Heard on the Hill: For McCotter, Robert Plant Is the New John Lennon
Look out, Fab Four — Rep. Thaddeus McCotter might have a new musical idol. The Michigan Republican, a well-known Beatles fanboy, took to the House floor Friday and declared himself inspired by another British rock outfit: Led Zeppelin.
McCotter said he had woken up with a “hankering” to listen to some Zep and finally figured out where he had picked up the bug.
“It’s because, for the Democratic Party, ‘The Song Remains the Same,’” he said, referring to a song and live album by the Robert Plant-fronted band. “Once again we are regaled with Democrats’ … plan: Do nothing, spend everything, go bankrupt, benefits go bye-bye.”
We know McCotter to be a huge Beatles devotee: He has a giant poster of John Lennon in his office and even paid tribute last year to his favorite rock act in an anti-health-care-bill spoof essay describing “President [Barack] Obama’s Lefty Health Club Band.” And other political theater has drawn on Bob Dylan’s music: McCotter once produced a video mimicking the folk singer’s famous “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
But the Zep reference seems to be a first.
“He’s definitely a Beatles guy, and he sometimes talks about the Rolling Stones or [Bruce] Springsteen,” spokesman Michael Bars says.