odd group of names involving themselves with aliens
This is kinda interesting…
Ex Congressmen form panel to investigate UFOs.
The five days of hearings will take evidence from 40 witnesses in Washington and be designed to mimic the format of a Congressional hearing.
The group said that because of the “global implications of the issue” it would livestream proceedings in English, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Japanese and Mandarin. “This represents approximately one half of the world’s population.”
Naturally the big name in this group is ex Presidential candidate, first for the Democratic nomination and then for the Libertarian nomination, Mike Gravel. Â And he’ll get a few blurbs out there.
Described by one historian as “a loose cannon†during his 12-year Senate career, even in retirement the former Alaska lawmaker courts controversy, whether defending Wikileaks cause celebre Bradley Manning, attacking the official version of 9/11 or, earlier this year, attending the International Conference on Hollywoodism in Iran. “Playing it safe,†he says from his home outside San Francisco, “is no fun.â€
So it should come as no surprise that, when UFO-transparency lobbyist Steve Bassett invited him to serve on his Citizen Hearing on Disclosure panel later this month, Gravel — who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2007 — decided the money was worth his time to wander off the grid again. Even though Gravel says he knows little about the UFO issue.
But look at the other names here.
Darlene Hooley (D-OR), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Merrill Cook (R-UT), and former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK) comprise the panel.
I don’t want to hash too much on this somewhat eccentric activity by these figures, but it does strike me that it takes a bit of an “I don’t care” eccentricity, shown surely somewhere in their past career, to plunge into this activity.  Stumping into Merrill Cook’s wikipedia page shows this …
In 1998, Cook was accused of instances of erratic behavior. He was briefly banned from state Republican headquarters after an obscenity-laced tirade, his reaction to being told his name had been eliminated from a GOP get-out-the-vote effort to which Cook’s campaign had contributed $25,000. He, nevertheless, won by 10 percentage points. He demoted his chief of staff Janet Jenson a few days after the election; in an email, Jenson told her colleagues, “Merrill has taken up permanent residence in whacko land. If he asks you to fax his underwear to the speaker’s office, please just do it
Lynn Woolsey we see not afraid to be arrested for protesting. Â Â Kilpatrick’s family became pretty controversial (her son is a disgraced mayor of Detroit). Â And then there’s…
Darlene Hooley, huh?
Well, Stephen Colbert did find reason to ask her, when she started giggling, “Are you high right now?” Â Otherwise, she seemed a pretty straigh-laced congress critter. Â Odd choice of issues.