Controversial Dem Manufactured White House Quotes

Updated at Bottom!

A newly-elected Democrat Congressman who first drew heat for insulting First Lady Laura Bush is now battling with the White House over allegedly insulting confrontations with Karl Rove, Vice President Dick Cheney, and President and Mrs. Bush. The White House insists the alleged confrontations did not take place.

Blogger research shows that millionaire doctor, now U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen D-Wis, appears to have manufactured distinctly different versions of on the record quotes from the interactions in question on at least four different occasions.

WASHINGTON — The White House is labeling as "ridiculous" a story U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen told a small group of constituents about the reported verbal barbs he delivered to President and Mrs. Bush as well as White House political adviser Karl Rove six days after the November election.

Kagen had no comment when confronted with the White House denial.

The controversy began with this report via Drudge of a meeting between Kagen and a small group of local peace activists.

While meeting last month with a group of area peace activists, then Congressman-elect Steve Kagen told a story of his first visit to the White House that shows a feisty and humorous side to our new man in Congress.

After Rove washed his hands (“At least he’s a hand washer,” Kagen said), he attempted to leave, but Kagen prevented his departure by holding the door closed and said, “You’re in the White House and you think your safe, huh? You recognize me? My name’s Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass.”

Kagen expected to make Rove squirm, but said (he) acted like it was a tennis match and simply said, ‘Oh, congratulations.’

However, Kagen gave an entirely different quote from the alleged confrontation with Rove to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on November 14, just one day after his White House visit.

Posted: Nov. 14, 2006

At a White House event this week for incoming freshmen, the 56-year-old allergist from Appleton greeted Karl Rove: "Do I look familiar? I'm Dr. Multimillionaire."

Rove's response?

"Congratulations."

While that might be excused as Kagen simply choosing to leave out elements of a more colorful exchange when talking to the Milwaukee newspaper, the problem is, Kagen then gave an entirely different quote to a local television station, also reported the next day.

"I got to meet with the architects of the campaign against me," he quipped. "So I got to meet face-to-face with Karl Rove, (Vice President) Dick Cheney and President Bush."

Kagen said he told Rove, the president's top political adviser, "I'm the one who beat you in Wisconsin."

The Congressman and Millionaire doctor claiming to have verbally smacked down Karl Rove and VP Cheney, while also insulting the President and First Lady Laura Bush, might be better served if he learned a little something about blogging and Internet archives. His on the record accounts of his alleged confrontation with Vice President Cheney also differ.

From his meeting with peace activists:

He then asked Cheney to enunciate his vision for Iraq.

“ ‘Well, Id like to see a stable government that could take care of itself and its people.’ I said, ‘at what price?’ He said, ‘I don’t understand your point.’ I walked away.

There was no mention of any confrontation here.

At the same gathering Kagen buttonholed Vice President Dick Cheney on Iraq, asking him what he saw as the end game to U.S. involvement there.

The representative-elect quoted Cheney as saying he wanted a stable government that could take care of itself.

And still another version he gave to the Greenbay Post Gazette made the Cheney meeting sound quite cordial.

WASHINGTON — President Bush, Vice President Cheney and presidential adviser Karl Rove all campaigned against him.

But Monday night, Rep.-elect Steve Kagen, an Appleton Democrat, was with all three, having his photo taken with Bush, chatting with Cheney about Iraq and receiving congratulations from Rove at a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress.

Recalling his conversation with Cheney about Iraq, Kagen said Tuesday, "He said he wanted to see the region stabilized — the government to take care of itself and its people. We just have different ideas on how to get that done."

As he appears to have slept in the day after his night at the White House, missing the Congressional Class picture and perhaps an ethics class, it's possible the new Congressman wasn't all there at the gathering, or hasn't yet come to appreciate the meaning of on the record in Washington, DC., ... or the danger in making it up differently each time as you go along just to play to the crowd. No doubt his local peace activist constituents thought fondly of him for allegedly insulting the highest elected and appointed government officials in the land; not to mention America's First Lady, the President's wife.

As for this unfortunate nonsense that started it all:

Then I go to his (President Bush's) wife, ‘Hi Barbara, how are ya?’ I did that because I learned on the campaign that the meanest thing you can say to another gentlemen is, ‘he’s a fine fellow,’ and you then refer to his spouse by a different name.”

