From The Oklahoman:

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden’s office tried to enlist Rep. Dan Boren in a public relations fight against Sen. Tom Coburn after Coburn released a report criticizing some projects funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

Boren, D-Muskogee, said last week he rejected the request because of an “unspoken rule” among the Oklahoma congressional delegation that members refrain from criticizing each other.

“We just don’t do that,” Boren said. “It’s just not my style to critique fellow members of the delegation. We’re too small a state to get into those kinds of internal battles.”

We’ve already discussed Dan Boren’s keen political mind when he chose not to endorse his party's nominee for the Presidency last year, his priorities that put low cigarette taxes ahead of health care for poor children, and his belief that it’s fine to torture American citizens without letting them have access to courts to challenge their detention. Earlier this year, he said that the stimulus bill was “not an American bill” because it didn’t include Republican ideas. Because when the GOP controlled Congress, they always included Democratic ideas in their controversial bills?

Boren infamously wrote how proud he was to be a Democrat while not telling his readers that he voted against the “undemocratic” Bush bills he had later decided to criticize. But I guess that’s part for the course when you’re the only Democratic representative from a state and choose to vote with the GOP 41% of the time.

At that time, I said:

Markos would say we need Democrats like Boren because he’ll vote for Speaker Pelosi, and that’s true - but while we’re in opposition, he’s pretty damn useless.

Now we’re not in the opposition, and Boren is still pretty damn useless. He’s one of the 44 Democrats who voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which wasn’t even worth noting because it was absolutely unsurprising.

If Boren could get elected in his district with an (R) after his name on the ballot, he’d do it in a heartbeat. But he decided to run in the only majority-D district in the state, with a famous name, so the (D) was a requirement. It’s such a shame political realities force him into an identification that clearly does not match his heart or actions.