Republicans, high on their 4-year hijacking of the democratic system and subsequent November coup, swept into the halls of Congress like Huns, pillaging the poor, raping the elderly, and intent on shoveling dirt over every last vestige of opposition and criticism the disenfranchised 49% could raise. Democrats weren't even in the equation anymore, once they had been safely relegated to the funeral parlor for the memorial service. But then a funny thing happened
as the undertaker prepped the body politic:
"House Republican leaders on Tuesday moved toward reversing rules changes that have paralyzed the ethics committee, a decision that could clear the way to an investigation of the overseas travel of Representative Tom DeLay, the majority leader, and other House members.
Lawmakers and other senior officials said that Speaker J. Dennis Hastert and other leaders had concluded that the only way out of the ethics impasse was to abandon the rules changes opposed by Democrats who have refused to allow the committee to get to work."
Democrats, previously believed to be moribund and last seen on the embalming table, unexpectedly twitched. On further examination, a pulse was found, and the body was removed for possible CPR:
"The Democrats have clearly been able to exploit the deadlock over the ethics panel, painting the Republicans as unwilling to investigate or police their own. The changes were denounced as violating the panel's bipartisan tradition, making the Republicans appear as if they believed they were above the law.
Republicans have asserted that the changes, drafted by the speaker's office and pushed through by the Republicans in January, were designed to better protect the rights of lawmakers. But their counterparts quickly complained that they were instituted after the House ethics committee admonished Mr. DeLay three times last year. "We fumbled the ball badly," said one senior Republican official who spoke anonymously because he did not want to be viewed as critical of the leadership."
No, can't have that, can we? But we can try to throw the dog a bone:
"In an effort to resolve the impasse, Republican members of the panel offered last week to begin an immediate inquiry into Mr. DeLay's travel if Democrats were to drop their opposition to the rules. But Democrats rejected that offer."
Good boy! Now the Repugs are left with egg on their faces, and faced with another yucky reversal, and
there is nothing they can do about it! Especially since the circumstantial evidence is so strong even the bovine American public and the Democratic party can't fail to see certain damning connections anymore:
"Some Republicans acknowledge that the way the rules were changed with no Democratic involvement has left the party vulnerable to accusations that it was seeking to hamstring the panel after it admonished Mr. DeLay three times last year."
Representational government? What a great idea! Maybe we'll get one someday. In the meantime, Republican stock
continues to go down.
