This is one of those stories that leaves you shaking your head in utter disbelief. Georgia State Representative Jason Spencer appeared on comedian Sascha Baron Cohen’s Who is America? on Showtime and like a growing list of conservatives, he was duped. Spencer thought he was attending a self-defense course with an emphasis on countering terrorism. Cohen was disguised as an Israeli counterterrorism expert Capt. Erran Morrad and had Spencer run through a number of “self-defense” exercises. During the course of the exercises, Spencer humiliates himself over and over again, pulling down his pants, shouting racial slurs and mocking foreigners in phony accents.
When the clip aired over the weekend, the calls for Spencer’s resignation were immediate, albeit a little slower from Republicans, and Spencer was refusing to resign, saying he would finish his term. Less than 48 hours later, the pressure was too great and Spencer is now walking away after all. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The Georgia lawmaker who exposed himself and yelled racial slurs during an episode of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Showtime series is resigning his seat in the state Legislature, according to House Speaker David Ralston’s office.
Spencer was eager to stay on because the entitlement-hating Georgia Republican was on the verge of a huge entitlement.
But he also had financial incentive to stay. If he had remained in office through January, he would have logged eight years of service and become eligible for taxpayer-subsidized health insurance for life.
Oh well.