GOP Rep. Steve King Is Only Vote Against Recognizing History Of Slave Labor In Capitol
Here's an interesting example of those famous lone "No" votes in Congress -- the contrarian who is willing to stand up alone against the overwhelming majority of his or her colleagues, and vote against something that was passing easily.
Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 399-1 for the Capitol Visitors Center to have a plaque acknowledging the role of slave labor in the construction of the Capitol. The resolution has information in it that even this history fanatic didn't know about -- for example, slave labor was involved in constructing the "Statue of Freedom" atop the Capitol Dome.
The "Yes" votes spanned the ideological spectrum, from Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann on the right to Maxine Waters and Dennis Kucinich on the left. The one vote against: Rep. Steve King (R-IA).
King's office has not yet commented on his reason for the vote.
Late Update: King has now released a statement, explaining that the vote was about protecting America's Judeo-Christian heritage.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Further evidence that Steve King doesn't get a lot of things.
July 8, 2009 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Poor old Stephen King has to share a name with this yahoo?
July 8, 2009 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
What funny is that King could as easily ducked the vote and eaten a "NOT VOTING". Instead he stood up against the machine.
John
July 8, 2009 2:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
King: "I ain't gonna vote for no plaque for no slaves unless I get to own one."
July 8, 2009 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
King's office has issued an explanation: Slavery, like global warming, is a myth promulgated by liberals. Those people were just volunteers with good tans..
July 8, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because he has blonde hair and blue eyes and in his mind people like him are the only people who matter. He probably thinks the former slaves should have been grateful for having a job instead of feeling that they were denied their freedom and diginity which all humans are entitled to.
But then again I hate to try to figure out what Steve King is thinking because I get a bit nauseous afterward.
July 8, 2009 3:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
The official reason is that he is a poopoo-head.
July 8, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
You are too kind. Stevie is a dickhead and a flying fricken a-hole. I agree with the commenter above who noted that King probably thinks that slavery either was a good thing for the slaves--hey, it brought them to America!--or that slavery didn't exist--it is a liberal plot, sort of like the Holocaust. If we were in Iran, Stevie would be in the "Party of God" with his twin, Amedinijad.
July 8, 2009 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
King has just edged ahead in this week's "No, I'm the Batshit-Craziest Wingnut" sweepstakes.
July 8, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously, he's just a racist.
Now that his doppelganger Tancredo is gone from the House, he has to carry the torch as the sole representative of unalloyed racist filth.
July 8, 2009 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
20 bucks says this doofus just hit the button.
July 8, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
wrong button, that is.
July 8, 2009 4:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rep. King sure is no Dr. King.
July 8, 2009 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
A Plaque? Thank you, Steve King, for standing up against outrageous pork barrel spending. Although all 7 of your black constituents would have been very grateful, I'm glad someone has the guts to speak out against this wild spending spree.
July 8, 2009 4:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
How does this have anything to do with Judeo-Christian heritage? A point of shame for Christians is that white men used the Bible to justify slavery (Ephesians 6:5 "obey your earthly master")
July 8, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink