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By Ben Domenech Posted in 2008 | Crazy Republicans | Pete Olson | Shelley Sekula-Gibbs | TX-22 — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

On an earlier thread, a few people asked for clarification on why I would refer to Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, the opposition to Pete Olson in the TX-22 runoff, as a "crazy lady."

A true accounting would be too voluminous to take up your time. But since you asked, put on your Mad Hatter tophat, and allow me to welcome you on a brief sojourn into SSG's splendiferously nutty world. It's like It's a Small World, but with more action!

Let's start with an example of the kind of typical statement that Shelley Sekula-Gibbs is known for - the offhand remark that just makes you go, "Wha?". What SSG had to say on the trail two weeks ago is a perfect example of the kind of statement that just makes you raise an eyebrow and smile. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Sekula Gibbs was forced to run as a write-in against Lampson for a full, two-year term after DeLay withdrew as the GOP nominee. This week she said "liberal activist judges" had kept her off the ballot.

The ballot decision was rendered by a federal judge appointed by President George H.W. Bush, upheld by a three-judge panel of the generally conservative U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and turned away by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the most conservative high court members.

But you see, they kept her off the ballot - so Antonin Scalia MUST be a liberal activist judge! This is just the way her brain works: she's living in a movie, and she's the heroine - so everyone else has to be a villain. She overestimates her own accomplishments, and casts aspersions on the motives of anyone who would oppose her: Here's another perfect example. When pressed in a Houston radio interview about her malleable view on abortion (more on that, with links to the interview, can be found here), she stood on a "100% pro-life record in Congress."

The radio host himself had to laugh:

"Are you honestly going to stand on a 100 percent right-to-life vote when you served in Congress for literally two weeks?" Hendee asked, referring to the time period the House was in session in December 2006.

"Actually it was seven weeks, but absolutely," Sekula Gibbs answered, referring to her total time in office.

And what a glorious seven weeks it was. With the time she had in Congress, SSG had her mind set on achieving amazing policy successes. As she told the Washington Post at the time:

"I'm working hard to accomplish the things I'm working for," she said yesterday. "For tax cuts. For immigration reform. To make sure we have a good solution for the war in Iraq."

All that? In a few weeks?

"If there's a way to do it, I'll do it," she said, smiling beneath her bright blond hair. "I'll deal with the leadership to get as much done as possible."

What makes this quote even better, of course, is that at the exact same time she was giving it, the entire staff of former Rep. Tom DeLay was walking out of the office en masse, led by the Chief of Staff (so no, this wasn't just the interns deciding to take the afternoon off)!

According to Robert Novak, Sekula-Gibbs meltdown over the fact that President Bush and Vice President Cheney didn't attend her meaningless signing-in ceremony (come on, people - her first motion on the floor of the House was to call for adjournment!) prompted the protest.

The last remnants of the resigned Tom DeLay’s once powerful congressional staff on Tuesday walked out of the office of his temporary successor, Rep. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, because of exasperation with her. Sekula-Gibbs, a Houston City Council member and physician, was elected to serve in the lame-duck session but was defeated in a write-in for a full term.

The last straw for the DeLay alumni was when they were instructed by Sekula-Gibbs to make sure President Bush and Vice President Cheney were seated in the gallery for her swearing-in. The word on Capitol Hill is that she must have been really obnoxious for staffers to give up two months of easy pay.

Not that Shelley's one to hold a grudge, against those liberal activist judges or others. But she is ready to stand up and defend the right of the people to keep the memos written for her by LCs on the important issues of the day, which those little quitting jerks decided to delete on her! If there is one thing Shelley Sekula-Gibbs does not stand for, it is stolen computer files! She called for a probe to investigate to the highest level. Who knows what valuable information had been stolen by the outgoing staff in an attempt to sabotage her work?

Oh, wait:

After most of Shelley Sekula Gibbs' Washington staff quit during her seven weeks as a congresswoman, she alleged they had erased the computer research she requested on immigration, Medicare and other issues.

"As public servants, they have harmed the 22nd Congressional District and they have brought shame to this office," the Houston dermatologist said in December 2006.

But House officials now say their investigation of her charge found no wrongdoing by the six aides.

"Our computer security analysts did look into then-Rep. Sekula Gibbs' concerns around the integrity of computers in the office she briefly occupied and found no traces of purposeful erasure of data," Jeff Ventura, spokesman for the Office of the House Chief Administrative Officer, told the Houston Chronicle. "It was determined that any lost data may have been inadvertent or the result of standard methodology employed when any member of Congress transitions to another."

As for those staffers who walked out? Well, let's just say they don't regret it.

The aides, who had worked for Republican Tom DeLay before joining Sekula Gibbs' staff, walked off the job five days after she took office.

"Never has any member of Congress treated us with as much disrespect and unprofessionalism as we witnessed during those five days," ex-staffer David James said then. He is now an aide to Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

You just had to rub it in, eh? David James, of course, is clearly taking himself out of the running for the new SSG office. He has truly made a powerful enemy.

It certainly would be fun to have Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in Congress. Always good for a laugh, she'd most closely resemble the old days of Louisiana politics, where voters selected their officials primarily for entertainment purposes. Or in a few other places too, you know, like Jim Traficant or Dennis Kucinich's districts.

But if you care more about being represented, and less about getting a laugh from the morning paper, then I think you should consider a different candidate.