John Boehner just led the Republican caucus out of the House of Representatives rather than allow them to vote on contempt charges against Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten.
Update [2008-2-14 14:25:22 by BooMan]: The House of Representatives has officially found Bush’s chief of staff Josh Bolten and former legal adviser and Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers to be in Contempt of Congress. The vote was 223-32. I’ll get a Roll Call as soon as they post it.
And may they never return.
Leadership only a Rep could be proud of.
So, what? We now have a band of wandering Rep Congressmen loose on the streets again looking for a lobbyist to take them to lunch?
Oh, oh, that’s right, the lobbyists only take power to lunch.
And I thought they didn’t have a principle. What intergrity! Showing solidarity in the face of democracy in action. WTG, morons!
while they’re out?
Teach them to leave by cramming something REALLY REALLY fun down their throats…
May the a-holes never return.
Can we lock the doors behind them?
call a quorum and start passing bills: universal health care, impeachment, RESTORE…
this is hilarious!
We have to work with the Dems. we have and not the Dems. we want.
Can we really expect them to do anything besides sit there and worry about how the mean old media is going to spin this? I bet you anything that there’ll be 20 some-odd Dems. speaking to the press right now about how worried they are about their Democratic leadership instead of showing their own strength of solidarity.
I remember reading that many years ago, sometime in the 50’s I think, the Soviet delegation to the United Nations led an Eastern Bloc walkout over some snit or other they had with the US. The US promptly introduced and passed a bunch of resolutions the Soviets were blocking and vetoing, and they passed in the Soviets’ absence.
This is why United Nations delegates sit through diatribes against their nations (especially if they’re on the Security Council). If they walk out, who knows what will happen.
If I were Speaker I’d have a bushel basketful of such bills on hand for just such an eventuality. I’d get an auctioneer to read them on the floor, I’d get what was left of the House to pass them without debate, and we’d send them on to the Senate. Then we could show the American people what we can accomplish when the obstructionist Republicans aren’t standing in the way.
But I’m not and she didn’t.
Korean police action was passed when the Soviets walked out of the Security Council.
.
By 1950, according to Gaiduk, the Soviet Union seemed deprived of power in the UN. The Soviets demanded the expulsion of the Chinese KMT delegation in favor of the newly formed People’s Republic of China. When the KMT was not expelled, the Soviets staged a walkout from the UN. According to Gaiduk, they believed that by walking out, they would remove legitimacy from the UN and the UN Security Council. Shortly after the Soviets walked out, the Security Council authorized intervention in the Korean conflict. Gaiduk argued that the Soviets had miscalculated–the boycott did not remove international legitimacy of Security Council resolutions.
…
Gaiduk concluded that Stalin’s death and a period of détente was necessary to begin a new, more effective period of participation for the Soviet Union in the United Nations.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
did they make wittle johnnie cry again?
bwahahahahaha…democracy on the march, right out the door.
send him one of these
well, they are going to pass contempt charges. Only two republicans have voted so far (probably to preserve perfect voting records, or something).
I hope this is the beginning of not taking Republican crap anymore. Between the contempt vote and letting the FISA expansion expire despite Bush’s fearmongering, it seems like they’re showing a little more spine than we’re accustomed to.
A plea, based on admitted ignorance. If the garbage has removed itself from the house, what can the dems do? Can they vote on the issue and if so, then, can the vote on FISA? ANSWERS PLEASE!!!!!!!
whooooorah!!!!!! now maybe, just maybe, the house can get something done
So now it is referred to the DOJ which is expected to decline to enforce it and, if so, the House uses its own attorneys to enforce it in a civil action.
Remember, the Republican goal is to run out the clock. Contempt is only good for the sitting Congress which expires in January.
thanks, I was getting ready to post a comment that went something like this:
“WWWOOOOHOOOO! YAAAAYY! AHOOOOOOAHHH!
Um. Now what?”
I asked KagroX about the likely outcome of a civil action and he didn’t respond to me directly but he did post this later:
[KagroX says
If the answer is #2 and the time doesn’t run out, the House has the power to try them for inherent contempt. It would be a full trial on the floor of the House.
“Hello, John Boehner’s office”
“Hi, my name is Brendan Skwire. I’m watching the proceedings in the House and just saw Rep. Boner lead the House Republicans out in protect of the Democrat’s contempt resolution.”
“Sir, it’s Bay-ner.”
“Yeah, OK, whatever: listen, I was just wondering if he would prefer a blue blankie or a red one. Does he want on orthodontic pacifier or..”
“Sir? Sir, yknow what?” CLICK.
Someone’s testy today.
…“Someone’s testy today”…
seems to be a lot of that going around these days, on both sides of the aisle
Good. That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time.
Now if only the Dems in the Senate could show that level of true patriotism, maybe, just maybe we’d stand a slim chance.
Because that slim chance is all this democracy has left.
That’ll look real good in the upcoming races.
I know, confusing, but Josh makes more sense. I’ll go look and delete this comment if it’s John.
You should make the correction.
Although if they decided they were going to censure John Bolton while they were at it, I wouldn’t mind. I’m not sure what they’d censure him for, but I’m not fussy.
I was just looking at the rollcall site.
following the protect america act was this gem:
‘Congratulating the National Football League champion New York Giants for winning Super Bowl XLII and completing one of the most remarkable postseason runs in professional sports history’
WTF!??!
Members will introduce legislation praising victorious sports teams, retiring politicians and the like. In fact, a resolution once passed (in the Texas legislature, not the US, although the story is good enough that I’ll stretch it a bit) praising one Albert de Salvo:
De Salvo was also known in earlier times as the Boston Strangler.
Thanks for the laugh, Omir!