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June 10, 2005

GOP Chairman Walks Out of Meeting. [Dave at Garfield Ridge]

WASHINGTON - The Republican chairman walked off with the gavel, leaving Democrats shouting into turned-off microphones at a raucous hearing Friday on the Patriot Act.
The House Judiciary Committee hearing, with the two sides accusing each other of being irresponsible and undemocratic, came as President Bush was urging Congress to renew those sections of the post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism law set to expire in September.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., chairman of the panel, abruptly gaveled the meeting to an end and walked out, followed by other Republicans. Sensenbrenner declared that much of the testimony, which veered into debate over the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, was irrelevant.

Read the rest here.

Can you really blame him for shutting down the hearing? This was the *11th* hearing held on the Patriot Act reauthorization. . . since April. How many more hearings are necessary on the legislation?

Are you honestly telling me that, if only Chairman Sensenbrenner had that all-important 12th hearing, Jerry Nadler would be convinced to vote for the Patriot Act? Hell, Nadler couldn't be persuaded to vote for the Patriot Act if it came smothered in eleven herbs and spices.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, speaking immediately after Sensenbrenner left, voiced dismay over the proceedings. "I'm troubled about what kind of lesson this gives" to the rest of the world, he told the Democrats remaining in the room.

Always a willing stooge, Zogby thinks that the rest of the world cares at all how the United States House of Representatives holds its hearings. The height of egotism, I think.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement, said the hearing was an example of Republican abuse of power and she would ask House Speaker Dennis Hastert to order an apology from Sensenbrenner.

Or else what, Nancy? Will you go off in the corner and weep for democracy? Or just continue lecturing us on how "real" Americans display their patriotism?

Stop lecturing us, Nancy, we get it, you're pissed.

The Washington media always entertains me because they treat congressional hearings as serious business when they're political theater at best-- and *bad* political theater at worst. I work with them for a living, trust me: there are no surprises on Capitol Hill.

A hearing is a kabuki dance. The staffers write the questions. The members ask the questions. Every once in a great while, one member or two gets an original thought, but for the most part these things are scripted tighter than a Tarantino flick. Oh, and the witnesses invariably know what they are going to be asked, because the committee staff provides them the questions in advance. You know, to prepare them for the "discussion."

And, in those precious few unscripted moments, the questions are, to be honest, incredibly dumb. What typically happens is the member perks up from his crossword long enough to realize he heard the Secretary of Defense mention Gitmo, so he decides to chime in with his canned rant about Gitmo. . . even if the SECDEF said nothing at all controversial about Gitmo except that there is, indeed, a Gitmo.

Then again, we all know now how the fact that there is a Gitmo is what is most controversial to these critics. What, would they feel better if we held these jihadis in Rikers Island? In Jerry Nadler's fleshy throat-pouch? In the big empty waste where Nancy Pelosi once kept her soul?

Hell, I'm with Sensenbrenner on this one. No more hearings. Nobody's learning anything, nobody is listening, either in Congress or in America. Just hold the damn votes and be done with it.

But "voting" implies "work," so I won't be holding my breath.

---
This posting was made on my personal computer.

posted by Ace at 06:50 PM

Comments

Did AI get their chance to testify? Or is that it for the hearings? If they will still show up I want a republican to grill them on their treasonous statements that members of this administration should be kidnapped by foreign countries ( yeah, I know it's just stupidly impossible) vs. their presumed respect for the immunity of Mugabe and Castro.

Posted by: John on June 10, 2005 06:59 PM

"Jerry Nadler's fleshy throat-pouch?"

Ewwpghghh! (Shudder.)

Thanks Dave, about to eat dinner here. Guess I should thank you for the lack of visual aids on this one, but I won't.

Posted by: TheDude on June 10, 2005 07:07 PM

Are you honestly telling me that, if only Chairman Sensenbrenner had that all-important 12th hearing, Jerry Nadler would be convinced to vote for the Patriot Act?

Yes! And Saddam Hussein would have complied with an 18th U.N. Security Council resolution too! He was just waiting for us to "pretty please".

Posted by: KBiel on June 10, 2005 07:08 PM

Mr. Sensenbrenner is a class act. Us red-staters trapped in a blue-state body are proud of him.

Posted by: BrewFan on June 10, 2005 08:35 PM

Re: Senate hearings as political theater. Amen brother. A. Effing. Men. I have never been able to fathom how watching our elected officials sling rhetorical bullshit at each other for hours on end could actually interest enough people to justify CSPAN and CPSAN2. I mean, I'd rather watch MTV for God's sake or better yet gouge my eyeballs out with a cocktail fork.

Posted by: HayZeus on June 10, 2005 11:51 PM

Politicians hate surprises, because surprises can be dangerous. Hence the Noh drama of congressional hearings, Bush's scripted "press conferences", the supporters-only privatization road shows, etc.

For a glimpse of what it could be like, watch the Prime Minister's Question Time in the British Parliament sometime. Real debate on issues. If I had a heart, it would warm its cockles.

Posted by: The Phnom Penh on June 11, 2005 03:52 AM

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Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
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Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
And then it's raining, feels like it's raining

TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
@lowles_nick

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

STARMERGEDDON: In early returns, Reform gains 135 seats, Labour loses 90, the Fake Conservatives lose 36 (and I didn't even know they could fall any further), the Lib Dems lose 4, and the Greens gain 6. Note that the only other party gaining seats is the Greens and they're only gaining a handful of seats.
Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
Fulton County Georgia just discovered 400 boxes of ballots for Labour
Update: REF +156, LAB -107, CON -45
Brutal: In four out of five council seats where Labour is defending, they've lost. 80%.
I'm sure it's not this simple, but Reform is straight taking Labour's and the "Conservatives'" seats. They've lost almost exactly what Reform gained. If understand this right (and warning, I probably don't), all of London's council seats are up for election, and Labour might lose hugely there, as their old voters abandon them for Reform, Muslim Indenpendents, and the Greens.
REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

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