One might hope that, given Mrs. Bush's seemingly genuine cordial demeanor, Kagen made that up, too - just as he had to have made up some two of the three Rove quotes above - to please the rabid Left ... and the First Lady didn't actually have to endure such rude and boorish behavior from the less than Honorable Gentleman from Wisconsin. Given the now conflicting accounts of what transpired during his November visit to the White House, perhaps Democrat Kagen will go back on the record and clear a few things up.

Making yourself look like an obnoxious fool to push an upcoming appearance on the Colbert Report is a far cry from being a responsible elected official.

Expect this side of Kagen to show up when he appears on the “Colbert Report” in February.

Great, the elections over ... and, whichever, if any, of the on the record, though disparate, Kagen versions is actually the truth, it seems yet another ego-maniacal millionaire who wants to be a TV star has taken the nation's Congressional oath. Ultimately, I'm left to ponder, other than Kagen's appearing to be something of a unique sort of ass, is there really anything newsworthy in that?

Update: And now, the FDA has informed Kagen that it seems his medical practice has been violating the law for operating without a license.

Washington - Federal health officials have warned freshman Rep. Steve Kagen that his Wisconsin allergy practice is in apparent violation of federal law for manufacturing and selling allergy shots without a valid license.

The FDA letter, which was dated Dec. 18 but wasn't posted online until Thursday, said that Kagen, an Appleton Democrat, did not have a valid license required for introducing a biological product into interstate commerce.

At issue are products marketed by Kagen's clinic such as Poly RW, Super Ragweed, Poly Grass and Super Grass. Kagen is a medical doctor.

Pity he didn't get the Committee assignment he wanted:

Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that Kagen will serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee next year.

Kagen, a physician specializing in allergies who partly ran on a "No Patient Left Behind" platform, had hoped to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee because of its jurisdiction over health care policy.

It's unclear if this is a non-denial denial, or a non-confession, confession.

They even have the transcript of Kagen on Oshkosh radio station WOSH from this morning. Not a good moment for the Appleton Allergy Clinic Maven.

The Democratic Congressman is not denying he made these comments to a group of peace activists. He spoke with Bob Burnell of WOSH Radio about what happened in Washington.

Kagen: “At no time — at no time — were we disrespectful to one another.”

Burnell: “Really? This is all completely fabricated then? You didn’t call the first lady Barbara?”

Kagen: “It was a social occasion, and the president enjoyed the social interaction, as did I.”

Burnell: “There were no verbal barbs exchanged between you and the president?”

Kagen: “We had a very jovial moment.”

Burnett: “Alright, Congressman, then you’ll say that the scene recounted this meeting that happened is a complete fabrication then?”

Kagen: “no, I won’t say that. I’m saying that I enjoyed our time together and that we had a wonderful time taking our picture with the president.”

Comments

[Kitty]

Nor does it give me a warm fuzzy to think that this twit is an MD.

[Artie]

Laura Bush looks demented. Whatever medication they have her on must be working. She smiles like the Joker .

[Major John]

Dean, now this guy - perhaps it is better they are out of the practice of medicine.

Artie subtly illustrates Dan's point without even realizing it (or perhaps he does, and just doesn't care).

[Mark Poling]

Good on ya, Artie. One of your's gets caught being sleazy, attack the President's wife.

That's why your side is known for higher intellectual standards.

[Rof Pifec]

Laura may be tired of hearing about Rice and George. The WMD studying at the mansion late at night, the CIA WMD universities, the Iraq WMD war, and maybe Rice is tired of the Canadian guy and wants George back again?

Dean is probably freaking out about the Afghanistan war and how it looks like Vietnam and his brother.

As far as smiling like a joker, I don't think she inadvertantly drank mushrooms!

Enery and Commerce is how they are going after the war and the oil. Pelosi probably planned that early on and he is missing out on it. It isn't going very well anyway.

[buzz]

What? A republican white house campaigned against a democrat? Well no wonder he's upset. That's just unheard of. Clearly it's all personal.

[Diggs]

Clearly there were Republicans who came into Congress during President Clinton's term. Did any of them brag to conservative groups about insulting Hillary when she was First Lady? I kinda doubt it.

[jr]

It seems we're electing more and more twits to high office these days.

[topsecretk9]

"My name’s Dr. Multimillionaire and I kicked your ass.”

I'm sorry, is this a 56 year old bragging to have said this? Seriously, not a high school jock? A 56 year old? Impressive.

