It’s amazing that it took a child predator in the halls of Congress to get the Ethics Committee back in action. When you think of all the corruption happening in Congress, could there be anything else that would be so important for them to address? Well if your mean Jean Schmidt then yes there could be:
U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt’s nationally ridiculed first appearance on the House floor last year has become the subject of a new ad by her suddenly viable Democratic opponent.
“When Jean Schmidt attacked a congressman, she attacked all veterans and embarrassed all Americans,” says the announcer in the ad by Democrat Victoria Wulsin, a medical doctor who has never been elected to office.
The ad, which started airing Wednesday, shows footage of Schmidt saying “Cowards cut and run, Marines never do,” to Marine veteran and Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania during a November House session. Schmidt, of Miami Township in Clermont County, had to apologize for the remark and was parodied on “Saturday Night Live.”
Schmidt’s campaign reacted to the ad Wednesday by claiming it broke House Rule V, which says recordings of House proceedings may not be used for any political purpose or in any commercial advertisement. But House rules apply “just to elected members of the House,” said an e-mail from Jo Maney, spokeswoman for the House Rules Committee.
Seriously – how much more of an idiot could Schmidt be? Of course the email from Maney was correct – Wulsin is not a member of Congress so their rules do not apply to her. This would be an issue to take up with the state election board or SEC. Schmidt is out doing her baseless ramblings yet again. So will Schmidt call for the Ethics Committee to actually investigate items truly within their jurisdiction since she wants them to be busy? I doubt it.
The interesting part is that this article is from the Cincinnati Post, who endorsed Victoria Wulsin yesterday. The Cincinnati Enquirer also reported on it, but doesn’t even mention that Schmidt’s allegations are totally baseless:
Rep. Jean Schmidt blasted Democrat Victoria Wulsin on Wednesday for allegedly breaking a U.S. House rule that prohibits using the broadcast of House floor proceedings in campaign ads.
“Her continued violation will land her in serious trouble with the House Ethics Committee,” Schmidt’s spokesman Matt Perin said in a release, referring to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which the release mistakenly referred to elsewhere as the “House Committee on Official Standards and Conduct.”
Besides those errors, there’s just one more tiny problem: Wulsin, who is challenging Schmidt in the 2nd District, is not a member of the House. Not yet anyway.
Wulsin’s new ad shows Schmidt telling Democratic Rep. John Murtha that “cowards cut and run, Marines never do.”
Schmidt, a Miami Township Republican, was booed after her Nov. 18, 2005, speech. It’s against House rules to refer to another lawmaker by name or to disparage him on the House floor.
“The only person in this race who has broken House rules is Jean Schmidt,” Wulsin spokesman Ady Barkan said. “If she didn’t want people to see this ad, then she shouldn’t have given that speech.” Malia Rulon
They somewhat elude to this “technicality” where I emphasized it, but did not bother to ask someone from the House Ethics Committee if this could actually happen (gee and both papers are in the same building – perhaps yell down the hall and ask). Of course the Enquirer, who generally endorses all Republicans, has yet to make an endorsement for the OH-2 race.