Historic Day! First Retraction at Almost Blue!

A couple of weeks ago I wanted to establish that I liked and could say nice things about some Republicans in Iowa. I wrote this post about Rep. Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha upon his election to run the Iowa House GOP caucus by his dwindling number of peers.

One of the things I said was:

If he's smart enough to pick two or three victories he wants for his caucus in this next legislative session and stick to them over all the other crap his members and constituency groups will want him to do, he could have some success.

Well it turns out if you are a Republican in Iowa these days you have a need to show toughness, take the gloves off, hit the Democrats hard, blah blah blah. Its all the old political nonsense people just got sick of and voted out.

Today, Paulsen indicates he has concerns First Lady Mari Culver is misusing her state patrol protection privileges. He has offered no authority to support his position, nor demonstrated an understanding of the purpose and function of the Executive Protection Unit. These patrol officers are dedicated people in a coveted position who operate for long hours every day to avoid threats, whether from crazy people or terrorists, on the First Family.

Paulsen's position, apparently, is if one of the First Kids is sick, hurt or the victim of, God forbid, an act of foul play, and their mother is away from Terrace Hill at the time, she should have to fend for herself to get back to them.

Phooey. The EPU is there to protect this family . . . and get used to it, there's a young family in the White House now too. Why do the Republicans glorify the nuclear family and then take potshots at any professional who's serious about both career and family? Why do we let them get away with it? Why is Kraig Paulsen jumping into that camp with both feet?

Disappointing doesnt begin to describe it. This is over the line and I dont care if he did have a point, which he doesnt, you dont come out of the box taking on the Governor's family. He just took himself out of meaningful budget negotiations in 2009 and showed himself to be in the pocket of the worst elements of his caucus.

Oh, Kraig, we hardly knew ye!