John Atkins ‘Voluntarily’ Steps Down From House Committee

Good. And, let’s face it, we know it wasn’t voluntary. From today’s News-Journal story (firewall protected):

In a memo Thursday, House Speaker Robert F. Gilligan said he removed Millsboro Rep. John Atkins from the (House Public Safety and Homeland Security) (C)ommittee at Atkins’ request, effective Tuesday. He had served as the panel’s vice chairman.

Atkins sent a letter Tuesday to Gilligan asking to be taken off the committee.”This is a voluntary decision that I have made, which I believe is appropriate at this time,” the letter read. “I hold the state police in the highest regard and believe the organization is one of Delaware’s greatest assets. However, I recognize that the comments in my email recently discussed in the media can be perceived differently than what was intended.”

When asked Thursday what his intentions were in sending the email, Atkins refused to comment.”I know what my intentions were,” he said. “It’s over with.”

Maybe he’s right in that that one (the State Police thingy) is over with. Fortunately, with John Atkins, the comedy is never over with. Looking forward to next week’s episode.

Oh, and just call me Nostrasomnambulo. From my March 13 Pre-Game Post:

Here’s what I think should happen. At the very least, Atkins should be stripped of his position on the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. Not just his vice-chairmanship, but his membership. He has written an incendiary e-mail which suggests that he is prepared to use his position to exact retribution on the state police for allowing this cop to pull him over and lecture him about the speed limit. That is inappropriate and deserves sanction.  Regardless of what happens, I will merely point out that enabling people like Atkins never works. He will inevitably do something bad that gets him in the headlines down the road (literally and figuratively) because he can’t help himself. Hey, at least it makes for great copy for people like me.

I will strive to keep my perfect 2012 prediction string intact (0 for the year), and I’ll predict that some sort of sanction will be imposed by the Speaker on Atkins. After his long years of service, I don’t think that Bob Gilligan is going to suffer a fool like Atkins lightly.  And I do think that Gilligan believes that Atkins has given the entire institution a black eye. And make no mistake: Bob Gilligan loves this institution.

A sanction was imposed, the one that I called for, whether Atkins and/or Gilligan want to admit it or not. Off the schneid.