Idiot of the Week: GOP's Pat Meehan: "Obamacare Made me Sexually Harrass a Female Staffer"

Rep. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.), .  Cr: Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel 

Welcome back to Idiot of the Week!  It seems like there's an overabundance of them, and mostly in politics. Here's
another idiot who decided to "blame Obamacare" for his harassment of a young female aid. Really.

REPUBLICAN REP. PAT MEEHAN BLAMED OBAMACARE FOR BEHAVIOR AN AIDE SAID WAS SEXUAL HARASSMENT  

JANUARY 18, 2018:  Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.) denied allegations that he sexually harassed a young female staffer and blamed Obamacare for some of his behavior that she perceived as hostile.  Meehan told the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday that he believed the two were “soul mates” but denied that an emotional letter he sent her last year was romantic. Meehan said he sent the letter after learning she was in a serious relationship and was considering quitting her position.

  Meehan denied that he retaliated against her and instead blamed any negative behavior on stress over the Republican effort to dismantle Affordable Care Act. Meehan said he has no plans to abandon his bid for reelection.

Rep. Pat Meehan will have to step aside, Republican insiders say

JANUARY 25, 2018 UPDATED STORY:  Rep. Pat Meehan will have to step aside, Republican insiders say Jonathan Tamari, Washington Bureau
jtamari@phillynews.com

 Pennsylvania Republicans increasingly believe Rep. Pat Meehan, the latest elected official to be tarnished by a sexual harassment claim, will not be able to run for reelection this fall — and it’s now a question of whether he resigns or declares this to be his last term, according to interviews with a half-dozen party officials and insiders.

One, who has been in touch with Meehan’s congressional aides, said the Delaware County Republican is being walked through his dim political prospects and weighing his next step, but that a departure is all-but certain.
“There’s not a lot of options,” said the source, who, like others interviewed for this story, did not want to be named discussing the congressman’s private deliberations.
Though Meehan had not made a decision as of Thursday morning, another GOP official said he is politically adept enough to understand the reality he faces. While some people are urging him to dig in, a third veteran insider said, no one interviewed for this story believed the four-term incumbent had a realistic chance of keeping his seat.
Meehan’s downfall would come after what was widely seen as his damaging attempt to explain the disclosure Saturday that he had used thousands of taxpayer dollars last year to quietly settle a sexual harassment claim by a former aide.
His subsequent interview Tuesday with the Inquirer and Daily News — in which the 62-year-old married father told of his deep “affection” for the younger aide, described her as his “soul mate” but said their relationship was innocent — brought on an avalanche of national opprobrium, including a skewering Wednesday night on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.