My Impression of Tom Emmer as Candidate for Congress

For a short time, Tom Emmer served as a city councilman here in the town in which I live. I attended a number of meetings of the City Council during that time and I have a clear memory of Tom Emmer being a bully. I shared that sentiment a number of times with my wife and friends here in the community.
by Charlie Leck

Whenever anyone stood up to speak against a proposal that Mr. Emmer favored – or for a proposal that he did not favor – he would virtually shout that person down with very ill-mannered comments and behavior. I remember, once, having to stand up and ask Councilman Emmer not to be so rude to people who wished to speak because it tended to frighten community residents and it discouraged them from speaking when we should be doing quite the opposite. Mr. Emmer glowered and smirked at me.

Now Mr. Emmer is running for election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Oh, my! I am saddened by this because I do not think he has the manners and/or the patterns of behavior that are generally expected of one who serves in such a distinguished position.

I chatted with a lawyer who has been looking into Tom Emmer’s behavior in a number of matters. Here’s what he told me…

“Tom Emmer’s history of questionable behavior in our community and in the neighboring town where he now lives bears serious inquiry before sending him to Washington. His suitability for elective office has to be measured by his conduct, not just by his self-professed conservative credentials. Emmer arranged for expensive landscaping at his home by Tony Poppler, a local small businessman. When it was time to pay, Emmer refused and defended the lawsuit Poppler was forced to bring by claiming that Mrs. Emmer had signed the contract for the Emmer home improvements so he had no personal liability.  There are rumors of other local businesses that have unpaid obligations due from Emmer, although folks are reluctant to discuss specifics, leaving so many of us in the region shaking our heads in disbelief. Emmer’s criminal record includes charges of careless driving and driving while intoxicated. Of less serious nature, but perhaps an indication of an ‘above the law’ attitude are a number of more recent speeding and serial parking violations. Emmer deflects any questioning about his run-ins with the law by referring to them as mistakes in the system and not in his behavior. I’m no saint, but I know lots of qualified candidates for esteemed positions whose conscience is deservedly clear about their business dealings and who are not so familiar with law enforcement.”

This fellow is correct about Mr. Emmer’s strange attitudes and I hope the public takes a close look at this guy’s every day behavior before deciding to vote for him.

I’m not a resident or a voter in the district in which Mr. Emmer is running. I’m just down the road from it, however, and I’m familiar with many people there who know Tom Emmer and have deeply-felt worries about him being their congressional representative. The vast majority of folks, however, have not gotten to know Mr. Emmer and they will learn of him only through a campaign that will try to glamorize him and cover up his boorish and bullying behavior.

Tom Emmer was not a good state legislator. He was not a good city councilman and he will not be a good legislator on the national level. He is not a reasonable man who is willing to think things through thoroughly before giving his opinion about those matters. He has placed himself out there on the far right and that is where he intends to stay. Tom Emmer is not just a conservative, but he is a radical conservative with a closed mind. The people of the 6th district should reject him.

By the way, I have here, on my desk, a couple of the court documents related to the suit the above lawyer refers to in the case of Tony Poppler vs Tom Emmer.

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Outta the Fryin’ Pan!

Well, there may be no retirement from blogging for me after all – not if Tom Emmer wins this fall’s election and becomes the 6th district congressman! And I thought we caught a break when Ms. Bachmann stepped down. Ugg!
by Charlie Leck

Well, he did it – as I predicted he might. Tom Emmer has announced that he is a candidate for the U.S. Congress from Minnesota's 6th District. Honest to God, it sends shivers down my spine. Could someone so outrageously stupid really serve in the U.S. Congress? You think Ms. Bachmann was bad? Pssshaw! She was nothin’ compared to this guy. He’s one of the biggest oafs you’ve ever met.

I had the displeasure of watching him in action as a city councilman here in my town (back when he lived here). His tactic was always intimidation. If someone from the audience stood up to speak against some action in which Emmer was in favor, he always did the scare the crap out of ‘em routine. He’d sneer! And, he’d snarl! And then he’d snap! He believes in intimidation; that is, make sure people are too frightened to stand up and speak against you. Tom Emmer is a political bully. He’s impolite, cantankerous, tetchy and puckish. You can always tell when he doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he begins to shout. When he starts shouting and stammering in a debate, you know he’s backed himself into trouble and he’s trying to work his way out of it while distracting anyone who might be witnessing his oafishness.

The 6th district was starting to get tired of Ms. Bachmann’s foolishness. Emmer will be even worse; and, perhaps, in that, there is some hope that the voters of the district will say they don’t want any more of those shenanigans or that behavior. Let’s hope so. It would be so nice if the district would send a polite and reasonable person out to Washington to represent them.

In the coming months we’ll look into Tom Emmer’s background and his behavior in his home town in the 6th district. There will be some interesting things to report. Our goal will be to try to show he doesn’t belong in the Congress.

Maybe the Republican Party will recognize his weaknesses and turn Emmer away.

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If you read my blog regularly, why not become a follower? All you have to do is click in the upper right hand corner and establish a simple means of communication. Then you'll be informed every time a new blog is posted here. If all that's confusing, here's Google's explanation of how to do it! If you don’t want to post comments on the blog, but would like to communicate with me about it, send me an email if you’d like.

Tom Emmer is a Bully!

A local blogger got it just right about Tom Emmer
by Charlie Leck

I’m a regular reader of a blog called Blog of the Moderate Left. Usually it’s pretty good stuff. Yesterday morning it was really good stuff. Blogger Jeff Fecke got it just right (correctly) – spot on – when he described Tom Emmer as a bully. Emmer is a Republican candidate for Governor here in Minnesota.

“Of course, it shouldn’t be surprising that Emmer holds others to standards he himself refuses to live up to. He’s a bully. He wants to push others around. There’s nothing consistent about his ethics; he just wants to force others to dance to his tune, to punish others for made-up infractions. This is who Emmer is. And it’s why he’d be a disastrous governor.”

I posted a comment in response to the blog…

“You’ve nailed Emmer. The operative word is “bully.” I’ve seen him in action both in the State Legislature and as a councilman here in our town some years ago. He doesn’t like people to question him or doubt him. He bullies around anyone who does. Though he’s being portrayed as a good citizen, he really isn’t. He’s left bills unpaid to people he promised to pay and who need to be paid. He has weird excuses, like: “That’s my wife’s debt!” I’d really like to get a look at his finances, so we can see where HE gets his money. Good posting. You got Emmer just right!”

Fecke is a freelance writer from Lakeville, Minnesota. He covers politics for the Alexandria Independent. He’s not quite as “moderate” as the title of his blog implies, but he’s enjoyable to read.

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