Congressman Steve Womack, whose email letters to constituents tell us that he will “Lead by Example” and “Lead from the Front” in the murky web of politics finally had a chance to do just that yesterday when the vote on aid to victims of Hurricane sandy came before the House.
Ever the Good Soldier, The Scowling One (and boy, is he ever scowling in the videos anyone can see of his performance yesterday) sitting in the John Boehner, adjourned the House of Representatives, ignoring loud calls for a vote on a promised bill to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy.
In fact, when he called for a vote on adjournment, after a smattering of “yeas” and many “nays” the Good Soldier adjourned the session. His work was done. I hope he at least got a pat on the back.
GOP leaders had originally given the okay on the $27 million measure. But then House leadership changed its mind, and so the measure had to be stopped in its tracks.
TSO, facing the proverbial “Profile in Courage” moment, declined to take Destiny up on its offer, and so shut down proceedings inn the House.
Those whose lives have been devastated by the Hurricane would just have to wait a few more weeks. Suffering, after all, builds character.
But wait! The folks on the East Coast – including elected officials, who have easier access to TV cameras than folks living in shelters – raised all sorts of hell, and House “leadership” saw the error of its ways. A new vote was promised.
Because, you know, this will get rid of the bad taste that everyone got in their mouths yesterday.
Just imagine a world in which Steve Womack actually did “Lead from the Front,” and decided it was more than just a political cliche? What if he had said, “Well, we need to have this vote; it would be unconscionable not to.”
Wow. TSO would have been a real hero, and not just in his tortured imagination.
But instead we just have further evidence not only of the splintering of the Republican party, but of the political cowardice of a man who promises to “Lead by Example.”
It’s too bad, Steve.
Everybody loves a hero, and you could have been one yesterday.
Instead . . .
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Quote of the Day
Politics is high school with guns and more money. – Frank Zappa
rsdrake@cox.net