It's also really fascinating many democrats really feel the need to fabricate or engage in banal behavior in order to please? impress the nutters? They not only dumb them self down, they'll even make up the dumbing down. Weird.

[T-web]

It shows what a poor state the left is in that personally insulting the first lady to her face is considered a brag-worthy act.

[Poetoid]

Artie Artie, quite a smartie, represents the jackass party: singular wit, the vicious twit, prolly copied all of it.

[David Weigel]

"Dr. Multimillionaire" was the nickname Kagen's Republican opponent used for him in TV ads; Kagen didn't come up with him itself. This is the equivilent of George Allen (had he won) going up to Howard Dean and saying "Remember me? I'm Macaca, and I kicked your ass."

[Dan Riehl]

"This is the equivilent (sic)"

It must be easy being a Lib Dem, you just make chit up, feed it to the moonbats and they drink the kool aid every time.

[Purple Avenger]

This moron is just getting warmed up. Sit back, watch the show. He'll be an Energizer Bunny of entertainment and stupidity for at least two years.

[Artie]

Yeah, not like you rightwing asshats ever attacked Hillary, right? Cmon, admit it - Laura looks batshit crazy. Maybe its the meds for the guilt of murdering Michael Douglas years ago. Anyway - she still looks like the Joker.

[Purple Avenger]

"Yeah, not like you rightwing asshats ever attacked Hillary, right?"

If you got video/audio of that happening at a reception, present it.

[Paul]

You've got a point Artie. Apparently Laura is qualified to be a Senator from New York.

[Paul]

and Weigel, macaca is never not funny, is it?

[Brian]

Well, for two years, at least, "The Adventures of Dr. Kagen" will make the cancellation of "The Cynthia McKinney Comedy Tour" easier to take.

[Jay Manifold]

Artie, if you think that really happened, I've got a spaceship flying behind a comet you can catch. Just lie down, put the plastic bag over your head, and drink the phenobarbital and vodka. And you talk about "rightwing asshats"?

[Noelie]

Yeah Artie, you inspire me as much as the lunatic this was originally written about thinking he is some 17 year old badass jock, or Barbara Boxer proving once more that only your side of the aisle has equality of your making.

You inspire us so much with your pointless opinion. If I find Hillary frightening it isn't her looks, although there is a point well made that at least our side of the aisle knew how to behave at a formal event meeting her. What have you got? Nothing but prove your mother failed to impress upon you basic behavior and intelligent politeness.

Now go play little boy since you didn't do the right thing and go find the way to tell this jerk ON YOUR SIDE of the aisle to behave and you just proved how to be as pointless a waste of breath as he is.

[jpe]

an NRCC ad:

"What Dr. Millionaire doesn't want you to know is his clinic left more than 80 patients behind -- suing them. That's right, suing more than 80 patients."

What he said is pretty funny, actually. Well, if you're not a pouting baby. Waaaaah!

[David Weigel]

"It must be easy being a Lib Dem, you just make chit up, feed it to the moonbats and they drink the kool aid every time."

Be serious. The NRCC ran ads labelling Kagen "Dr. Millionaire," and while I can't find the ads themselves on YouTube, anyone can find references to them. Here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003252050_campaign10.html

"The first round of attacks includes an ad that labeled a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin "Dr. Millionaire" and noted he has sued 80 patients."

Kagen's opponent John Gard ran ads attacking Kagen's wealth, although they simply refered to him as a "millionaire" or "multimillionaire."

"Multimillionaire Dr. Steve Kagen." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNG3xSUt3qQ )

"Here's Millionaire Steve Kagen's tax plan." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxIbJxC4Bxw )

Kagen comes off like a moron here, but having incredibly thin skin about negative campaign ads and shoving it in your opponents' faces is slighly less nutzoid than coming up with nicknames for yourself like "Dr. Millionaire."

Also, I made a mistake in my previous comment. I said Kagen's dumbass comment was the equivalent of George Allen making a macho joke about macaca "if he won." According to Dan, George Allen won that election. (http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/11/allen_in_va.html ) My mistake.

[Dan Riehl]

lol Dave, glad it took up your time. At least you weren't off picketing Walmart. But you totally missed the point. I wasn't challenging any of the assertions you ran all about to prove. The fact is, he lied to a group of moonbats about his interactions with the WH and they drank it up. And now you're drinking up his BS, too.

