The strangest thing happened last night in Congress. The Democrats decided to reopen a vote that had already been closed, which they had lost, so they could win it.
Hit the link to get the details. The long and short of it is that the Republicans wanted to send the entire Agriculture appropriations bill back to committee so they could add something to it. The biggest thing they wanted to add was an amendment that said that money from the bill couldn’t be spent on illegal immigrants. There was a vote and, when the gavel came down, the Republicans had won the vote. Except no. The Democrats decided to win the vote anyhow. So they reopened voting until the Democratic majority got their way.
Not a good thing.
Now this seems like a small thing – one vote on one appropriations bill – but it’s not. It’s exactly the sort of thing we used to see happen all the time in the Soviet Union and Cuba and Red China. It’s what happens when you want to look like something approximating a democracy but you’re really not. I’m not accusing the Democrats of shredding the Constitution. That would be ridiculous. I’m not saying that we’re on a Slip-N-Slide to fascism either. That would be beyond ridiculous.
I am saying that the Democrats have demonstrated quite a few times lately that they don’t quite see themselves as bound by the rules that constrain everyone else. That’s a nasty habit to get into because it does lead to the sort of tinpot dictatorial abuse that ends in Constitution-shredding and jackbooted thugs. The Democrats have been Chicken-Littling for six years about how George W ChimpyMcHitlerburton has been playing fast and loose with the basic underpinnings of democracy. What we saw last night is what really does damage because it demonstrates that the side in charge believes that rules are only for the minority. It’s not a very long drive from there to Sunni vs. Shia and Iraq’s current problems getting everyone to trust that the rules of their Democracy do indeed constrain everyone equally.
UPDATE: HotAir has video of the whole fracas as well as a rather heated speech by Rep. Eric Cantor, who was in the middle of the whole thing last night. Allah notes that Steny Hoyer definitely had options aside from the apparently new House Rule of “Do Over!”. Why didn’t he use them?
Maybe the Democrats have gotten to the point where they believe that the power they have is their imperial right and that they will wield it however they please.
