This guy is scary

If you're reading this, and you just happen to live in the 5th Congressional District of New Jersey, you should know this about our holier-than-thou Congressman: He behaves like a thug:

I picked up the phone tonight and the man on the other end said his name was Congressman Scott Garrett. I almost didn't believe it. I asked him twice if he was kidding. He confirmed it with some agitation, and then it dawned on me that he didn't like the letter I wrote in today's Express-Times blasting him for voting against Katrina hurricane relief. He was pissed. He started explaining to me that the reason he voted that way was because there was no oversight of the relief agencies, and if I had heard his remarks on the floor of the House I would have known that. Like I said. Pissed.

He asked me to write another letter saying that I now understand why he voted the way he did. He said he doesn't want his family going around thinking he's a "heartless son of a gun." But the tone of his phone call (pissed), and the fact that he called me at my home, doesn't lead me altogether away from that conclusion. Here's why:

All I really said was that he voted against the Katrina relief bill, and I expressed my opinion about it. That it sounded like a bad idea. I didn't lie about anything, and the cold-heartedness I deduced from the vote is consistent with past behaviors.

I know. I know. This is an upsetting time for everyone. You could tell that in the tone of my letter. And, to his credit, I could feel it in his voice that Mr. Garrett truly cares about the victims who are suffering on the Gulf Coast right now. But, it's not a time to be less rigorous in the scrutiny of our politicians. There is never such a time. He's a professional, responsible public figure. He made a decision. He says he understands oversight. Let's oversee him. Let him be accountable to the media. Let him explain it to the public.Oh yeah, I forgot. He's the guy that hides from debates.

Last year a Democrat named Anne Wolfe ran against Garrett. She received ZERO assistance from either the county or state Democratic party, which instead decided to shrug its shoulders and cede this seat to the most deceitful Republican this district has ever had. Anne won 41% of the vote without help.

She's running for Congress again, and STILL the party won't support her. Last week they ran a help wanted ad in the Bergen Record looking for a candidate.