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Bill Kristol is not making sense

March 18, 2010 11:15 am ET by Jamison Foser

The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol reacts to the self-executing rule:

A memo  from a top aide to Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen late last week counseled other Democratic staffers to tell their bosses not to worry, that "things like reconciliation and what the rules committee does is INSIDE BASEBALL." Yesterday House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters, "I don't think any American...is going to make the distinction" between the Slaughter procedure and a straightforward vote on the legislation. "Process is interesting, particularly to all of us around this room. But in the final analysis, what is interesting to the American public is what does this bill do for them and their families."

In other words: the American public doesn't care about how our representatives govern us--which is to say, about how we govern ourselves. Whether Congress follows its rules, whether there is democratic accountability, whether there is constitutional probity--none of this matters according to Hoyer. Rather, the self-centered and self-concerned American people only care about the (alleged) results of the legislation.

That second paragraph is about as dishonest as you can get.  There's no reason to believe Congress won't "follow its rules" or maintain "constitutional probity" -- reconciliation and self-executing rules have been used in the past by Republicans.  Kristol offers no explanation for why either procedure is undemocratic, inconsistent with Congressional rules, or unconstitutional -- he just pretends that's a given.  

Kristol may as well have written "In other words: the American people doesn't care about whether our representatives beat puppies to death with hammers."  Yes, it's true: If Democrats said anything like that, they'd be crazy!  But they didn't.  

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    • Author by overmars jr. (March 18, 2010 11:32 am ET)
      3  
      Bill Kristol is not making sense


      This is news?

      That man could be wrong answering the question 'What do you want for dinner, Bill?'.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wesley (March 18, 2010 11:37 am ET)
        6
      Whew! This is a pretty bizarre effort by Foser...unlike his more normal logical writings.

      Beat puppies to death with hammers? I can only echo magnolialovers response to another bizarre story from a few days ago...Wow, just Wow.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by political_left-religious_right (March 18, 2010 11:46 am ET)
        2 1
        The only bizarre part is Kristol's continued right-angle-to-reality worldview, and that the media keep giving him a voice. Foser's analogy to puppies and hammers is, pardon the phrase, bang on.

        Are you trying to defend Kristol? Of course not. That would mean that didn't miss the point of the article, which is second nature to you.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by wesley (March 18, 2010 12:05 pm ET)
            4
          Kristol's response to the out-of-touch bureaucrat named Steny Hoyer was a reasonable one...but it took Foser to drag it down to a "beating puppies with hammers" nonsensical view.

          -- If Democrats said anything like that, they'd be crazy! But they didn't. -- Foser

          Of course they didn't...nor did anyone else. I simply find it a strange reaction from the normally sensible Foser.

          Report Abuse
          • Author by bintx (March 18, 2010 12:19 pm ET)
            2  
            Did you object when this self-same procedure was used by the Republican majorities under Gingrich and Hastert? Probably not because you weren't aware of it . . . ergo, Hoyer's comments were correct. Most people are not aware of, nor do they CARE, what the internal process [constitutionally mandated allowance for each House to create their own rules of procedure], they just care that the legislation is passed. If I walked around my very conservative office today, I can guarantee you that no more than two or three people will even know what all of this brouhaha is, nor do they care.

            Kristol's comments made no sense, but then, his comments rarely do and they are almost always WRONG. He's just a neo-conservative [nee neo-classical liberal/Trotskyite/Marxist] old fool sitting in elitist judgment of those of us he considers the great unwashed masses.
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          • Author by mattcable250650 (March 18, 2010 12:29 pm ET)
            2  
            *Sigh!* Wesley, read the second sentence of the second paragraph
            Whether Congress follows its rules, whether there is democratic accountability, whether there is constitutional probity--none of this matters according to Hoyer.
            To anyone with critical reading skills, Kristol is very clearly suggesting that Congress is not following its own rules.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by wesley (March 18, 2010 1:08 pm ET)
                2
              Of course he is...and it doesn't bother me that some take exception to his comments...it's called reasonable dialog.

              What's not reasonable is devolving the issue to a "beating puppies with hammers" analogy...it's just silliness.



              Report Abuse

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