Sitting on the House Floor

By Dan Cadman on June 23, 2016

I've been watching with a certain amount of disbelief some of the snippets of the Democrats' take-over of the House floor for their gun-control sit-in, replete with photo montages of victims (some number of whom were victims of terrorist attacks, not of deranged killers with no political motive).

Imagine this group of pampered representatives (their own dining halls, their own elevators, their own underground metro, their own recreation facilities, their own barbers and beauticians) attempting to do something so plebeian. It is unambiguously not a flash-back to the valiant civil rights sit-ins of the '60s, but rather something more along the lines of caricature.

I really only have two reactions:

  • Apparently, some murders count more than others. Where was the Democratic outrage when House Republicans were holding hearings about U.S. citizens who were victims of illegal aliens released as the result of state and local sanctuary laws or because of misbegotten Obama administration policies that frown on the use of detention? I don't recall any sit-ins, but I do remember some Democratic representatives not bothering to show up, and others making sneering remarks about a "little thing" like the murder of Kate Steinle.

  • Paul Ryan is killing his thinly veiled presidential ambitions for a few years up the road. He's Speaker of the House, and responsible for ensuring that the rules of the House are maintained. Why did he not call the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House (who, despite what you may think of as a ceremonial job actually has real power, and control over that portion of the Capitol Police assigned to the House of Representatives) and order the chamber cleared? Is this a preview of how Ryan would run national affairs if elevated to the White House? If so, then combined with his outrageous open borders views, then no thanks, I'd have to take a pass on that.


Topics: Politics