Conform or be purged -- sounds a bit like Stalin and the other right wing fascists...doesn't it?
Gotta love what I believe is a Billy Mumy / Twighlight zone classic image...
Conform or else! There is no diversity in the GOP! There is no freedom of conscience or individuality in the GOP!
Gotta love what I believe is a Billy Mumy / Twighlight zone classic image...
Conform or else! There is no diversity in the GOP! There is no freedom of conscience or individuality in the GOP!
There is so much dark humor here in the Billy Mumy reference ... after all, the episode which is entitled "It's A Good Life" takes place in the small town of Peaksville, Ohio which must be in Boehner's district .... and has the classic lines:
ReplyDelete"I hate anybody that doesn't like me..."
"You're a bad man! You're a very bad man! And you keep thinkin' bad thoughts about me!..."
"He was a bad man. So I turned him into a Jack-in-the-box. A Jack-in-the-box that still had his bad face."
Perfect !
Walter Jones being dumped is only a surprise because he is well established (working across party lines for years -- heck, I remember watching him testify on behalf of Tim Walz's STOCK Act which must have just angered Eric Cantor no end) but the freshmen are interesting.
Representative Amash has been a wealth of knowledge with his Facebook postings explaining his reasoning behind his votes ... his core was consistent.
The reaction is not one that Speaker Boehner may like ... “I think it actually enhances my platform,” Amash said. “I think it gives me the opportunity to go out and, frankly, speak more freely about some of these issues where I’ve been more cautious because I’m a member of the Budget Committee.”
“It’s clear that this leadership team wants to tighten its grip on power,” he said. “They’re concerned that they have reasonable people on the committee, like me, doing what we were elected to do, which is fight the debt problem in this country and do it in a bipartisan way.”
Amash said he has received an outpouring of support following news of his removal.
“The calls in our office have been positive, positive toward me, that is, and angry over leadership’s decision,” Amash said.
“But we would expect that,” he added. “I’m independent, that’s why I’m elected, and I’m doing what I promised to do, which is work with both parties to deal with our debt crisis.”
= = = = =
For a man who began this term based on the Pillars of a New Majority, where legislation would be shaped and debated in Committees, it has become the Worst of the Worst Congress ever.
Yet, being dumped from the Budget Committee may not have that much of an impact once you realize that the Republicans enacted a rule giving Chairman Paul Ryan complete control over the Budget which could only have an Up-Down vote ... with no amendments. I have watched some of his committee hearings ... seeing Betty McCollum stand up for good spending programs and then see Chairman Ryan say no ... and the other committee members follow in line.