GOP Rep: 9/11 Was 'Simply' a Plane Crash

Posted by Richard Blair, The All Spin Zone at 1:03 PM on April 3, 2008.

As a frequent guest on Bill Maher’s show, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Ca) is no stranger to putting his foot in his mouth. Generally, that’s quite alright for Issa, because his targets are mostly liberals, progressives, and pro-immigration conservatives. The other day, though, he created a bit of a firestorm when, during a committee hearing that was considering creating new funding for treatment of 9/11 workers, Issa said:

“I have to ask, why damages from a fire that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it, it simply was an aircraft, residue of two aircraft, and residue from the materials used to build this building, why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the City of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration.” …

Needless to say, Issa’s words haven’t exactly gone over well in the New York press. The NY Daily News editorialized yesterday:

Darrell Issa failed to apologize for expressing in the House of Representatives sentiments that nearly fit the yahoo brigade of 9/11 revisionists, minimizers and deniers.

What Issa said Tuesday was callous in the extreme…

The fallout from Issa’s remarks continues today, with Rep. Peter King (R-AsBadAsIssa) remarking:

“New York was attacked by Al Qaeda. It doesn’t have to be attacked by Congress,” added Long Island Rep. Pete King, a Republican.

“I’m really surprised by Darrell Issa,” King added. “It showed such a cavalier dismissal of what happened to New York. It’s wrong and inexcusable.” …

Remember Michael Moore’s movie, Sicko, and how Moore took ground zero workers to Cuba for treatment, because they couldn’t get treatment at home? Perhaps Rep. Issa might wish to recall his stance with Democratic Rep. John Conyers after Moore’s appearance on Capitol Hill last year.

Richard Blair is the blogmaster of All Spin Zone.