Time to go home, Pete

Oops:

It was a revealing moment for California Rep. Pete Stark, the irascible East Bay liberal who has forged a reputation as a firebrand during four decades in Congress.

The 80-year-old Democrat, in a meeting with Chronicle editors and reporters this week, appeared to be confused about Solyndra, the Fremont solar power company whose collapse has fueled Republican criticism of the Obama administration's energy policies this election year.

"I wish I had enough expense allowance to get one of those new S's that Solyndra's going to make down there - the electric car," Stark said, after being asked about the company. "They run $60,000 to $90,000."

To their credit, the San Francisco Chronicle did feel compelled to point out what was wrong with ol' Pete's statement:

Solyndra doesn't make electric cars - or anything else. It declared bankruptcy and shut down last year after receiving $535 million in government loan guarantees. The electric car company in Fremont is Tesla Motors, which took over part of the abandoned Nummi plant and will release its next car, the model S, this summer.

Of course, Pete's been known to say other things, too, some of which are at the link. My personal favorite is this, recounted in a George Will column nearly a decade ago:

During the House debate on authorizing the use of force against Iraq, Rep. Pete Stark, a paleo-liberal from northern California, cried, ``Rich kids will not pay; their daddies will get them deferments." He meant draft deferments. It is almost unkind to awaken Stark from his dogmatic slumbers to notify him that there has not been a draft since 1973. And the Beatles have broken up.

There are a lot of people like Pete Stark in Congress, who have been there for a very long time -- he first went to Washington in 1973. I think it's time for him to go home, but there's a chance they've taken away the keys to his Solyndra.