Congressman Roskam, Michael Corleone and the government shutdown

I'm used to my Congressman Peter Roskam, as House GOP Chief Deputy Whip, being fairly circumspect in his House leadership role of promoting the GOP's fanatical Tea Party fact...ion's campaign of destroying Obama administration programs to rebuild our economy and provide basic health insurance to the 40 million without. He usually leaves the fiery rhetoric to blatant GOP extremists like Representative Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), who was caught on tape bragging about shutting down the government to derail Obama even before the 2010 election which gave us the "Shut it down" crowd. Suburban Chicago firebrand Congressman Joe Walsh told cable news, "Most people in my district say, Shut it down", not realizing they meant to shut Joe Walsh down in his 2012 re-election bid. Ron Paul (R-TX) opined "I don't thing a shutdown would hurt one bit". Mike Pence (R-IN) brayed, "I say shut it down".

Apparently, the normally reserved Chief Deputy Whip has been caught up in the Tea Party hysteria which showed them leaving their shutdown strategy meeting smiling, saying "everything's great", and showing thumbs up. BuzzFeed, a news website founded by Huffington Post co-founder Jonah Peretti, offered this bit of astute political analysis from Congressman Roskam as the shutdown began Monday night:

“This is just like The Godfather. You know the scene where Michael Corleone is learning how to kill the crooked New York cop? The guy teaching him, Clemenza, comforts him and says ‘This thing’s gotta happen every few years or so. It helps to get rid of the bad blood.’ That is what arguing over all this is like.”

That's right, the Roskam lead Tea Party has to shutdown the government, to help them, in Roskam's words, "get rid of the bad blood". But go to Roskam's website, www.roskam.house.gov, and you get this bit of hilarious sophistry:

"I have been a strong proponent of keeping the government open and operating. I have been listening to my constituents and the American people, who unambiguously believe their government has a responsibility to provide essential services, from defense and homeland security, to overseeing the banking system, operating the national power grid, and administering safety net programs. This week, I joined my colleagues in the House in passing a bill to fully fund the government".

I called Congressman Roskam's Washington D.C. office to get clarification on his dueling quotes. The nice young man who answered assured me the Congressman does not condone the violent imagery he referenced to BuzzFeed, but was simply expressing solidarity with his shutdown brethren. I, too, am sure that Congressman Roskam would never approve the assassination of a New York Police Captain, albeit a corrupt one, referenced in his Godfather quote. But the deceit he practices on his constituency concerning his true obsession to derail the Obama administration while pretending to be a champion of responsible government would make Michael Corleone proud.