Someone help me out here. Whose idea was it to have the members of Congress seated together at the State of the Union Tuesday night? Of course it was Senator Mark Udall of Colorado. A Democrat. Surprise!
Bipartisanship, the elixir of Republican fools. Now that the numbers unequivocally demonstrate that Barack Obama got a poll bump from the Republican’s nonsensical offering of 13 more months of unfunded jobless benefits for a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts, the GOP bonehead leadership buys into staggered seating during SOTU. Why don’t they all just bring marshmallows, dispense with the speech and sing “Kumbaya.”
Ask yourself why a party that worked overtime to lock Republicans out of the process for two solid years while they passed legislation the people of the United States overwhelmingly opposed, suddenly wants to make nice.
Better yet, why would any Republican agree to it?
This smacks of cover up, folks. The old guard leadership in Congress are faced with a rowdy new contingent of activist members, and I can think of no reason members like John McCain and John Thune would agree to this unprecedented seating structure, other than to silence them.
Remember, in September 2009, when South Carolina rep Joe Wilson was moved to expose Barack Obama’s lie that illegals would not benefit from universal health care? Such unmitigated incivility! Of course Wilson was right.
The White House consoles us: “Maybe not having a physical aisle separate us would be a good thing as we talk about the state of our union,” says Robert “I’ll have to get back to you on that” Gibbs.
But just how does this new grab-ass seating prevent Barack Obama from slapping down the Supreme Court from the podium or taking another characteristic below the belt shot at GOP lawmakers? Where will the boos come from, should the President use his bully pulpit to make another underhanded remark?
Just how do Mitch McConnell and John Boehner fit into this charade? McConnell is keeping his traditional seat but allowing other members to sit where they wish. Boehner is apparently doing the same. Now that’s leadership.
As usual, the folks at Red State have a good take on this:
Just days after the Arizona tragedy, Democrats are yet again attempting to profit politically from the massacre. I’m not talking about Sarah Palin. Or gun control. Or kicking off a 2012 campaign at what was supposed to be a memorial service. No my friends, I’m talking about seating arrangements.
Congressional Democrats have proposed a plan for bipartisan seating at the President’s upcoming State of the Union address. You see, there has been some very mean and hurtful rhetoric hurled the Democrats’ way recently, and that has resulted in the shooting of Congresswomen Giffords not made them feel very good about themselves. After all, they deserve the adulation of the masses for their heroic efforts over the last two years in fighting the evil rich oppressors of the nation (meanies!), which, of course, completely justifies their nasty rhetoric.
Left Coast Ledger 