Getting Things Done in Congress

Part one: A recapitulation of the human comedy we call getting things done for Congress

A few weeks ago we were fascinated to watch the drawn out election of The Speaker of the House. At first I must admit I was worried because Republicans had a lot to try to undo and a lot on our plate to try to get accomplished and we had to hit the ground running and I was concerned that those few who were delaying electing the one who had most of the votes, McCarthy, could get us in trouble and, with our slim majority, could even get a Democrat elected Speaker because of the few holdouts.

But then I saw those holdouts explain why they were doing this and saw that it was McCarthy’s fault for shutting them out of the conversation by blithely ignoring their requests. We conservatives have had enough of Speakers who promise things but when they are at the helm, just revert to establishmentarianism. I was now on the side of the holdouts.

Hannity tried to shout down Congresswoman Boebert by asking, her since 90% of the members are for McCarthy, why are they being so stubborn fighting an obvious losing battle. And when she tried to explain her position, he kept mocking her by saying just answer the question. Her position was that McCarthy is not going to get his prize without their small number and this country is not just about the majority having the right to carry the day. It is also about the importance of the minority.

We keep being called a Democracy but the Founders were smart enough to understand that the tyranny of the majority is not the best way. In fact, while they did want unity in the populace for the symbols of our country, the Flag, the President and our Founding Documents and laws, and while they worried that factions could put the kibosh on normalcy, they also knew that Democracy was not going to cut it by itself, either. So they set up a system of checks and balances in the new Constitutional Republic to mitigate the ability for any majority to shut out minority voices.

So Sean had it exactly wrong here, of course. McCarthy made an error by not giving a listen to the few who wanted those important rule changes that would bring the House back from the insanity of the Pelosi changes in the rules. McCarthy had to pay for his arrogance by that embarrassing display of 15 ballots and the time it all took for him, finally, to get his prize. In the meantime, through negotiations between ballots, this small minority that Sean mocked, got lots of what they wanted for The American House and for the American people and finally, McCarthy got his prize and maybe learned a thing or two. And the American people got the chance to watch The Constitution in action.

It was for me a fascinating exercise, those 15 ballots. Many mocked the disarray of the Republicans and compared it unfavorably to the consistency of the other side. I emphatically did not agree with that assessment. I saw it as a healthy and necessary debate, and I mocked the almost dictatorial way the Dems conducted themselves as they ignored the American people and went about their efforts concerned only with consolidating their power. Another view would say this could be called a disciplined Democrat party not allowing the Republicans to win on any issue. When the Democrats are going so off normalcy, I often wished WE had such togetherness.

In this instance, I was glad those few were holding McCarthy’s feet to the fire. As it is we got good concessions out of him in changing the rules of The House so it will once again run as it is supposed to.

When it came time for McCarthy to fulfill one of his promises, we had the spectacle, again, of the same scenario, only this time it was more obnoxious and full of the display of hypocrisy, dishonesty and downright ridiculousness of the Democrats, but also some unsought strangeness from our side.

Part two: Coda, more of the same and worse

First a digression. But really not.

Jason Chafetz said in a television interview that of course it is obvious that Swalwell (the banger of Fang Fang) and Schiff must not be permitted seats on the Intelligence Committee.

Schiff repeatedly misrepresented things, and lied constantly; he leaked to the press, and others who had no right to know certain things, secrets he had access to from his ability to see them because he was on the Intelligence Committee. Thus he does not belong on this committee where he can see America’s deepest secrets that even the rest of Congress is not permitted to see. And Swalwell, well that’s obvious. However Chafetz disagreed with taking Ilhan Omar off the Foreign Affairs committee. The people of her district elected her and the Democrats have the right to seat her on any Committee they choose, he said.

Now back to my subject.

I watched on Cspan the speeches and then the vote in the successful effort to unseat Omar. We all have seen that when the Democrats were in charge of the House, on a whim, they took Marjorie Taylor Greene off of Committee Assignments because of things she said many years before that they considered controversial.

The opera we witnessed about the removal of Omar from The Foreign Affairs Committee was peculiar.

A Republican House member must have requested and was granted a big swath of time. He kept yielding a minute at a time to Democrat members of the House.

Each one either yielded to another Democrat or spoke himself. A minute at a time, each one gave the case for Omar to remain on her Committee. Congresswoman, Jan Schakowski gave an impassioned speech saying she was Jewish and loved Israel and had worked very well with Congresswoman Omar and wants her seated because she is lovely and kind and sweet. Now I am not sure I would be able to allow myself even to want to speak to Congresswoman Omar after the filthy things she has said repeatedly about Israel and about Jews. (You can look them up.) So it stunned me that anyone who is Jewish and claims to love Israel could so cavalierly enjoy working with Omar.

Others who were also given the time to speak were members of the Marx Sisters who, full of tears and resentment, carried on about their indignation about this singular decision. The joke is how quick they were to ignore their precedent in the same kind of decision in the recent past. And, of course, the only reason we are watching this happen, they said, is because Omar is:

• A woman from Africa – whatever that means.
• A woman of color – see? Republicans are racists.
• A Muslim woman – all we are is Islamophobic, see?

Omar’s filthy words, repeated at will, are irrelevant, see? This is all a travesty.

But the most peculiar thing is every time words like these were uttered by Omar’s supporters, you could see nodding heads all around the speaker vehemently in agreement. And often there was much applause and even standing ovations as if to defend an anti Semite and Israel hater is a great thing to celebrate.

When Omar spoke, she described how she knows what it is to live in fear of tyrants. I wondered what that had to do with Israel. She spoke as a victim who feared for her life because of the dangers all around her. She was not specific. To repeat her past ugliness would have been too much even for this Congress – at lease I hope so.

Oh, the tears and nodding heads we could behold. And she ended bravely with the assertion that we must believe that she would be around and still making noise. This will not stop her.

Who is stopping her from proclaiming her filth, I wondered. And what ELSE have we shown interest in stopping her from doing?

While she proclaimed defiantly that she is an American – applause, applause, – she did not thank America for saving her, or for giving her this singular chance to be a Congresswoman. She did not apologize for the ugly words she had at the ready for Jews and Israel. Why did she have to? None of her bad words stopped her being given great sympathetic, enthusiastic applause.

At this forum when someone presented the view that her anti Israel comments were revolting, there was silence in the hall. Not even one nodding head to be seen, no applause in agreement.

The original Congressman who had requested the time to speak, and who kept yielding his time to all of these left wing Democrats, perplexed me. What was he doing? Often he asked how much time he had left. When he learned he had fifteen minutes left, he would continue to yield to lefties. Finally, when he had about five minutes left, he used his time speaking listlessly for his remaining few minutes in favor of the resolution to unseat Omar. Not a sound. Not one person clapped. Scary.The contrast between the emotional carryings on of Omar supporters and this was stunning to encounter.

Once again we have the spectacle of Republicans being split into those angry like me at Omar’s ravings, and the rest being courteous and sympathetic, while Democrats act and speak as one being no matter the infraction.

Finally, it came time for the vote. That, too was fascinating.

At one point there were three Democrats voting to unseat Omar. Suddenly, off camera there was a commotion. Loud voices were heard but we didn’t know what was going on. It sounded like a big fight. And just as suddenly, the three Democrat votes for the resolution to unseat her disappeared moving into other columns.

The vote to unseat her won the day, by a small margin because of the slim Republican majority. But there was a lot to learn in all of this as things get done in Congress.