[David Weigel]

Hmm... I actually enjoy googling YouTube for campaign ads. And you seem enjoy meowing and yelping at people who, without exerting much effort, get the better of you. Glad we could provide a little fun for each other.

[jtb]

This Kagen guy is the tourist from Wisconson and Ford Fairlane rolled into one. Without any of the funny parts...

[DaveP.]

David dodges Dan's point. Typical.
Democrat progression:
1- Democrat performs a classless act.
2- Democrat then lies about having done it (in this case, we may have skipped Part 1, and gone straight into the lie).
3- When classless act is noted on a conservative blog, Democrats first deny it ever happened, then provide classless acts of their own (usually in the form of a personal attack or an attack on someone's wife, mother, et cetera), then try moral equivalency, then try to change topic. Usualy, there's an attempt to link to something completely nonrelated.
4- While all this dancing is going on: when classless act is noted on a liberal blog, Democrats provide congratualtions and approval.

...almost like they're not quite mature enough to be publicly ashamed of this kind of behavior, but also not quite self-confident enough to support it without lying about it.

Today's Democratic Liberal: Proving The Existance of a Truly Classless Society...

[Dion]

It's funny--the childish behavior of those who claim superiority over the "fly-over" masses. The Dems are children elected by children. One look at the video of Pelosi drooling on the Speaker's gavel in front of an audience of children is illustrative. By the way, that would be 80 proof drool after 4 days of Democrat orgies and Pelosi deification.

Kagen will be a mere footnote to the hypocrisy that we'll see in the next few years from the super-rich members of the "Party of the People."

[Edward M. Kennedy]

"80 proof drool"

Make mine a double !

...

(hic)

[Scrapiron]

The United States Congress has became the comedy club of the world in less than a week. There will be no need to rerun The Dukes of Hazard, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres or Hee Haw. Most people will be watching the congressional dhimmi's daily comedy show. I see the great defenders have crawled from under their rocks to defend the undefendable dhimmi's.

Go back and check, we predicted this comedy from day one of the election in Nov but never had any idea it would be this funny.

Congressman- Wu, Wu 'Star Trek' has infiltrated the White house.

Kagen- The dhimmi's latest and greatest liar. Body of a man, mentallity of a two year old. He's been sucking on his home made med's.

Barney 'can't talk' Frank blows a gasket, actually three times in a week. He needs an engine (brain) overhaul.

Boxer makes an a** of herself, and her supporters that aren't hiding under their rock with the other slugs.

Peloshi attempts to rip off the people to enable her hubby to make millions.

Sen Biden-I'll create a constitutional crisis in the Senate. What a stupid man.

One great week of comedy. What's on tap this week? An actual gunfight in the House/Senate?

[Truthy]

"Asshat" a term dearly loved by the 20 something crowd.

Artie, although it is cute to see the likes of you try to communicate with the adults, please find a forum more suited to your still forming mind. Someplace where the kiddies just slam people and regurgitate each others insults.

Let me put it in terms you may understand: STFU.

[Beth Donovan]

FYI, the term Asshat was first coined by a conservative blogger, Rachel Lucas. It strikes me as a very funny thing that the lefties use the word as if they made it up.

[kyly]

Kagen is the BEST!! Keep ridiculing, we love you!

[KhameniDied...really]

"No doubt his local peace activist constituents thought fondly of him for allegedly insulting the highest elected and appointed government officials in the land; not to mention America's First Lady, the President's wife."

Yeah. Not just anybody can insult "Fuck Off" Cheney.
That kind of shit might get you shot in the face.

[Gekkobear]

Tough. Strong. Complete Fabrication.

Sounds like a Democrat to me.

[ed]

Hmmmm.

Soooooooo. The "adults" are now in charge eh?

[Lisa]

Oooooohh, KhamendDied...insulting Cheney now and in such a classy, sophisticated way too!! What's next, using a pacifier while you think up other erudite insults?

[Mark]

This is the same guy that used the term "Injun time"

Author: PATRICK MCILHERAN Staff Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Publication: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Publish Date: October 26, 2006
Word Count: 133
Document ID: 11503EA5204F1E40

Congressional candidate Steve Kagen says he didn’t mean to offend by joking he was late because his previous meeting was "on Injun time. They don’t tell time by the clock." He says it was the Oneida who made the joke first, and a tribal official sounded forgiving. Nice, but that’s one of those jokes insiders can tell and outsiders can’t. If Kagen can’t discern that and can’t stop himself from saying...