Swami says a certain Republican Congressional challenger, ex-hockey player, college dropout and overall neophyte political gadfly with money to burn named Steve Greenberg is a mean ignoramus and a real toadstool…

I can’t agree more. From Suburban Chicago News’ Swami political column:

Swami, what’s the ugliest moment so far in the election process in Illinois? Anybody come off as a real toadstool? Signed: Amphibian in Antioch

Ah, where to begin, Am?

For sheer mean ignoramus-osity, we give the nod squarely to 8th District Republican congressional whizbang Steve Greenberg who has stirred up a 1,500 year blood feud by arguing his foe, Melissa Bean, is a secret friend and agent of Serbian Neo-Fascist terrorists.

Hard criticism for a woman who mostly wears pastel business suits.

He’s even gone so far as to begin identifying her with her maiden name, Luburich, which has its origin in Serbia.

As with many misaimed political missiles, this one started with Bean giving Greenbrrg [sic] a small opening with a tactical mistake. Though she opposes the Prez’s support for Kosovar independence (as do many of the globe’s nations), Bean erred in having a fund-raising dinner at the home of the Serbian consul general in Chicago. It was his wife, an American-born lawyer of note, who was actually hosting the soiree but Greenberg leaped at Bean’s throat with all fangs bared.

[Note: That fundraiser was actually canceled and Mr. Greenberg took the credit for the cancelation. The Tribune subsequently reported that Rep. Bean has seen an uptick in unsolicited donations anyway.]

First of all, if you want to run for Congress, there are plenty of current wars over which to have a fist fight rather than sliding back into the goo of the Serbian-Albanian scuffle which Bill Clinton put on hold momentarily with a pre-emptive bombing run.

How ingrained is the argument? One side quotes the unfairness of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia as a pretext for continuing hostility, for crying out loud. WESTPHALIA! (emphasis added)

I might add … 1648! While certainly this matter is not “goofy” for the Kosovars, Serbs and others directly involved over the generations, Mr. Greenberg is in essence making a mockery of their conflict by trying to claim a sitting United States Congresswoman is some sort of traitor to the U.S. simply because she is not siding with the Republican President on the matter… oh, and because she is descended from Serbian immigrants. And, yes, this “mean ignoramus” really has taken to including her maiden name when talking about her to emphasize that she’s of Serb lineage.
Certainly it has become abundantly clear over the past few election cycles that the Republican Party and conservatives in general have chosen to identify themselves as the anti-immigrant party. Mr. Greenberg takes up that unfortunate flag by dissing Serb immigrants, a rather large population of whom lives in the Chicagoland area and are quite familiar with both this issue from the land of their heritage and also, increasingly, with this completely over the top smear Mr. Greenberg has decided to launch against the incumbent Melissa Bean.

Unfortunately for citizens in the 8th district, it is only March and Mr. Greenberg’s blarney has already blown past adjectives like bizarre and ridiculous and is well on its way to record-levels.

Then again, since Mr. Greenberg has decided to crack open the history books, let’s recall that it was Mr. Greenberg’s German predecessors and their allies who, in the early and mid-parts of the last century, invaded and decimated Serb regions. Perhaps the more things change the more they stay the same and Mr. Greenberg is choosing to refight those old battles on a new front. Somehow, though, I doubt this “real toadstool” is even aware of that relatively recent bloody history given his efforts to parody international affairs for his own weak-kneed political gain.

…Commence Mr. Greenberg’s attacks on my own Czech ancestry. Or perhaps he’d prefer to go after the Irish, Swedish, English, or even the German bits (among others — I’m a mutt). Mir!

(h/t Kevin Fanning at CapFax)