SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Retiring U.S. Rep. Denny Heck a politician with a soul

Dec 5, 2019, 6:07 AM

Denny Heck, trump...

Congressman Denny Heck is a Democrat who represents Washington's 10th congressional district. (AP)

(AP)

I hate politics with such a fiery passion that it’s just hard to believe. That means that I have a lot of respect for people like Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA), who just announced that he is retiring after representing the 10th District (which comprises parts of Thurston, Pierce, and Mason Counties) in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013.

The reason? He stated, “The countless hours I have spent in the investigation of Russian election interference and the impeachment inquiry have rendered my soul weary.”

This means that he is one of the few politicians who still has a soul. You have to become a soulless human being to get to the highest level of politics. I don’t blame Denny Heck for stepping aside. Politics is an ugly business right now, especially at the national level.

Let me better explain my point. You’ve got people like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), one of the leading figures in the impeachment of Trump. Do you want an example of how absolutely soul-dead a human being can be? Back in the 1990s in Congress, when Jerrold Nadler was upset at the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, this is what he said.

Dori: David Chen leaving King’s for Shoreline City Council race is why I hate politics

We must not overturn an election and remove a president from office except to defend our very system of government or our constitutional liberties against a dire threat. And we must not do so without an overwhelming consensus of the American people, and of their representatives in Congress, of the absolute necessity. There must never be a narrowly-voted impeachment, or an impeachment substantially supported by one of our major political parties and largely opposed by the other.

Now today, he is leading the charge, doing exactly what he railed against 21 years ago.

That’s where I say, to succeed with any longevity at the highest level of politics, you must become a soulless human.

Some of us are consistent. I was against the impeachment of Bill Clinton because I thought it was a partisan witch-hunt. I am against the impeachment of Donald Trump for the same reason.

Maybe if these people did their jobs instead of just trying to exorcise the bile consuming their souls, policy could actually be made in this country. But instead, we just have these two warring factions. Whether it was the Republicans with Clinton or the Democrats with Trump, we just have nothing but warring factions.

Whatever happened to people who just had the courage of their convictions, and who would, after getting elected, stay unchanged through the horrible process that is politics?

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

White House border czar Tom Homan speaks with reporters outside the White House, Monday, July 20, 2...

Associated Press

Trump’s border czar says vetting of ICE officer is under internal review after Maine shooting

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s border czar said Sunday that the vetting of an immigration officer involved in the deadly shooting of a Colombian native in Maine is under internal review after relatives revealed to The Associated Press that he had a history of serious mental health struggles and violent behavior. Tom Homan said […]

2 hours ago

The Modrite Fire, in northeast Washington state, has grown to more than 9,000 acres. (Photo Courtes...

Tom Brock

Washington state wildfires growing in size, forcing evacuations

Dry conditions across the state have prompted Red Flag Watches and Warnings, as a series of wildfires continues to grow across Washington.

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and others, salute as a U.S. Army carr...

Associated Press

Pentagon’s official Iran war death toll no longer lists 4 troops killed during renewed fighting

WASHINGTON (AP) — The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category. It is raising questions about properly counting the impact […]

3 hours ago

This satellite image released by NOAA shows Hurricane Fausto, center, and Hurricane Genevieve off t...

Associated Press

Genevieve becomes a major Pacific hurricane off Mexico, but no direct threat to land is forecast

MIAMI (AP) — Genevieve has strengthened into a major hurricane in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to intensify well southwest of Mexico but stay far out to sea on a course roughly parallel to the coast. Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 kph), making it a Category 3 hurricane, according to […]

3 hours ago

A Kent Police Department vehicle (Photo courtesy of Kent Police Department)...

Tom Brock

Dispute at a family graduation celebration ends with deadly shooting

One man is dead, and another is in police custody after a family celebration in Kent ended with a shooting. Police arrested a 40-year-old suspect at a family graduation celebration after a 41-year-old man was shot multiple times. It happened at a home in the 900 block of E. Cherry Hill St., a half mile […]

4 hours ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the state memorial for Ze'ev Jabotinsky, at Mou...

Associated Press

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of ‘fomenting hate’ and calls ICC war-crimes charges ‘bogus’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in […]

5 hours ago

Dori: Retiring U.S. Rep. Denny Heck a politician with a soul