Keystone Kops

7 January 2011



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GOP's First Day in Charge of House Calls Competence into Question

Traditionally, the Republican Party has been thought of as the competent, grown-up, practical party in American politics. While the facts never quite fit, there remains a sense that Eisenhower was a sensible man while the Democrats' Adlai Stevenson was a bit of a dreamer. JFK and LBJ had their heads in the clouds while Dick Nixon was a hard-headed pragmatist who could deliver. After one day of being in charge of the House of Representatives, that image is rapidly fading. Instead, the House GOP is starting to look like the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight, or perhaps, the Keystone Kops.

For example, they decided to have the constitution read on the House floor. Now, this has never been done before (Senate filibusters have ensured that is has been read repeatedly in the upper chamber), and it is purely symbolic, showing their dedication to the document and its underlying principles. Frankly, this journal thinks that it might be a better ritual than having some preacher come in to help the congress-humans pray. Yet, the GOP couldn't get it right.

Most obviously, they deliberately left out parts of the document. They made the argument that certain parts of the constitution have been repealed, and therefore, are no longer part of the document. Hence, they had no cause to read those sections. Fair enough, perhaps, although it does help gloss over some of the stupider things (yes, there are stupid things in the US Constitution, e.g., the electoral college) that the founders and this generation's grandparents established. The 18th Amendment establishing the prohibition of alcoholic beverages was not read as it had been repealed by the 21st Amendment. That doesn't change the fact that beer, wine and spirits were unconstitutional at one stage, thus proving that self-government does not necessarily mean good government or smart policy.

What was particularly awful in its omission, though, was the historically significant Three-Fifths Compromise, which constitutionally said slaves (black people) would be counted for purposes of representation in Congress (for which they could not vote) as 60% of a human being. Here, the current generation of Americans exceed the Founding Fathers in their wisdom. There is no other way to put it; 1790 America got it wrong, and 2011 America is wiser than that and also has the guts to act on it. Yet, the GOP left it out because slavery has been abolished. It's as if the Civil War is now irrelevant. Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) queried the wisdom of these omissions asking why those elements of American history were being left out, "given the struggle of African-Americans, given the struggle of women." Echoing that was Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) who said, "We fail to show the American people that imperfection is not to be feared and that our ability to constantly improve on what the Founders gave us is a blessing, not a reason for divisiveness."

Then, there was a slight problem when one of the readers had trouble turning the page and wound up skipping parts of Articles IV and V, requiring each state to be a republic and allowing for amendments respectively. Fortunately, House rules allowed for them to be added to the official record after the fact.

Another after the fact incident was the swearing-in of Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Pete Sessions (R-TX) who missed the official oath-taking. In an incident that explains American politics all too well, they were at a Fitzpatrick fundraiser elsewhere in the Capitol building (thus illustrating their priorities) and watched it happen on TV. The fact that they raised their hands at the time still didn't count. Unsworn, they still voted on the House floor. Yesterday, Speaker Boehner administered the oath to each just to make sure.

When the reading got to the part about the president having to be a born citizen of the US, Theresa Cao shouted from the visitors gallery "Except Obama!" perpetuating the Birther lie that he was not born in the US. She was arrested for interrupting Congress and unlawful conduct, and one of generous spirit might say the House GOP is not responsible for her outburst. However, one would ask why she was there in the first place, at their invitation, perhaps?

Where things really went off the track for the GOP was in announcing its saving of $35 million by cutting the congressional budget at the same time the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office announced that by repealing the Health Care Act, the GOP would raise the deficit by $230 billion. Speaker Boehner could only say that the CBO was entitled to its opinion. The CBO has been the umpire between the parties on financial matters for decades. If he is serious that the CBO is just one opinion, the GOP is taking another step away from the reality based world -- and doing it clumsily. Perhaps, it's his sense of shame that causes him to tear up so easily. Just 669 more days until the 2012 election.

© Copyright 2011 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

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