representative King think he was alleging that the President was associated with "unethical behavior"? I think he did.
And it is therefore respectfully submitted that Representative King's remarks (complete with the socialist-accusing poster) be formally taken down.