A Trip He Should Have Taken

Repug Rep. Jim Kolbe of Arizona was busy traveling this year, even though he is due to retire from Congress at the end of this session, with some speculating that the reason is because of his alleged ties to the Mark Foley scandal (Kolbe has been described in some reports as “an openly gay Republican,” which I’m sure puts him distinctly in a minority).

According to this AP report…

As chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, export financing and related programs, Kolbe weighs in on numerous international issues.

But Kolbe took the trips after his committee approved the foreign-operations bill on May 25, which is one of his key responsibilities. His first privately paid trip of the year was to Istanbul, Turkey, between May 29 and June 4.

As long as Kolbe is doing his “globe trotting,” I think he should make a stop in Iraq, which I believe would be a first for him. I think that’s the least he could do given his idiotic quote that I referred to in this previous post from nearly a year ago (long before the Foley scandal).

And speaking of trips, it looks there’s some confusion over whether or not “Deadeye Dick” actually spent part of Thanksgiving with our troops in Iraq. I would say that a visit on his part is long overdue, especially for a holiday.