It’s not every day you hear a member of Congress suggest he would challenge other senators to duels — and for one of those senators to respond by mocking the Congress member’s physical appearance.
On Monday, Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) offered a novel — and sexist — explanation and solution for the Republican health care bill’s struggles: He blamed “some female senators from the Northeast” for holding up the legislation. Then he went on to argue that “if it was a guy from south Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style” — a reference to Burr’s fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton in 1804.
In a hot mic moment, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), one of the senators who opposes the Senate health care bill because it would lead to big losses in insurance coverage, was very blunt in her thoughts about Farenthold.
First, she asked Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), “Did you see the one who challenged me to a duel?”
Reed said, “You could beat the shit out of him.”
Collins responded: “He’s so unattractive. It’s unbelievable. … Did you see the picture of him in his pajamas next to this bunny?”
The recording is then cut off.
This is what the Senate’s debate over Obamacare has turned Congress into. On one side, you have a Congress member making sexist comments and almost challenging senators to duels. On the other side, you have a senator mocking that Congress member’s physical appearance. It’s a bizarre world.
