Congress goes where no Congress has gone before
It’s reached an all-time low.
Here’s what they voted on:
“Whereas on September 9, 2009, during the joint session of Congress convened pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution 179, the President of the United States, speaking at the invitation of the House and Senate, had his remarks interrupted by the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson; and Whereas the conduct of the Representative from South Carolina was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House:
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, during the joint session of Congress held on September 9, 2009.”
I’ve made one post on this absurdity already, it deserves a lot more. First of all, let’s get something straight here. My issue with all this starts with something that has been completely ignored of late:
Section 3 – State of the Union, Convening Congress
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
That folks, is from your United States Constitution. Don’t give me a bunch of bull about decorum and tradition. Obama abandoned all that by calling an unconstitutional meeting. Read what I highlighted, anyone want to make the argument that discussion regarding universal health coverage meets the qualification of “extraordinary”? The speech itself held no basis of Congressional protocol. So, anything that happened during the unconstitutional gathering of Congress had no basis in history or law.
Got that so far?
Here’s the entire US Constitution online, for your convenience. Wanna search that document for “decorum”? Go ahead, make my day. I’ll wait.
Finished? That’s right folks, there is no definition of decorum. It didn’t exist until last week. So, admonishing a Member of Congress held no basis whatsoever in any US document whatsoever.
So, what you have seen is a vote to do something unconstitutional over an incident that was unconstitutional.
But guess what, it gets even better than that.
Article V of the Articles of Confederation makes one point very clear:
Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests or imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.
Does it get any clearer than that? The people that voted to admonish Joe Wilson clearly violated the Articles of Incorporation. This serves more as “decorum” than anything cited during this process.
But, it doesn’t even stop there:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
That of course, is from the Bill of Rights. When people whine about their “rights’, this is where it comes from. If it ain’t in there, it ain’t a “right”. Quite clearly, Joe Wilson’s freedom of speech, was abridged.
And, it doesn’t even stop there. The interpretation of “people peaceably to assemble”, is to protest the government without fear of recrimination. Joe Wilson was obviously recriminated for protesting.
And, it’s not going to even stop there. During Bush’s 2005 State of the Union address, the Democrats protested vocally in unison. Bush’s 2005 State of the Union is a Constitutionally recognized function of the President. Barack Obama calling both Houses to meet so he can pitch a single issue is not.
Quite frankly, it should be obvious by this point, since Obama’s speech is not recognized as a “joint session of Congress”, and since Congress has since abridged Joe Wilson’s right to assemble as well as his right to free speech, this resolution actually does violate House decorum, which I take is defined by the documents that chartered Congress. I’d love to see the legal documents that provide for this resolution. Until that happens, these people IMO have actually committed treason by willfully and knowingly abridging Joe Wilson’s right to assemble and speak freely.
And quite frankly, since Wilson had apologized twice already, one has to wonder what the point of demanding a third apology was in the first place. Here’s the list of those who committed all those violations of the Constitution:
Adam B. Schiff
Adam Smith
Al Green
Alan B. Mollohan
Alan Grayson
Albio Sires
Alcee L. Hastings
Allen Boyd
Allyson Y. Schwarz
Andre Carson
Ann Kirkpatrick
Anna G. Eshoo
Anthony D. Weiner
Artur Davis
Barbara Lee
Barney Frank
Baron P. Hill
Bart Gordon
Bart Stupak
Ben Chandler
Ben Ray Lujan
Bennie G. Thompson
Betsey Markey
Betty McCollum
Betty Sutton
Bill Foster
Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Bob Etheridge
Bob Filner
Bobby Bright
Bobby L. Rush
Brad Ellsworth
Brad Miller
Brad Sherman
Brian Baird
Brian Higgins
Bruce L. Braley
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
Carol Shea-Porter
Carolyn B. Maloney
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick
Carolyn McCarthy
Chaka Fattah
Charles A. Gonzalez
Charles A. Wilson
Charles B. Rangel
Charlie Melancon
Chellie Pingree
Chet Edwards
Chris Van Hollen
Christopher P. Carney
Christopher S. Murphy
Ciro D. Rodriguez
Collin C. Peterson
Corrine Brown
Dale E. Kildee
Dan Boren
Daniel Lipinski
Danny K. Davis
David E. Price
David Loebsack
David R. Obey
David Scott
David Wu
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Deborah L. Halvorson
Dennis A. Cardoza
Dennis Moore
Diana DeGette
Diane E. Watson
Dina Titus
Donald M. Payne
Donna F. Edwards
Doris O. Matsui
Earl Blumenauer
Earl Pomeroy
Ed Pastor
Ed Perlmutter
Eddie Bernice Johnson
Edolphus Towns
Edward J. Markey
Elijah E. Cummings
Eliot L. Engel
Emanuel Cleaver
Fortney Pete Stark
Frank Kratovil Jr.
