November 11, 2010

Allen West Won’t Tap Right-Wing Radio Host

allenwestforcongress.com

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On Monday, demagogic, Islam-hating Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.) caused his first congressional controversy. Today, he announced his first flip-flop.

The firebrand tea partying West, who as an Army officer confessed to abusing detainees and won a conservative South Florida district last week, today reneged on a Monday promise to appoint right-wing radio host Joyce Kaufman as his congressional chief of staff. Kaufman is a fellow demagogue who spends her air time railing against Muslims, touting an “infidel” ballcap she wears, advocating the hanging of illegal immigrants, and saying Jews who vote for Barack Obama “don’t embrace being Jews anymore.” West’s office made the announcement this morning in a statement:

It is with deep regret that this Congressional office and the people of CD 22 will not have Joyce Kaufman as my Chief of Staff.  Joyce is a good friend, and will remain loyal to South Floridians and to me. I will always seek Joyce’s counsel for being a good Representative of this Congressional District.

West’s rhetoric tracks Kaufman’s pretty closely, and they were thick as thieves on the campaign trail. But a counsel for the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said yesterday that Kaufman’s appointment could be “problematic.” It appears Republican House leaders may have stepped in, prevailing on West to turn down the crazy and pick a chief of staff who (unlike Kaufman) might actually have a modicum of experience with legislative affairs, media messaging, and constitutent services.

West’s already-troubled tenure poses a direct challenge to Republican leadership that’s not going away anytime soon: While it’s in their political interest to keep loose-talking neophytes like him away from the limelight, where they might turn off mainstream voters, they can’t deny that his brand of anger brings in the campaign cash. He was tops among all congressional challengers in donations this year, in no small part because of endorsements from the likes of Sarah Palin and small contributions from angry tea partiers and right-wing vets across the country. He has a chance to become the Michele Bachmann of the South, but only if he manages to avoid alienating his constituents with bad governance and worse sound bites.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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