Repub PA House Speaker to Conservative Group: "Your purist views are like those of a dictator."

[JPZenger]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/02/pa_house_speaker_brands_conser.html

"Suggestions that state House Speaker Sam Smith is retiring this year because he would be defeated by a conservative primary challenge prompted a derisive, three-page comeback Tuesday from the veteran politician. Smith, R-Jefferson County, responded directly to one accuser – Leo Knepper, executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, a group that supports conservative challengers in Republican primaries....

“It is rare to see one combine such a lack of understanding of the political process with incredible arrogance, and yet, you have recently succeeded in displaying both with your comments about my decision not to seek reelection,” Smith wrote. “It is also revealing that you projected the petty, potshot politics that people detest and Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) should oppose.”

“Setting your chest pounding and false bravado aside, what is really disturbing about your public statements regarding my stepping aside, is the fact that your organization has shown zero understanding or comprehension of how the legislative process actually works,” he wrote, adding later: “Your purist views are like those of a dictator.”
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The full letter is in a link at the bottom of the article. Smith's letter continues: "To the anonymous rich guys hiding under your CAP, please note - this is a republic where no one dictates ..."

[livetohike]

1. Sam Smith is my Rep. Nice to see him say this. However, where has he been before he decided to

retire? I have met him and the people around here who are Republicans really like him.