Bob Menendez (D-La Raza) Shames New Jersey, Again...

...man, this guy is just the worst, and his act has worn thin in New Jersey. And with the emergence of a statewide independent/Republican voting coalition - the one that helped put Chris Christie into office - Menendez's star, never a bright one to begin with, is crashing not with a flame, but with an insipid whimper.

I strongly doubt that comparing those who oppose his agenda to al-Qaeda is going to help his standing in what we can fairly call Purple Jersey, but Menendez does it anyway:

Following several hours of floor speeches hammering the GOP, a handful of Democrats including Sens. Bob Menendez (N.J.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Jack Reed (R.I.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.) attacked Republicans in a press conference, repeatedly using the word “hostage” to characterize the status of middle-class tax cuts.

“Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse in its ultimate results? It’s almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists,” Menendez said when asked whether he and other Democrats would accept a compromise with Republicans.

“The majority has a responsibility to get something done, but [also] to get something done that is good for the country,” he added.

..which apparently means it has to be done without compromising with the Republicans, because that would be the equivalent of bargaining with terrorists. Which is horrible, of course, unless a Republican is president, in which case it is an honorable alternative to war.

Bob Menendez may be the Senate equal to soon-to-be ex-Congressman Alan Grayson at this point. He's dreadfully unpopular in New Jersey; an attempt to recall him as Senator made its way to the State Supreme Court before being blocked by a 4-2 vote (shocking for a liberal court), and recent polling showed him more than a bit underwater:

Voters are evenly divided on New Jersey's two U.S. Senators, giving Sen. Frank Lautenberg a split 43 - 44 percent approval rating and giving Sen. Robert Menendez a slightly negative 38 - 41 percent score.

"Sen. Robert Menendez is said to be getting into gear for his 2012 campaign. He'd better. Not only did Democrats lose Bergen County, right next door to Menendez' Hudson County home, on Election Day; he gets a slightly negative job approval measure..."

A 38% approval rating for a Democrat in New Jersey? He's deep in the swamp, lost in the Pine Barrens, broken down on the Turnpike. In other words, he's finished. With little hope for 2012, what's left for Dirty Bob, besides rhetorical bomb-throwing, racism, and hateful slurs against your political opponents, and in effect, your own constituents?

Expect it to work as well for Menendez as it did for Grayson. Bye-bye, Bob. But remember - there's always a place for you at the Council of La Raza...