Shenanigans: The Rock 'N' Roll Congressman

McCotter: Still strummin’

Here’s how a conversation with Rep. Thaddeus McCotter starts out:

Us: “Hello, sir, thank you for speaking with me.”

Him: “Why, do people not really talk to you?”

He’s filled with these one-liners.

We’re talking to him about the spoken-word album he just gave out to his peers, called “Freedom Songs: The American Empowerment Agenda,” which is McCotter’s new way of sending out a press kit of sorts, only this one doesn’t have those bulky pages that no one reads. And it’s light as air.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the “rock ’n’ roll congressman,” as W calls him, is making CDs. As it’s known, McCotter plays in the Second Amendments — the bipartisan congressional rock and country band. Oddly, though, he says he likes to read.

“It’s a lot easier to get them to listen than to get them to read it,” he tells us, explaining why he gave his colleagues the CD. But his preference is reading. “I get yelled at all the time, so it’s nice to give the ears a rest.” But he’s just glad the GOP can have some fun again. “We had fun with it. Republicans haven’t had that for awhile. … We used to be hip and fun,” says the Michigan Republican.

Which is what the band’s for? “Yeah, Bush had us to the White House.” Pause. “Once.” Pause. “He learned his lesson!” he says with a laugh. “I blame it on [band member Rep. Collin] Peterson’s singing and his politics.”

But if McCain were to win, you guys could go back there, no? McCotter’s iffy. “Depends. McCain’s traditional Scotch-Irish, and he has a long memory. I probably won’t ever see the inside of the place.”

As for Obama, McCotter’s hopes are still dashed. “You think there’s a liberal media? How can I play guitar and he has a Grammy?”