Grayson Quay
Congressman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who has been a member of the House since 1965, announced his resignation from office—effective immediately—Tuesday morning, finally giving in to widespread calls for his resignation following accusations of sexual misconduct.
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Last week, Jack Hunter wrote an article for Rare drawing a contrast between the swift firing of NBC’s Matt Lauer and Conyers’ refusal to resign even after Nancy Pelosi and Paul Ryan both urged him to do so. But now that Conyers is out, this would seem to be a victory for women’s empowerment and common decency.
As his planned resignation played out live on a Detroit morning show, however, Conyers couldn’t resist a pair of parting shots that further dishonored his office and insulted his constituents.
The first outrage came in his on-air remarks. “I want you to know that my legacy will continue through my children… especially in my oldest boy, John Conyers III who incidentally I endorsed to replace me in my seat in Congress.”
I’m tempted to admire the sheer ballsiness of resigning in utter disgrace while simultaneously asking voters to do you one last favor. It’s like getting fired from an Applebee’s for pissing in the soup and asking on your way out the door if they’ll hire your kid as a busboy.
“I have a great family here,” Conyers said, but at this point I’m not sure I believe him. He couldn’t possibly be referring to his wife, Monica Conyers. Mrs. Conyers graduated from Columbia Law School but then failed the bar exam four times before being elected to the Detroit City Council. There, without even finishing a full term, she made headlines for—among other things—punching a woman at a birthday party, dining and dashing to the tune of $3,000, calling the council president “Shrek” during a council meeting (yes, it’s on YouTube), and accepting bribes. The final item on that list resulted in her resignation in 2009 and her subsequent imprisonment for 27 months. In September 2015, she filed for divorce from her husband.
Dad’s a groper and mom’s a crooked psycho. Who wouldn’t vote for this kid?
John Conyers III, by the way, is 27 years old and so far, his biggest achievement seems to be partying with Detroit rapper Big Sean. The Michigan news site MLive put together a handy timeline of the misadventures of Detroit’s next congressman (if daddy has his way); from that time he posted a picture of himself behind the wheel of a government-owned Escalade with a bottle of Moet while underage, to his obscenely douchey social media reflections on rap music (to which he appended the tag “congressman john conyers” in order to attract more traffic).
Follow that link above and read some of his tweets. Then tell me how anyone could be expected to vote for this moron. Conyers has been in Congress for far too long. He’s forgotten that his seat does not belong to him, but to his constituents. It’s not an earldom he can simply will down.
(Incidentally, Ian Conyers, the 29-year-old Michigan state senator and grand-nephew of the disgraced former congressman has said he also plans to run for the vacant seat. The next Conyers Thanksgiving is going to get awkward.)
If endorsing his goof-up son wasn’t enough, former Rep. Conyers added one more insult to the intelligence of Michigan’s 13th district when he said he was retiring “due to not being afforded the right of due process” and in order “to preserve” his “legacy and good name.”
But, if he truly never had sexually harassed anyone, as he continues to claim, he’d have had no reason to resign. Before leaving office, Conyers was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation, which will be abandoned now that he is no longer a congressman. He wasn’t being denied due process; he was getting due process and was afraid where it would lead. Otherwise, he’d have simply waited to be exonerated. By expecting his constituents to believe in his innocence while he openly takes steps to cover his guilt, he is showing his shameless contempt for them.
A man who feels so strongly that he can do whatever he wants with no consequences would certainly have no problem groping a staffer and, based on that attitude alone, has no place in the U.S. House of Representatives.
