Sen. Jim DeMint accidentally told the truth this morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. IN the grand scheme of things...who cares? It's Morning Joe. I was listening to it on Sirius and had my cell phone been in closer reach I probably would've switched over to Bill Press. But at least I did get my recommended daily allowance of rueful chuckling done before getting to the train station for my morning commute. So...thanks? Jim DeMint and producers of Morning Joe?
Being interviewed by Joe, Mika, Michael Steele & Sam Stein before his grand appearance at CPAC (I hope he ends his speech with his tried-and-true Sledge-o-Matic routine), DeMint admitted that getting a Republican in the White House isn’t nearly as important as getting a Republican majority in the Senate. Because, you see, Congress is the branch of government that passes the laws. The Republican-majority Senate will be wiling to work with ANY President – be it Romney, Santorum, Gingrich or Paul (think you missed someone there, Jim), but ultimately the power to pass laws for the President to sign lies with the Senate. The President does not have the authority to pass the laws. According to Se. Jim DeMint.
Think about that.
We currently have a Senate with a Republican minority, which uses and abuses the power of the filibuster to not only prevent bills from getting an up-or-down vote, it prevents bills from being discussed on the floor of the Senate AT ALL. Many things that could improve our economy, reduce unemployment, restore economic fairness, filibustered by a Republican minority…who then turns around and blames Obama for not getting anything done…despite DeMint admitting that the President’s powers only go so far.
Kinda like me blocking your path then blaming your laziness for not winning the race.
And WHY do you think Republicans filibuster bills before they even get a chance to be debated? After all, if the agenda of Democrats is SOOOO gol-danged awful, you’d think a Republican minority would want that jack-assery to be on display for all to see. So they can say “See? We were right, their ideas are horrible.” Instead they block debate and tell their constituents:: “Trust us, we were right, those idea were awful.” And really, what reason would they have to lie?
A Facebook “friend” once argued that Republicans (like truth-telling sage Jim DeMint) block debate on bills so as not to waste the Senate’s time and as a courtesy to the Democrats who would be embarrassed by these bills. Awww, ain’t that stupid-sweet? How generous of the GOP in the Senate to prevent anything from getting done in the Senate and then blaming Democrats for it. Otherwise, THAT might prove to be EMBARRASSING.
Ultimately I’m not sure it makes a lick of difference. No one on Morning Joe caught the slip o’ the tongue (I know, shocking). Democrats know this already & Republicans don’t care. But we do have an election coming up, I hear, where a whoooole lot of people are blaming Obama for their economic woes. And a Republican Senator admitted on live TV that none of this is his fault. He didn’t mean to, like most truths told by Republicans, it was an accident. But people who report on news for a living ought to take his statement and see if it might lead to that larger truth, if only to make the heads of the Republicans they always invite on their shows at a minimum 2-to-1 ratio over Democrats explode, and see how they can spin it. Because while Republicans make bad policy, they often make good political theater, and isn’t THAT what it’s all about?
EDIT: Link to the segment, it's DeMint's answer to the second question, so if you want to stop watching after that, feel free... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...