Sometimes, the awardees are obvious.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the tinfoil and toilet paper crown designating
The Left-Cheek Ass Clown for November, 2023
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is awarded jointly to
Senator Markwayne Mullin (R, OK)
and
Representative Tim Burchett (R, TN-2)
The actions of Senator Mullin and Representative Burchett this week reflected the solemn dignity of participation in the United States Congress as only members of today's GOP could manage.
During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Senator Mullin angrily challenged a witness - Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters - to a fistfight in the hearing room. Angered by critical tweets about him that Mr O'Brian had sent, Senator Mullin shouted,
“This is the time, this is the place ... If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here.”
Senator Mullin rose from his seat and shouted insults at Mr O'Brien (who shouted insults back) as the Chair of the meeting, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, tried to restore order, shouting to Mullin at one point
“You are a United States senator!”
On the same day, Representative Burchett was being interviewed by an NPR reporter in a Capitol hallway when fellow Representative and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed past, apparently intentionally shoving Burchett with what Burchett described as "a clean shot to the kidneys." Burchett shouted,
"Why'd you elbow me in the back, Kevin?! Hey Kevin, you got any guts?!"
and chased McCarthy down the hallway, calling him a "jerk." When he finally caught up to McCarthy, he shouted,
"What kind of chicken move is that? You're pathetic, man. You are so pathetic."
Representative McCarthy responded in what passes in today's GOP as calm and dignified, denying that he had deliberately hit Mr Burchett and saying, “If I hit somebody, they would know it ... If I kidney punched someone, they would be on the ground.”
With wars raging between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine, gun violence on the rise, and myriad other problems facing the nation, we depend on the likes of Messrs Mullin and Burchett for thoughtful legislative action ... instead, we get elementary-school* behavior in the halls of Congress.
In addition, not being one to pass up an opportunity to get into the news, GOP Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida announced he would file a formal ethics complaint against McCarthy over the incident between McCarthy and Burchett.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the Left-Cheek Ass Clown award for November is presented jointly to Senator Markwayne Mullin and Representative Tim Burchett - two paragons of the sort of restrained and dignified behavior we have come to expect from today's Republican members of Congress**.
In the words of exasperated Senator Bernie Sanders,
“... God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress, let’s not make it worse.”
Remember this on Election Day.
Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for Cartoon Saturday. More thoughts then.
Bilbo
* No offense is intended to elementary-school students.
** Dishonorable mention goes to Rep Gaetz for taking advantage of the already-stupid behavior of Mullin and Burchett.
4 comments:
So many a$$ clowns
So few awards...
Didn't there used to be brawls in Congress back in the good old days? Or am I thinking about England?
Ass clowns indeed. Love Bernie's quotes! He tells it like it is.
There have been physical attacks quite a few times in the mostly distant past. I wouldn't call it precedent, like Mullin did.
Deserving candidates!!
And while this behavior is deplorable, what I would really like to see (forgive me) is a total 'bench clearer'. No talking about it, no posturing, let them come out swinging at each other, and we record the whole thing. Just think how gratifying it would be to see MTG and B go at it! Johnson can pray over the melee while Tommy Tuberville and Jim Jordan crawl around trying to be unseen.
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