Michelle Malkin » Debacle in the House: Behind the Lantos memorial disruption

Debacle in the House: Behind the Lantos memorial disruption

By Michelle Malkin • February 14, 2008 05:38 PM

The GOP is under fire by the nutroots over the drama on the House floor that led the Tom Lantos memorial service to be disrupted.

The left-wing narrative: Cruel, evil Republicans couldn’t wait to dance on Rep. Lantos’s grave.

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the Republican who had to call a procedural vote while the memorial was ongoing, has been vilified.

But the disruption was the result of scheduling errors and failure of the Democrats to abide by a prior agreement.

The Politico:

A senior Republican aide, however, said the GOP was given no choice in asking for a vote because Democrats broke their commitment to keep the House in recess during the memorial service. Democrats are pushing a contempt vote against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Bush counsel Harriet Miers, and have bypassed traditional rules allowing an hour of debate on the matter, according to Jo Maney, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the House Rules Committee.

“The reason for the chaos is the majority,” Maney said. “We made clear we would use every procedural rule” to delay the contempt votes.

“There was an agreement that there would be no votes during the service, but they [Democrats] rang the bells” to bring the House back into session, Maney said.

The scene in the Capitol was extremely tense as the procedural motion failed. The Crypt has already received several angry denouncements from both sides of the aisle as tempers flared this morning in the House.

Democrats are now debating the contempt resolution, which stems from an investigation into the firing of U.S. attorneys.

“This is the height of disrespect and completely shameful,” said one senior Democratic leadership aide. “… They just chose to vote at the most inappropriate time.”

But another GOP House aide complained that Democrats allowed no other option because Republicans have been denied the ability to offer any alternatives to the contempt votes.

Freddoso at The Corner:

Under a bipartisan agreement, the House was not to come into session until after the Tom Lantos memorial service. But the service ran long, and the session was gavelled in anyway. The first item up for consideration was a Republican motion to adjourn. At first, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D., Md.) office believed at first that this had been the Republicans’ fault. Later on, that misunderstanding was cleared up and explained on the floor. Someone just messed up, no ill will intended.

The Democrats finally apologized for smearing Diaz-Balart. GOP aide Michael Steele sent the following statements:

- “This morning, during the memorial service for Tom Lantos - a public servant beloved on both sides of the aisle - the House Democratic Leadership violated an agreement and called the House back into session. They took this action despite clearly understanding that it would trigger a series of procedural motions. This cheap, cynical political move seems to have been designed to shut down one of the few procedural tools that can be employed by the minority party in the House. Playing this sort of game during the memorial service of a great and good man is beneath the dignity of this House and should be beneath the dignity of Democratic Leaders.”

- “We appreciate Rep. Hoyer’s statement that he “regrets” the situation this morning and the inaccurate statements that were directed at Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.”

And public opinion of Congress plummets even further…

***

Hey, Democrats never acted obnoxiously at memorial services, right?

Flashback: Unhinged at Coretta Scott King’s funeral.

Flashback: Clinton’s crocodile tears at Ron Brown’s funeral.

Flashback: The Paul Wellstone memorial debacle.

Posted in: Democrats, GOP

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#1

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:48 pm, rightisright said:

Sneaky, lying, distrustful, disrespectfull democraps will do anything to win at anything.
#2

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm, purplepeep said:

Yeah, memorials should be devoid of politics! Like the one for Wellstone, doncha know.
#3

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:51 pm, TexasTiger said:

Only the Democrats can ▓▓▓honk up a funeral.
#4

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:54 pm, NeoConNews said:

That’s pretty pathetic.
#5

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:56 pm, DesertLover said:

Don’t know why we should be the least bit surprised … just another example of those great Dems and their most ethical Congress ever … such a bunch of useless excuses for public servants … Tom Lantos deserved much better from his colleagues
#6

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm, d1carter said:

What a bunch of idiots. Dems can’t even do a memorial service correctly. I do share the sentiments about Tom Lantos. He was an honorable man.
#7

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm, John Ansell said:

It was all Bush’s fault.
#8

On February 14th, 2008 at 5:59 pm, procopy said:

Incredibly rude, discourteous, disrespectful, immoral and irreverent. They are getting harder and harder to stomach.
#9

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:00 pm, uhangtight said:

the dem’s thought they would be able to outsmart the republicans. by calling the session before the memorial was over. i am sorry these critters are not to be trusted.

pathetic is one work that comes to mind as well as many others that i dare not say here..
#10

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:12 pm, right_on said:

Playing this sort of game during a memorial service of a great and good man is beneath the dignity of this House, and should be beneath the dignity of Democratic Leaders.

