Chris Achorn, a.k.a Chris from Maine, who has been kicking butt with his anti-Glenn Beck campaign, scored an interview with Maine Democratic Congressman Tom Allen. Chris posted the interview on his blog My Two Sense.
This is, I think, one of Allen's first interviews with a blogger -- and it's cool that he did it with a Maine blogger. Tom told Chris that his top three priorities are 1) Addressing the Health Care Crisis; 2) Ending the Conflict in Iraq; and 3) Global Warming and Alternative Energy. This was one of the other questions:
CHRIS FROM MAINE: How important do you feel it is to investigate the President's actions on the Iraq war and various other measures some find to be either unconstitutional or illegal?
TOM ALLEN: My constituents have repeatedly expressed outrage at the fact that recent Congresses have refused to conduct meaningful investigations into the misleading justifications for war made by Administration officials. Since the start of the war, I have joined colleagues in responding to the public’s outcry by writing numerous appeals to committee chairmen, introducing legislation, and making public appeals for proper investigations. For the past several years, all have fallen on deaf Republican ears. Under Republican control neither of Congress’ two premier oversight committees, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee or the House Government Reform Committee, held even one hearing on the White House’s incorrect statements on threats posed by Iraq in the lead-up to the war. This will change under the 110th Congress. It is vital that we find out what mistakes have been made so that we do not repeat them in the future.
Tom Allen is a great Congressman. More importantly, Allen is gearing up to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in 2008. He can beat her.
Collins chaired the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee in the last Congress. Despite that position of power, Collins did nothing to challenge Bush. In fact, just this morning, Collins was featured in an NBC news piece on the disastrous and wasteful Baghdad Police Academy project. The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction issued a scathing report about the fraud and abuse in that US government funded job. There was Collins acting all outraged.
Yet, she was the chair of the very Senate Committee that could have -- and should have -- asked questions -- but she didn't do anything to upset her President and defend her country.
She's useless. And despite what she's now saying about Iraq - which is frankly flip-flopping all over the place - Collins is already supporting the leading advocate of escalating the war, John McCain, for President. Susan always wants it both ways. She's no Olympia.
This is going to be a great race. And, it's good to see that Tom engaging the Maine blogosphere.
