A Look Back At Peculiar Capitol Hill Appearances

While comedian Stephen Colbert’s appearance before a House Judiciary Subcommittee Friday has riled some feathers, it’s worth noting that he is not the first celebrity to raise eyebrows by coming to the Hill.

Dee Snider And Frank Zappa 

Heavy metal singer Dee Snider and Mothers of Invention frontman Frank Zappa both appeared before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee in 1985 to discuss the influence of rock lyrics.

Zappa described efforts from the Tipper Gore founded Parental Music Resource Center to place labels on records as “an ill-conceived piece of nonsense” and Snider accused the future second lady of misinterpreting lyrics he wrote to contain sadomasochistic messages.

“The only sadomasochism, bondage, and rape in this song is in the mind of Ms. Gore,” Snider said.

Michael Jackson

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) invited Michael Jackson to Washington, D.C. in 2004 to discuss Africa’s AIDS crisis with members of Congress.

While a celebrity showing up on the Hill to bring awareness to a disease is nothing shocking, the timing of Jackson’s trip certainly was.

As Jackson stalked the halls of power, reportedly wearing a silver jacket and pink lipstick, the pop star was under scrutiny from a grand jury in California over charges of child molestation.

Chris Farley

Saturday Night Live Star Chris Farley was invited to a House Republican Conference meeting in 1995 and the rotund comedian arrived dressed as Newt Gingrich. Farley then delivered a monologue impersonating the then-Speaker of the House.

Running through a satirical legislative agenda, Farley asked members to approve measures to make Atlanta, Georgia the new U.S. capital and pass a resolution to keep reporters away from Gingrich’s mother.

The Salahis

Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the socialite couple who garnered notoriety after crashing a state dinner at the White House, faced the House Homeland Security Committee this January after receiving a subpoena.

Although their appearance set off a media blitz, the testimony from gatecrashers was less than substantive.

“On advice of counsel, I respectfully assert my right to remain silent and not answer,” was Tareq Salahi’s sole response to a myriad of questions from the committee.

 Young Ronald Reagan 

The 1950’s era wave to root out Communists from the U.S. government and entertainment industry involved a whole slate of celebrities.

One noticeable occurrence during the Red Scare was actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan’s testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Reagan, the President of the Screen Actors Guild at the time, was asked by the committee if he had any inner knowledge on socialism within the film industry.

“I do not believe the communists have ever at any time been able to use the motion picture screen as a sounding board for their philosophy or ideology,” Reagan said.

Other celebrities roped into HUAC’s investigation included Lucille Ball, Orson Welles and folk singer Pete Seeger.

Civil Rights Attorneys Want Bush Administration Lawyers Prosecuted

Velvet Revolution, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit organization, is calling for the United States government to hold torture lawyers accountable for crimes they have committed.

At a news conference Monday, prominent lawyers Bruce Fein and Kevin Zeese stated their intentions to file complaints against John Rizzo, the acting General Counsel of the CIA, and Jonathan Fredman, a lawyer for the Director of National Intelligence. Rizzo and Fredman have facilitated war crimes yet are still receiving government paychecks, said Zeese.

The United States has been criticized for allegedly torturing individuals at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram Air Force Base.

Zeese also stated that the “United Nations Convention Against Torture”, which was signed by President Ronald Reagan, requires the prevention of torture. Therefore, if President Obama does not prosecute Rizzo and Fredman he would be in violation of the law.

Fein, who served as an attorney under President Reagan, criticized the United States for covering up torture in the name of political expediency, rather than prosecuting those involved with it. “That’s what the Soviet Union would do. That’s what China would do, not the United States of America,” said Fein.

“The toxicity of torture is a poison in our body politic, and there is only one way to remove it. And it’s not to sweep it under the rug. We have to look at the facts, understand what happened, and then hold those accountable through the rule of law,” said Zeese.

Young Conservatives Study Reaganomics

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

A group of young conservatives and GOP leaders gathered for a discussion on lessons that they believe can be learned from “Reaganomics.” The day also marks the fifth anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s death.

The group noted that Obama understands the importance of reaching out to young Americans, just as Reagan did during his presidency in the 1980s. But the group expressed concern over many of Obama's policies.

“In Obama’s America, the federal government would pick economic winners and losers and substitute political judgements for economic ones.” said Frank Donatelli, former Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Donatelli said that the U.S. economy has seen a significant downturn, but countered Obama's statements that America is on the brink of another Great Depression.

“The time is coming when this President will own the economy and we’ll have to learn yet again, government doesn’t create wealth, it only distributes it and when it does, we all have less of it,” Donatelli said.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) said that Reagan understood that it is “freedom and freedom alone that produces prosperity in a society.”

Kate Obenshain, former chairman of the Virginia GOP, said Reagan also understood that not only did freedom need to be understood but it needed to be reinstitutionalized.

The discussion was sponsored by the Young America’s Foundation. The Foundation called on the young conservatives to go out and get involved in campus activism and promote the conservative message.

Today at Talk Radio News

Chief UN Correspondent Dan Patterson is preparing for the opening of the General Assembly at the UN. The Washington Bureau will cover the Homeland Security Department's forum on "National Security and the Cyber Initiative," and a forum entitled "The Next President: A World of Challenges."