Bunning Is An Idiot (Second Edition)

I'm really glad that Senator Jim Bunning is not running for re-election. He might be replaced by another clueless Republican, but it could not be anyone crazier than Bunning. It was bad enough that Bunning stalled the bill to extend unemployment benefits to jobless Americans (something even his Republican brothers didn't think was right), but now he's at it again. And his newest campaign is completely off the crazy chart.

Bunning (pictured) has now decided he's going to hold up the approval of two Obama administration nominees -- Michael Punke to be the Deputy Trade Negotiator and Islam Siddiqui to be the Chief Agriculture Negotiator. The crazy part is that he's not necessarily opposed to these two men. No, he's holding these nominations up because he's mad at a new law passed by the Canadian parliament. That's right, he's mad at something done by a foreign country!

It seems that the parliament in Canada has passed a new law that bans the use of flavorings in cigarettes (except for menthol). The Canadians believe that the use of flavorings in cigarettes (such as fruit and bubblegum flavors) are nothing less than a way to get youngsters to take up smoking. Now I am a smoker, but I believe they are probably right (who else would smoke such an atrociously-flavored cigarette). And evidently, Bunning is willing to defend the right of Canadian children to smoke.

I don't know what Bunning thinks President Obama can do about a law passed by another country to protect their own children. Canada has the right to pass whatever law it wants without any interference from anyone in the United States. For Bunning to try to punish the Obama administration for something that was done by another country, is to raise idiocy to a new level.

I don't care if Bunning is a senator from a tobacco state, there is nothing the United States government can or should do about the new Canadian law. He might as well admit that he's just obstructing the government because he wants to obstruct the government, because this excuse just won't fly. Senator Al Franken hits the nail on the head when he says:

"This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate. It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle. Some of my colleagues seem more interested in using every procedural method possible to keep the Senate from doing anything, than they are in creating jobs or helping Americans struggling in a difficult economy."

He's right. Bunning has stepped way over the line this time. It's time for the men in white coats to come and get him, and they need to bring along a good strong straight-jacket.