Frank Pallone, Jr.
G.K. Butterfield
Gary C. Peters
Gary L. Ackerman
Gene Green
George Miller
Gerald E. Connolly
Glenn C. Nye
Grace F. Napolitano
Gregory W. Meeks
Harry E. Mitchell
Heath Shuler
Henry A. Waxman
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.
Henry Cuellar
Howard L. Berman
Ike Skelton
Jackie Speier
James E. Clyburn
James L. Oberstar
James P. McGovern
James P. Moran
James R. Langevin
Jane Harman
Janice D. Schakowsky
Jared Polis
Jason Altmire
Jay Inslee
Jerrold Nadler
Jerry F. Costello
Jerry McNerney
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.
Jim Cooper
Jim Costa
Jim Marshall
Jim Matheson
Joe Baca
Joe Courtney
Joe Donnelly
Joe Sestak
John A. Boccieri
John A. Yarmuth
John B. Larson
John Barrow
John Conyers, Jr.
John D. Dingell
John F. Tierney
John H. Adler
John J. Hall
John Lewis
John M. Spratt, Jr.
John P. Murtha
John P. Sarbanes
John S. Tanner
John T. Salazar
John W. Olver
Jose E. Serrano
Joseph Crowley
Judy Chu
Kathleen A. Dahlkemper
Kathy Castor
Keith Ellison
Kendrick B. Meek
Kurt Schrader
Larry Kissell
Laura Richardson
Leonard L. Boswell
Lincoln Davis
Linda T. Sanchez
Lloyd Doggett
Lois Capps
Loretta Sanchez
Louise McIntosh Slaughter
Lucille Roybal-Allard
Luis V. Gutierrez
Lynn C. Woolsey
Marcia L. Fudge
Marcy Kaptur
Marion Berry
Mark H. Schauer
Martin Heinrich
Mary Jo Kilroy
Maxine Waters
Mazie K. Hirono
Melissa L. Bean
Melvin L. Watt
Michael E. Capuano
Michael E. McMahon
Michael F. Doyle
Michael H. Michaud
Michael M. Honda
Mike McIntyre
Mike Quigley
Mike Ross
Mike Thompson
Nancy Pelosi
Neil Abercrombie
Nick J. Rahall II
Niki Tsongas
Nita M. Lowey
Norman D. Dicks
Nydia M. Velazquez
Parker Griffith
Patrick J. Kennedy
Patrick J. Murphy
Paul E. Kanjorski
Paul Tonko
Peter A. DeFazio
Peter J. Visclosky
Peter Welch
Phil Hare
Raul M. Grijalva
Richard E. Neal
Rick Boucher
Rick Larsen
Robert A. Brady
Robert C. “Bobby” Scott
Robert E. Andrews
Robert Wexler
Ron Kind
Ron Klein
Rosa L. DeLauro
Ruben Hinojosa
Rush D. Holt
Russ Carnahan
Sam Farr
Sander M. Levin
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
Scott Murphy
Sheila Jackson-Lee
Shelley Berkley
Silvestre Reyes
Solomon P. Ortiz
Steny H. Hoyer
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
Stephen F. Lynch
Steve Cohen
Steve Driehaus
Steve Israel
Steve Kagen
Steven R. Rothman
Susan A. Davis
Suzanne M. Kosmas
Tammy Baldwin
Thomas S. P. Perriello
Tim Holden
Tim Ryan
Timothy H. Bishop
Timothy J. Walz
Travis Childers
Vic Snyder
Walt Minnick
Wm. Lacy Clay
Xavier Becerra
Yvette D. Clarke
Zachary T. Space
Zoe Lofgren
Anh Cao
JoAnne Emerson
Jeff Flake
Bob Inglis
Walter Jones
Thomas Petri
Dana Rohrabacher
Those are the people who either voted for it, or didn’t bother to vote at all. Either way, they haven’t spent five minutes of their careers learning the documents they were elected to uphold, respect, and protect. And, what’s worse, they obviously don’t give a damn.
I’d love nothing more than to debate this one with someone who voted for it. That won’t happen. I’ll even debate it with someone who can find some type of documentation supporting it. That probably won’t happen either. What I’d love nothing more is the next time Obama calls an unconstitutional gathering of Congress to push some issue that is not extraordinary, is for every Republican to blurt something out. I’d love for those Democrats that respect the Constitution and the intent of our Founding Fathers to do the same. I know that won’t happen either.
