A Day With The Congressman
U.S. Rep. Brian Baird is a smart man.
I witnessed this while traveling with the Vancouver Democrat last Friday as he toured prospective levee sites with Army Corps of Engineers representatives and state and local government officials. Now, normally I would not make such an apparently opinionated assessment, but the fact that Baird holds a doctorate in clinical psychology seems to confirm this as fact.
What I can attest to personally is that Baird also has a solid sense of humor. From George W. Bush impersonations, to jovial threats to throw an Army Corps spokesman into the Skookumchuck River, the congressman exhibited his apparent ability to crack jokes.
After the tour, the group headed to the Lewis County Law and Justice Center where they held a roundtable discussion concerning the levees. Those on hand included state Rep. Gary Alexander, R- Olympia, Lewis County Commission chairman Ron Averill, Centralia Mayor Tim Browning, Chehalis Mayor Tim Browning, Chronicle Publisher Dennis Waller and Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District Commander Colonel Mike McCormick.
At one point, the discussion turned to the question of whether or not Baird would be able to obtain federal funding for the project when he returned to Congress. In the midst of the serious discussion, Baird joked that he knew how he could assure that funding was secured.
He hunched his shoulders, and altered his voice into a southern drawl, summoning an impersonation of President George W. Bush.
“If you have Al Qaeda there, I’ll be there in a second,” Baird joked, holding up his hands and shooting a quick smile around the table.
Though his audience consisted of mostly Republicans, the congressman elicited at least a chuckle from just about everyone in the room.
Bush was the butt of Baird’s joke in this case, but the congressman has been on the receiving end of some wisecracks himself. Baird appeared on Comedy Central’s hit show The Colbert Report last year, and was lampooned by host Stephen Colbert during the segment “Better Know a District.” Check out the video here.
The Colbert Report has also posted an entry for Baird on a satirical version of Wikipedia which is called Wikiality — The truthiness encyclopedia. The entry states that Baird “supports meth, killing sea lions, leaving children behind, and Iraqis taking over our beloved America.” You can visit the page here.
I witnessed this while traveling with the Vancouver Democrat last Friday as he toured prospective levee sites with Army Corps of Engineers representatives and state and local government officials. Now, normally I would not make such an apparently opinionated assessment, but the fact that Baird holds a doctorate in clinical psychology seems to confirm this as fact.
What I can attest to personally is that Baird also has a solid sense of humor. From George W. Bush impersonations, to jovial threats to throw an Army Corps spokesman into the Skookumchuck River, the congressman exhibited his apparent ability to crack jokes.
After the tour, the group headed to the Lewis County Law and Justice Center where they held a roundtable discussion concerning the levees. Those on hand included state Rep. Gary Alexander, R- Olympia, Lewis County Commission chairman Ron Averill, Centralia Mayor Tim Browning, Chehalis Mayor Tim Browning, Chronicle Publisher Dennis Waller and Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District Commander Colonel Mike McCormick.
At one point, the discussion turned to the question of whether or not Baird would be able to obtain federal funding for the project when he returned to Congress. In the midst of the serious discussion, Baird joked that he knew how he could assure that funding was secured.
He hunched his shoulders, and altered his voice into a southern drawl, summoning an impersonation of President George W. Bush.
“If you have Al Qaeda there, I’ll be there in a second,” Baird joked, holding up his hands and shooting a quick smile around the table.
Though his audience consisted of mostly Republicans, the congressman elicited at least a chuckle from just about everyone in the room.
Bush was the butt of Baird’s joke in this case, but the congressman has been on the receiving end of some wisecracks himself. Baird appeared on Comedy Central’s hit show The Colbert Report last year, and was lampooned by host Stephen Colbert during the segment “Better Know a District.” Check out the video here.
The Colbert Report has also posted an entry for Baird on a satirical version of Wikipedia which is called Wikiality — The truthiness encyclopedia. The entry states that Baird “supports meth, killing sea lions, leaving children behind, and Iraqis taking over our beloved America.” You can visit the page here.
posted by Rick Pierce at
3:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home