Despite nonsense from the Beltway media, the only "surprise" about Barbara Mikulski's retirement announcement yesterday was that she made it yesterday. There was no chance she was running for another term. She'll have served in the Senate for thirty years (the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, when you recall that she was also in the House for a decade, from 1977-1987).
In 2013 right-wing lunatic Robert Pittenger and a less extreme, business-friendly Republican calling himself a New Dem, Patrick Murphy, sent out a letter to House leadership from a motley crew of conservative freshmen-- from crackpot sociopaths like domestic terror supporter Steve Stockman (R-TX), congressional coke dealer Trey Radel (R-FL), whack job teabaggers like Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Ted Yoho to the usual aisle-crossing Blue Dogs and New Dems from the Republican wing o
