Food fight!
At the end of the movie Animal House, as I recall, there was a brief segment showing where the residents of the house wound up in the future. John Belushi’s character wound up as the Rt. Honorable Senator Blutarsky. But I figure he must have spent some time in the House of Representatives before being elected Senator, because that’s the only excuse I can think of for the behavior of our elected representatives in Washington today.
By any standards, today represented a low point in the history of congressional comity. Democrats accused the GOP of running a police state; Republicans recounted how one Democratic member of the panel called a Republican colleague "you little fruitcake" in the midst of the standoff.
But the Democrats were provoked. The Republicans were ramming something down their throats yet again, and the Democrats balked.
After several minutes, Thomas again asked unanimous consent to dispense with the reading, and instantly brought down his gavel. Stark said later that he had objected, and Thomas had replied, "You’re too late."
When they walked out, the Republicans did something that seems to be becoming a habit for them: they called the police to drag the Democrats back.
Wisely, the police washed their hands of the whole thing.
The lone Capitol Police officer dispatched to the scene surveyed the situation and consulted with his superior, who in turn appealed to the Sergeant at Arms office. Sergeant at Arms representative Don Kellaher slipped into the room less than 45 minutes later, saying his office decided "this is a committee matter" and would take no action.
At least nobody hit anyone. But I’m half surprised that nobody threw food.
Posted at 7:04 PM