I Don’t Hate America!

ECM capitol reporter T.W. Budig offers a thought provoking column about the situation concerning Minnesota State Rep. Mark Olson (R-Big Lake) who was recently convicted of a misdemeanor in the domestic assault case involving him and his wife.

An ethics complaint could await Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, in the near future.

Olson, sole and presiding member of the House Independent Republican Caucus — a body he formed after being booted out of the House Republican caucus — was recently found guilty of one count of misdemeanor domestic assault.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, R-Marshall, has been making inquiries about the ethics complaint process, indicating while his would not be one of the two signatures needed to advance an ethics complaint, volunteers are found within the Republican ranks.

Seifert doesn’t argue that there’s a certain selectivity when it comes to ethics complaints.

Two DFLers in recent times were arrested for drunk driving — the President of the Senate, a colorful House committee chairman — and both have apparently escaped sanction by their peers.

Not that human suffering fits nicely into categories — or should — but drunk drivers kill many more people a year than are claimed by domestic violence.

Serious about complaint

At any rate, House Republicans seem serious about filing an ethic complaint. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to look the other way,” said Seifert of the domestic assault conviction.

In a sense, Olson may be more vulnerable for being on the receiving end of an ethics complaint than other lawmakers.

The Legislature is not unlike high school, and Olson is lawmaker in the periphery — the kid with the bag lunch at the end of the table.

House Republican leaders have express frustration over Olson’s unwillingness to back the caucus — for years he has routinely voted against his Republican colleagues on big bills.

This is not an endearing trait.

And there’s a starkness between the crime and the dizzy world of idealism Olson luxuriates in a like a warm tub.

Quotes George Washington

Olson quotes George Washington more frequently than Martha Washington ever did.

(Quotes from Thomas Jefferson and Ronald Reagan brighten his Capitol office door).

On the House floor, Olson has spoken at length for the need of character development in students and the virtue found in the Great Books.

If his voting record has cost him supporter, his House floor speeches may have cost him more.

Olson himself has noted lawmakers slipping out the House chamber or rolling their eyes during his speeches. (The origins of Olson’s apparently self-defeating behavior might be pondered.) But listeners sometimes raise their eyebrows, too.

In one memorable speech, Olson seemed to suggest the best form of cancer screening might be litmus paper.

On an environmental issue, Olson detailed experiments he had conducted at home that had led him to question one alleged symptom of global warming.

Lawmaker image

The image of the lawmaker making definitive strives in the kitchen sink is one a person might think lawmakers would cherish.

Some do not — it’s late session, they’re tired, and this guy won’t sit down.

Still Olson persists.

This is not to say he is without some support.

One local DFLer, after House Republicans ejected Olson from their caucus after the domestic abuse allegations surfaced, spoke of kicking someone when they’re down.

During a special session, when Olson repeatedly tried a parliamentary maneuver aimed at breaking the deadlock, some lawmakers, along with Olson, kept count.

Resignation or don’t run

Seifert opined if Olson does not resign his House seat he should at least consider not running again.

The leader predicted Olson, serving out his eighth term, will face Republican challengers next time around.

It’s unlikely Olson will be expelled from the Legislature because that virtually never happens.

Whatever does happen, Olson will probably enjoy the full backing of the House Independent Republican Caucus.

Maybe that’s the support he cares about the most, anyway.

I have sat through many a Mark Olson nonsensical amendment and speech combo and I can see why members on both sides of the aisle get frustrated with him whether he is a member of the GOP caucus with an an “independent streak” or a true independent.

Regardless of that though an ethics complaint or effort to remove him should be based squarely in the situation concerning his legal troubles or other unethical behavior violating House rules, not just because he was/is a pain in the ass.

Speaking of being a pain in the ass, I’m watching the US House debate the Transportation and Housing appropriations bill, and is it just me or is there a similarity between Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Olson?

Not from the perspective of spousal abuse, rather the endless array of “gotcha” roll call floor amendments!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2007 at 2:45 pm and is filed under Mark Olson, Jeff Flake, Congress, Marty Seifert, MN House, DJ D.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.