Meet Your Congressman: Senator Patrick Leahy

When it comes to politics, most people only know the bad. Ask random people on the street to name famous congressmen (or former) they usually come up with names like Mark Foley or Tom Delay or Ted Stevens (who has been voted out off office by Alaskans!). Even my own blog has profiled the right wing moral hypocrite David Vitter and the strange Danny K Davis. Well, believe it or not, there are actually lots of good politic ans, those who reall do care about making things better and so today the Swanson Blog is going to introduce you to one of the most awesome people ever to be elected to Congress, Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat, Vermont.

Patrick Leahy has been in the US Senate since 1975. Before that he State's Attorney for Chittenden County VT and before that he got his law degree from Georgetown U. Back in 1974 Leahy stunned Vermont's political establishment by becoming the first (and only) Democrat elected to the Senate from VT (as well as his political inexperience). Leahy is a native of VT and did his undergrad work at St Michael's College in Burlington. To this day, Leahy is VT to the core. He and his wife Marcelle live on a tree farm in Middlesex VT and Leahy makes sure to spend as much as he reasonably can in VT.

Since 1975 Leahy has been one of the most liberal members of the Senate. His true progressive stance puts many of the numerous pretend liberals who serve Congress to shame and he is a model of how a true progressive should be when given power. Of all the issues, the only one where he is not a progressive is the gun issue, where he takes a centrist approach (but hey, he's from Vermont, so we'll forgive him). And even though Leahy is one of the most liberal members of Congress, he even has a good working relationship with many Republicans.

During the disgrace that will be known as the Bush years, Leahy was one of the first (and often the first) to scream wake and smell what the Bush and his cronies are doing. Unfortunately, with the Democrats out of power in both Houses, Leahy could only protest and watch the disaster unfold. On issue after issue, it was Leahy who had the courage to stand up to the Bush White House, whether it was voting against the Iraq Invasion, voting against the PATROIT Act Extension, or asking tough questions to the Judicial Department about its infamous rendition program. In 2004, when Leahy asked Vice President Satan (sorry, I mean Dick Cheney, to this day I'm always confusing the two) about Halliburton and its shady activity in Iraq (as well as Cheney's ties to the infamous corporation) Cheney shot back very arrogantly told Leahy to "fuck yourself". That's right the Vice President of the United States told a US Senator to go f*** himself. Leahy is also a strong supporter of same sex marriage - so strong that Leahy is considered by most gay rights activists to be one the most gay friendly members of either House of Congress. Leahy is also opposed to the Death Penalty, in favor of strict separation of Religion and State, in favor (and a fighter for) universal health care, and spending money to create cleaner sources of energy including wind and solar.

Since 2006, when Democrats won control of the Senate, Leahy was rewarded by the Party by getting one of the most powerful jobs in the nation, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. All Federal judicial nominee's and all legal matters get to be reviewed by Leahy. This is not Leahy's first time running the Judiciary Committee; before that he ran it when the Democrats ran the Senate from 2001-2003. Leahy also spent the late 1980's and early 1990's running the Senate's Agricultural Committee.

So I'm sure you're currently saying to yourself "Well Danny K Davis has almost the same positions in Congress (though Dick Cheney never told him to go f*** himself) and look what's he doing outside the House of Reps, palling around with the Moonies and the Tamil Tigers, I'm sure Leahy must have at least a strange side" well the answer is no. This is man like I said is Vermont to the core and as such, he is a man you want to know and hang out with.

First of all there is Senator Leahy's favorite band in the Universe, The Greatful Dead. Leahy has been a mega Dead Head since the late 1960's when he first discovered the Dead. When Leahy was elected to the Senate in 1974, Jerry Garcia and the rest of the Greatful Dead soon became occasional visitors to Capital Hill as Leahy was always inviting them to stop by his office.
(In the halls of Congress it is said that Leahy actually had the balls to introduce Jerry Garcia to super Rightist Strom Thurmond during one of Garcia's visits). Senator Leahy has since getting elected to the Senate Leahy has made it a tradition to play "Truckin" every Election Night at his headquarters (though Leahy has stated that his favorite song is "Black Muddy River"). Leahy often shows up to the Senate Floor wearing ties designed by Jerry. Since the 1990's, both Bob Weir and Micky Hary are regulars at Leahy's fundraisers. Here is a picture of Leahy on stage with surviving members of Bob Weir taken a couple of years ago:

Then we come to Senator Leahy's other love, Batman, that's right, Batman. Since the 1960's Leahy has been a huge fan of the comic series and even lists Batman as his favorite Superhero on his website (and from what I know, the only Senator to even list a favorite Superhero). In the 1990's Leahy did an episode of the Batman animated series and even was an entra in a scene in Batman and Robin and he also wrote the Introduction to a Batman commemorative book. Later in 2005 brought a child's toy Batman for his grandson, well for some reason it was delivered to Leahy's Senate office and Leahy was seen by fellow Senators driving around in it before giving it to his grandson. But Leahy's proudest Batman moment came in 2007 when after years of lobbying he got a speaking role in The Dark Knight. Leahy was the man Heath Leager threatened at the fundraiser at Bruce Wayne's estate.

Finally, we come to Leahy's final love, the Internet. Senator Leahy is a huge technology buff and back in 1995 was the second Senator to establish a web page. Leahy has also written for computer and technology magazines about how technology and the Internet has changed the way he has worked as a Senator. To this day, Leahy has remained one of the most techno savy members of Congress, always be a step ahead of the rest of Congress (and even many Americans) in using the latest technology on a day to day basis.

So there we have one of the most incredible people to ever serve the US Senate. In 2004, Leahy was reelected with 71 percent of the vote, one of the highest margins of victories in a statewide election anywhere in the nation. With Leahy's high approval ratings, it looks like he'll be reelected in 2010, and no doubt he will continue to be a champion of progressive causes.