Just when it seemed to be the least likely of four-legged creatures to cause a splash in the political arena, the turtle beats the hare for the win. I'm guessing that Republican Rubberstamper Congressman Pete Hoekstra (MI-02)of West Michigan is wishing he had never heard of the little guys.
After having a temper-tantrum in front of the press about a federally-funded fence going up in his district to protect turtles and motorists alike, Hoekstra didn't like the response his letter to Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm recieved. The entire event was merely posturing for Hoekstra's desired run for Granholm's seat in 2010, it seems to have backfired a bit on him.
While most of the state viewed the tete-a-tete between the Lady Gov and Sneaky Pete from the luxury of their newspapers, Pete couldn't go down without swinging one more lousy punch. I'm also going to take a gander that he's going wake up feeling this one in the morning.
(But first check out Turtlegate Part 1 at MichiganLiberal)
From one of my favorite members of the media, Kathy Barks Hoffman at the AP -
"It is not the concept of the project, rather it is the message sent by the state that concerns me," Hoekstra said in a letter sent to the governor earlier this week.
- snip -
The Democratic governor shot back at the Republican congressman with some criticism of her own. She pointed out that federal law requires states to spend part of their federal highway dollars on projects that don't include building or repairing roads, and expressly allows spending the money to reduce wildlife mortality.
She also took aim at Hoekstra's own spending record.
"Your elected leaders in Lansing have not had the luxury you have had of repeatedly rubber-stamping unbalanced federal budgets," Granholm wrote today. "With all due respect, I do not believe your state budget advice would advance our state's budget or economic climates."
How does that saying go? Oh right - Snap!
Oh Pete, you seem to have made the same mistake all bullies make. You think you can go in and take on a girl, only to end up finding yourself in some of the worst pain you've ever experienced. Honestly, turtles Pete?
Like a lot of bullies, Pete's also proving to be, in the words of another poster, a few Freedom French Fries short of a Happy Meal. Can't blame this one on The Hamburgler though. From the same article -
He sent another letter today to Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) officials asking how they had collected data on turtle deaths.
Wow. I'm stunned. Now my 'lowly' public school education would tell me that they collect data on turtle deaths by counting the number of dead turtles lying in the middle of a highway, not too mention the hours of taxpayer money that went into drafting up that question and putting it to print. For shame, Pete!
Somebody start setting the table and grab the salt, seems as if Pete Hoekstra's got some crow to start chowing down on.
Stay tuned for the next installment of Turtlegate - Pete Hoekstra's Amway/Blackwater funded assualt against Michigan.
**To help with the effort against Sneaky Pete Hoekstra visit The Audacity of Hoek and MichiganLiberal.**