Congressman Fortney Stark, also known as Pete (because who wants to be called Fortney?) demonstrated again today why he should retire, or be retired, by the voters of his district for incompetence (we could say it’s because he’s a crotchety old man who had to live life with the name Fortney, but that would be letting him off easy).

Before the failed attempt to override the President’s veto on the upper-middle class adults socialize medicine plan, called the State CHILDREN’S Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP), Fortney did what he’s known for doing, shot himself in the foot while that foot was planted firmly in his mouth.  The absurdity of what he said isn’t worth typing, we’ll just show you the video.

Good ole Fortney, still one of the best examples of a mandatory retirement age or at least IQ test for Members of Congress.

Let’s take a quick look back at his storied career, shall we?  The following are excerpts  from a San Francisco Chronicle editorial from 2003. (There are plenty more examples in the editorial itself)

Stark is mostly known as a back bencher who can’t control his tongue.

Stark made a reference to the children of Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., all being “born out of wedlock.” It was not only insulting, it was — as Watts pointedly told Stark in a face-to-face confrontation — not true.

Pete Stark who in 1990 suggested former Health and Human Services Director Louis Sullivan, an African American, was a “disgrace to his race.”

We’d like to remind all you tin-foil hat wearers out there that those lines are from the San Francisco Chronicle and NOT Fox News.

The run-in with Watts led to Watts choking Fortney on the Floor of the House.  We could make a joke about the country being better off if that altercation had not been broken up, but that would be in nearly as poor taste as Fortney is.

The editorial concludes this way:

Surely there must be someone along the shoreline between Alameda and Fremont who could represent the good citizens of the district with class and dignity. It’s not the case now.

Amen.