Unmuzzle Sen. Warren;
Unmuzzle Us All
Feb. 8, 2017
A LOT OF PEOPLE will pass off the muzzling of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren last night by Republicans as just another instance of gamesmanship in the legislative process.
Not me
And not because, as a dog, I naturally abhor any kind of muzzle.
What happened to Warren was – and is – an outrage.
You don’t silence speech, especially in our most revered forum of free and open debate, the United States Senate.
You don’t use your vote advantage, as did the Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, to shut down a Democratic opponent.
TRUMPSTER NATION, I’m sure, got a kick out of it. I’m sure Cat would be chiming in if he weren’t in the middle of his morning nap, which is similar to his afternoon nap, except that takes place in the morning.
Cat would tell me that all’s fair in love and war. Just good-natured jostling, leveraging the Senate rulebook to checkmate the endlessly annoying and mouthy Ms. Warren. Had it coming, didn't the Massachusetts Chatterbox. Stop your whining about being outmaneuvered and be a good sport.
No, Cat, not in the Time of Trump.
Not when we have a president with the temperament of a 2-year-old, the heart of a bully and the soul of a banana republic tyrant, enabled by a Republican Party with the spine of chocolate éclair. You don’t mess with free speech, the right of elected Senators to speak on behalf of their voters, the obligation of the legislative branch to serve as a watchdog on the executive. Yes, people, a WATCHDOG.
HERE'S what happened:
Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, was holding forth on her opposition to Trump’s nomination of fellow Senator Jeff Sessions to be the administration’s attorney general.
She was reading from statements of two dead people, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, decades earlier when Sessions was denied a federal judgeship.
The Republicans dusted off an obscure rule that originated from a 1902 fistfight between Senators, meant to promote decorum, by forbidding a Senator from making “unworthy” about another Senator.
In this case, the unworthy words from Ted Kennedy’s grave were to the effect that Sessions, then a U.S. attorney, was a “disgrace to the Justice Department” and shouldn’t become a federal judge.
You’d think even a lazy cat would lose sleep over this one, it’s so bizarre and convoluted.
First of all, free speech is the prime reason we have a great country. Secondly, the debate was about whether the Senate should confirm a presidential appointee. The appointee happened to be a Senator. McConnell didn’t like the drift of the opposing arguments. He invoked the rule. Crazy as the interpretation of the rule was, he had the votes and Warren’s fellow Democrats didn’t. Meaning Warren couldn’t talk about the Sessions’ nomination any more.
I hate to use this phrase, but, McConnell treated Warren like a dog.
“Elizabeth, shut up!”
“Elizabeth, Sit.”
“Elizabeth, Stay.”
I SAY THIS to Cat and all other Trumpites: Beware when the majority silences the minority. Sooner or later, that sort of thing comes back to bite you.
And bite us all.
I’ll tell Cat, when he wakes up, what I’d say to the Triumphant Trumpites, the Losing Democrats and everyone in between:
Bark. Meow. Shout. Tweet. Write. Call.
Unmuzzle Sister Elizabeth.
Unmuzzle us all.
A LOT OF PEOPLE will pass off the muzzling of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren last night by Republicans as just another instance of gamesmanship in the legislative process.
Not me
And not because, as a dog, I naturally abhor any kind of muzzle.
What happened to Warren was – and is – an outrage.
You don’t silence speech, especially in our most revered forum of free and open debate, the United States Senate.
You don’t use your vote advantage, as did the Republican Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, to shut down a Democratic opponent.
TRUMPSTER NATION, I’m sure, got a kick out of it. I’m sure Cat would be chiming in if he weren’t in the middle of his morning nap, which is similar to his afternoon nap, except that takes place in the morning.
Cat would tell me that all’s fair in love and war. Just good-natured jostling, leveraging the Senate rulebook to checkmate the endlessly annoying and mouthy Ms. Warren. Had it coming, didn't the Massachusetts Chatterbox. Stop your whining about being outmaneuvered and be a good sport.
No, Cat, not in the Time of Trump.
Not when we have a president with the temperament of a 2-year-old, the heart of a bully and the soul of a banana republic tyrant, enabled by a Republican Party with the spine of chocolate éclair. You don’t mess with free speech, the right of elected Senators to speak on behalf of their voters, the obligation of the legislative branch to serve as a watchdog on the executive. Yes, people, a WATCHDOG.
HERE'S what happened:
Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, was holding forth on her opposition to Trump’s nomination of fellow Senator Jeff Sessions to be the administration’s attorney general.
She was reading from statements of two dead people, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, decades earlier when Sessions was denied a federal judgeship.
The Republicans dusted off an obscure rule that originated from a 1902 fistfight between Senators, meant to promote decorum, by forbidding a Senator from making “unworthy” about another Senator.
In this case, the unworthy words from Ted Kennedy’s grave were to the effect that Sessions, then a U.S. attorney, was a “disgrace to the Justice Department” and shouldn’t become a federal judge.
You’d think even a lazy cat would lose sleep over this one, it’s so bizarre and convoluted.
First of all, free speech is the prime reason we have a great country. Secondly, the debate was about whether the Senate should confirm a presidential appointee. The appointee happened to be a Senator. McConnell didn’t like the drift of the opposing arguments. He invoked the rule. Crazy as the interpretation of the rule was, he had the votes and Warren’s fellow Democrats didn’t. Meaning Warren couldn’t talk about the Sessions’ nomination any more.
I hate to use this phrase, but, McConnell treated Warren like a dog.
“Elizabeth, shut up!”
“Elizabeth, Sit.”
“Elizabeth, Stay.”
I SAY THIS to Cat and all other Trumpites: Beware when the majority silences the minority. Sooner or later, that sort of thing comes back to bite you.
And bite us all.
I’ll tell Cat, when he wakes up, what I’d say to the Triumphant Trumpites, the Losing Democrats and everyone in between:
Bark. Meow. Shout. Tweet. Write. Call.
Unmuzzle Sister Elizabeth.
Unmuzzle us all.
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