Have they, the Deomcratic Leadership, not shown time and again that they have no dignity where politics, and personal destuction of Republicans is concerned?
#11

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:18 pm, PBoilermaker said:

Is anyone surprised? Seriously…
#12

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pm, Tipper said:

What a bunch of detestable rots Democrats are.
#13

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:24 pm, calamityville said:

Children.
#14

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:31 pm, graysonret said:

You know, working in pediatrics, I’ve seen more intelligent toddlers than I’ve seen on the floors of Congress. Maybe they all need a time-out. Of course, an adult will have to be there to enforce it.
#15

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:37 pm, John Ansell said:

Here is a true hero, may God bless his family
#16

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm, Marshall Russ said:

This is a total pay back to the loons on the far left by the Democrats nothing more. This blinding of the intelligence community and exposing the country to foreign threats is inexcusable. This should give McCain plenty of ammo, if he will use it.
#17

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:44 pm, KCK said:

Sanctity of life? I think not.
#18

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:48 pm, meatpieandtatters said:

The liberals never miss an opportunity to act out of malice and political conniving. To call them children on dignifies them. They are in fact sub-human.
#19

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:50 pm, Blind_Mule said:

I am so suprised! not. The Dimocrats renege on every deal they make with the Republican’s, they take every written and unwritten rule of decorum and throw them out when it suits their agenda.
Not much of a suprise from a party that hates America.
#20

On February 14th, 2008 at 6:53 pm, lcl4 said:

I surely wouldn’t disparage ‘children’ like that! They deserve an apology.
#21

On February 14th, 2008 at 7:20 pm, zorro said:

Sneaky, lying, distrustful, disrespectfull democraps

It seems they are always ready to establish a new low. They make trailer trash look like they live in Hampton’s.
#22

On February 14th, 2008 at 7:25 pm, graysonret said:

Ansell, yes…a role model and hero. We’ve now kids shooting kids in our schools, almost every week. Another fifteen at Illinois University. We never had anything close to that when I was in school/college and we had guns of our own! This is the fault of the liberals and their liberal policies. The Democrats and their supporters. They can’t even act right on the floor of Congress. Well, liberals…you’ve accomplished your goal. You’ve now corrupted our youth, and now they are shooting up our schools, doing sex shows and anti-American protests. You can’t even do a memorial service without disruptions. This is the society that you’ve created. Is this what you wanted? Kids getting shot in schools? Tearing down marriage? Illegimate kids from our youth? You all are despicable; yet you carry on like it’s all okay. You’ve made us all victims for your political gain. You’ve destroyed most everything that made us great. And, you come out to the podiums and tell us how you are all going to make it all better, with your entitlements! Look at you all and your actions in Congress! You’re worse than despicable; you’re downright evil. (not a sermon, just a thought)
#23

On February 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm, Barry F. said:

The “most ethical” Congress? By which one were they setting the bar?
#24

On February 14th, 2008 at 8:37 pm, navywife91 said:

Yes, I remember Mrs. Pelosi saying words like “civility”, “integrity”. Ha! This is a pattern of behavior, not a mistake.

McCain is looking better every day.
#25

On February 14th, 2008 at 8:55 pm, terrig said:

#22, hit it exactly on the head!
#26

On February 14th, 2008 at 11:12 pm, Jim M. said:

The dems use a dead man as a shield to attempt to cut off debate. From the use of children as human shields to the recently departed. Marvelous. We should not be surprised, though, since they are the party that the deceased consistently cast their votes for in elections around the Country. Every election eve is the Night of the Living Democrat.
#27

On February 15th, 2008 at 5:37 am, graysonret said:

With the world in such a volatile situation these days, I turned to Congress for assurance. I see Lantos, Meirs, Bolten, a held spy bill, rebates and Roger Clemens. I go to work today, knowing the country is, once again, safe for democracy.
#28

On February 15th, 2008 at 8:48 am, ACHefty said:

It’s time for someone like Michelle to address a mandatory joint session of the Congress. If I were to be the one, my first words would be:

Mr. Sergeant at Arms, lock the doors and shut off the cameras and microphones. No one leaves. On behalf of the American people, I am about to get really ugly to this Congress, and I don’t want viewers to be offended.”

Then I will ask whether they have passed a budget — 6 months into the fiscal year. You get the idea.

Come to think of it, perhaps this will be my next column….
#29

On February 15th, 2008 at 9:07 am, cpodug said:

And once again we find the wisdom behind

A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Of course,

Under a bipartisan agreement, the House was not to come into session until after the Tom Lantos memorial service. But the service ran long, and the session was gavelled in anyway.

hasn’t yet penetrated the dark corridors of the unhinged left, and probably never will.
#30

On February 15th, 2008 at 9:12 am, franksalterego said:

Just one more example, as if any were needed, of Liberal/Democrats using the same tactics as Fascist/Islamic/Terrorists.

They are, in my estimation, cut from the same cloth - two sides of the same coin.
#31

On February 15th, 2008 at 11:08 am, walterc said:

“This will be the most ethical congress in history.” Nancy Pelosi

How’s that working out for ya Nan?
#32

On March 10th, 2008 at 8:43 pm, beenthere said:

The democrats never honor an agreement. Never. When will the Republicans ever learn? Never.