put on your partisan blinders and decry the loss of comity… for thee but not for me
We’re in the “Hit a Day” period of Senate grandstanding, thrown out for the blogosphere’s dining enjoyment. The Big item two days ago was Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, having the Bernie Sanders 767 page “Single Payer” Amendment read out loud. It was a delaying tactic, and I suppose a good enough one — but really, I am thinking that there ought be a rule that when such a request is made, the Senator should not be allowed out of the room — if Coburn wants the Amendment read, he should required to have to remain in the chambers and listen to it. Maybe this rule change should be put into effect at the start of the next Congress — play by ear in the current Era of Hyper-Partisanship, all these things go about in flux.
Yesterday, we had a great curfunkle between Al Franken, Joseph Lieberman, John McCain, and an assist from Carl Levine. Lieberman over-stepped his ten minutes, Al Franken — presiding over the chambers– shut him down, Lieberman asked for an extra minute, and Franken denied the request. McCain stepped in to proclaim outrage.
MCCAIN: I’ve never seen a member denied an extra minute or so, as the chair just did.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI): If the chair would yield for that…I think the same thing did occur earlier this afternoon, for reasons which have to do with trying to get this bill going. […]
MCCAIN: I think it harms the comity of the Senate.
Curiously, I would have to think a surer sign of the comity’s demise was shown with the previous day’s antics.
In other news, “Tea Party”ers perking up when Lieberman held out to drop the Medicare buy-in proposal are angered that once that was done in, he’s spoken for the Bill. They’ve now circled their wagons to Ben Nelson, and Jim Demint is buttering him up. Also, the conservative blogosphere continues to use the name “Stuart Smalley” instead of “Al Franken”.