“Biden has said some words about supporting the people of Cuba and I agree with that, but we need some actions, strong actions to free the people of Cuba . . .”
With these words, U.S. Representative Alexander Mooney (R-W.Va.), who was little noticed at a Capitol Hill gathering this week in support of anti-government demonstrators in Cuba, wanly admitted his agreement with Joe Biden.
This is quite a change from Mooney’s position last week, when he was recommending military force to create a safe zone and a no-fly zone in Cuba. It would appear he was politely told to go sit in the corner by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), and likely by peers such as Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas). His position as nearly the last congressman to speak Tuesday at a “Cuba Libre” event sponsored by the American Conservative Union seems to suggest none of his fellow conservatives have any sympathy for La-Z-Boy-strategist Mooney’s idea of using military force to aid the protesters in Cuba.
In short, last week’s fulminating, saber-rattling Mooney-the-war-god morphed into this week’s simpering Mooney boo-boo bear.
Meanwhile, the congressman’s 23-year-old ersatz press secretary, the gangly, 6-foot-3 Garrett Huizenga, who got his job via “Nepotism Roulette” (Garrett’s father is Representative Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican, who, like Mooney, is no stranger to the Office of Congressional Ethics), seems to be mimicking Jonah Ryan with incredible skill.
It’s easy to imagine from Garrett’s “work” on Mooney’s official website that he must be writing the updates from a tight fetal position underneath his desk.
Young Huizenga’s major effort Tuesday was posting . . . tah dah . . . the congressman’s mobile office schedule!
It does not include any actual visits by Mooney to the hinterlands of the 2nd District, of course, just some unlucky staffer schlepping around in his “mobile office,” which translates to that individual’s car festooned with a Mooney bumper sticker. It is unlikely anyone will be using the congressman’s shiny, beige Prius, as West Virginians in the 2nd District would take one look at the hybrid car and expect to see a license plate that reads “RINO-1.”
Garrett did not post a word about the congressman’s trouble with the Office of Congressional Ethics or Mooney’s patently obvious grab for donor money from the Cuban community in his suggestion, last week, that the United States go to war with Cuba.
Way to go Garrett!
Maybe one day his dad can get him a better job in a future administration. Keep it up and maybe he can inherit his dad’s seat. With a name like Huizenga, he can’t miss on name recognition.
But perhaps this is not fair to young Garrett.
This reporter received a copy of a checklist from a reliable Capitol Hill source that alleges to be a “helpful hints” memo for all new Mooney staffers and incoming interns.
It includes such items as: “Don’t speak unless spoken to.” “Things never to say to the Congressman: ‘I think,’ ‘I believe,’ and ‘I guess.’” “Be quiet when you come into the office early during session days. AXM may still be asleep.”
At least staffers are not told to always respond by clicking heels, extending their right arm and loudly proclaiming, “Sí, mi Jefé!” or “Jawohl, mein fuhrer!” (That one may already be reserved for Chief of Staff Mike “Shoebill” Hough.)
Meanwhile, the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation of Mooney’s campaign trundles on. It is interesting to note that the last guy who got tagged by the OCE was a congressional chief of staff, David Bowser. It seems he was funneling official funds from the Members Representational Allowance (MRA) for political purposes by hiring a campaign consultant as a congressional staffer.
It might be of interest for the OCE to add Mooney’s MRA ledger to its “review” to see if there are questionable expenditures from his official budget as there have been alleged in his campaign budget.