What IS it about Texas Republicans???
I posed this Q&A on Twitter this morning:
Q: If a bad guy says, "Come closer and I'll shoot this guy" and someone comes closer, who do you blame for the guy getting shot?
A: Obama.
— Chris Savage (@Eclectablog) October 3, 2013
This is, at its most basic level, the situation in Congress — a hostage situation where Republicans have created a crisis and are now blaming the Democrats and President Obama for the outcome.
Judd Legum from Think Progress puts it another, equally accurate way:
Can I burn down your house?
No
Just the 2nd floor?
No
Garage?
No
Let's talk about what I can burn down.
No
YOU AREN'T COMPROMISING!
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 2, 2013
So, now that they have created a situation where things are shutting down, including our national parks which includes the National Mall and all of the monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C., Republicans are grandstanding in the most nauseating way imaginable. Michele Bachmann started things off by helping a group of World War II vets bypass a barricade at the WWII memorial, making sure her smug visage was in front of the cameras, even if the vets themselves took a backseat.
Reince Priebus, head of the RNC, took up the baton and sped down to the WWII memorial himself to hold a press conference. He announced that he would be spending RNC funds to pay for the memorial to remain open to the tune of $150,000 for the first 30 days. He then called for his counterpart at the DNC, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to join him. Her response was suitably epic:
We’ve already been working on a plan to open the Memorial — and the entire government — after the GOP caused them to close. It’s called a clean funding resolution and it sounds like the votes are there if the Speaker would just call for a vote. It would save the economy a lot of money and get the Memorial and government open a whole lot faster. I think he probably has Speaker Cruz Boehner’s number somewhere, and I’ll bet veterans would appreciate it a whole lot more than his silly stunt.
It must be getting crowded at the WWII memorial with all the grandstanding Republican lawmakers rushing to the scene. Today it was Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), our winner of the Biggest Jerk in Congress award for the week. He literally forced a park ranger to apologize for the closing of the monument, even though she had absolutely nothing to do with it and was just doing her job. A job, I might add, that she probably won’t be paid for anytime soon thanks to Republican fools like Neugebauer.
Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5K7wVb6y_U
NEUGEBAUER: How do you look at them and say, how do you can you deny them access? I don’t get that.RANGER: It’s difficult.
NEUGEBAUER: Well it should be difficult.
RANGER: It IS difficult. I’m sorry, sir.
NEUGEBAUER: The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves.
RANGER: I’m NOT ashamed.
NEUGEBAUER: You should be.
BYSTANDER 1: Ask those questions of the people who aren’t passing the budget. That’s who you need to ask these questions to.
BYSTANDER 1: This woman is doing her job, just like me. I’m a 30-year federal veteran — I’m out of work.
NEUGEBAUER: The reason you are is because Mr. Reid decided to shut down the government.
BYSTANDER 1: No, it’s because the government won’t do its job and pass a budget.
Congratulations, Congressman Neugebauer. You are this week’s Biggest Jerk in Congress. Picking on people having to be on the front lines dispensing the pain that you and your pals in Congress put in motion is the most nauseating of all the nauseating, despicable acts I’ve seen this week. And that isn’t easy to do, trust me.
