It looks like Lois Frankel's butting in to the feud between Rep. Allen West and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is now causing problems for people not even related to that well-publicized saga.
After Frankel started a website saying West hates women unless he says he's sorry and proves it by giving $1,000 to help end domestic violence, Peter Schorsch -- who runs the politicking website Saint Petersblog -- noticed that Frankel, the former mayor of West Palm Beach, got a bit of cash from an old pal who was accused, albeit acquitted, of not being too friendly toward women either.
That eventually caused the National Republican Congressional Committee to demand that Frankel return $5,000 contributed to her campaign by Palm Beach County construction conglomerate Dan Catalfumo. The problem is, Catalfumo also gave some money to one of Florida's Republican congressmen.
The Sun-Sentinel chatted with the NRCC about the money from Catalfumo to Frankel in which they replied to the paper that Frankel must return the money.
"It's quite disturbing that one of Lois Frankel's major donors would be a
man accused of committing such a despicable act toward multiple women," NRCC spokeswoman Joanna Burgos told the paper.
"Frankel should not have accepted the money in the first place, but if
she keeps these tainted dollars in her campaign coffers, she is
endorsing this appalling violence toward women."
But was it also "quite disturbing" to the NRCC that Republican Rep. Tom Rooney received $4,600 in 2008 from "a man accused of committing such a despicable act toward multiple women"?
Should Rooney "not have accepted the money in the first place," and if he kept the money, is he "endorsing this appalling violence toward women"?
Of course not, according to the NRCC's response to the Sentinel:
Burgos, who demanded Frankel give back the money, said her criticism of Frankel taking money from developer Dan Catalfumo didn't apply to Rooney taking money from Catalfumo.
"My quote, as you saw, mentioned Lois Frankel in it," she said.
What about Rooney? "I think that's a separate issue," she said. "My email was pretty self-explanatory, and everything that's on there is what we're going to say on the record."
Rooney was then informed of the situation and decided to donate $4,600 -- the amount he received from Catalfumo -- to charity.
It sounds pretty classy, except for the fact that instead of giving the money to a charity that tries to end domestic violence or violence against women, he wrote a check to an anti-abortion ministry.
That would be Hannah's Home of South Florida, which, according to the FAQ section of its website, is the place to go "for women facing the unthinkable 'choice' of aborting their child."
"Our desire is to expose them to God's love and His Word," the website says. "He knows the plans He has for each one of them to give them a future and a hope. Our prayer is that they will allow Him to come into their lives and make the difference that only He can."
Sigh.
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