Joe Wilson has now been censured for shouting "You lie!" during the president's recent address to the joint session, because "liar" is not among the presidential insults approved for use by House members.
Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual, it is only appropriate to shout out that the president is "something hated, something oppressive," that he's "using legislative or judicial pork," that his message is "a disgrace to the country," or say that the president (or other official) is among the "half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs."
But in the interest of saving time and shortening speeches, Hope n' Change suggests that members of the House should now simply shout "SECTION 370!" whenever the president is lying.
Update June 11, 2011
Today's cartoon is being revisited owing to Democrat Anthony Weiner's claim that emailing pornographic snapshots of "Mr. Happy" to random strangers doesn't violate House ethics rules. Which makes us think: "those are some pretty feeble freakin' rules."
And indeed they are. We weren't making up the language shown in the original commentary; you can't call the president a liar (although the president was lying, as everyone knows now) but you can call him all sorts of other terrible things. Or, we suppose, send him email of your genitalia.
Truthfully, it seems like the House only really adheres to two ethics rule: don't get caught, and don't drag the party down with you.
But Anthony Weiner continues to hang on...and is asserting that the whole incident stemmed from a spectacularly bad misunderstanding of Congressional franking privileges.
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20 comments:
I read through the entire article referenced in the monologue and first I think that next time Mr Wilson should just hold up a 2 foot by 3 foot poster of Mr Wiener's Wiener, that will keep him from being censured.
Now these House rules of conduct make no sense....specifically you cannot yell out "You're a Liar" or claim intellectual dishonesty even if there is massive amounts of evidence to support your claims....but you could Yell out "You're a bag full of excrement" (something hated) and "You're socialist left-wing commie ideas are a disgrace to this country" (message a disgrace)!!
Also apparently while the House rules do not allow a Congressperson to yell out something like "You were getting hummers in the Oval Office and dipping your cigars!" (Bill and Monica) it doesn't specifically disallow the photographing and disseminating said photos of ones genitalia; however; the the House Ethics Manual does state:
Conduct themselves at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House;
Adhere to the broad ethical standards expressed in the Code of Ethics for Government Service.
which states:
Put loyalty to the highest moral principals and to country above loyalty to Government persons, party, or department.
HIGHEST MORAL PRINCIPALS.....hmmm....I think someone of high moral principals would not have been sending photos of their Wiener to a College Student especially when sender is MARRIED!!!!!
Of course the Official Code of Ethics probably has provisions that us normal citizens aren't allowed to see....like a provision saying that "These ethics only pertain to Republican Representatives!"
Oh and as a bit of a side note....Nancy you and the rest of the Dummocrats need to reread the Ethics manual yourself number nine of the Code of Ethics for Government Service specifically which states:
Expose corruption wherever discovered.
Hmmm.....you could bring most of congress up on charges of unethical conduct......because they don't follow this rule at all!!!!
There are no "ethics" in Congress/Senate/politicians anywhere. Specially in the USSA.
YeOldFurt
@Dave- Regarding the rule to "expose corruption wherever discovered," it seems that Weiner got a little confused about what kind of exposure was being recommended.
@Anonymous(above)- I'd like to think there are a few ethical politicians still...but I do believe they're very badly outnumbered.
Rules? What Rules? You mean the rules that say you can't harass ex-governors you dislike by reading all their personal emails from the past 5 years? Only the President has the luxury to pad himself from negative words or actions? Or the Presidential candidate...or anyone who is half black who MIGHT be President...or....
I can't believe it. They are digging in Palin's history (and it doesn't have to be Palin to be true) to find any bit of dirt while they ignore all the disgusting junk that goes on in our current government.
So I say...rules????
Heh - you said "disgusting junk"...
huh hu-huh huh....
/Beavis
@Suzy- Isn't it interesting that the NY Times enlists a "citizen army" to go through every page of Palin's emails...but showed no such interest in reading every page of Obama's healthcare bill?
This sort of gutter journalism truly saddens and angers me.
@Pete(Detroit)- Now you said "disgusting junk!" Huh-huh huh...!
Re: franking privelages. Aside from the great pun, it's probably true that Weiner's cell phone is free and comes with unlimited minutes, courtesy of the tax payer. In just about any other profession you can think of (except maybe movie/theater anything) the person would have been fired for posting their disgusting junk.
@Earl- Maybe "disgusting junk" is too harsh. According to noted penis expert Barbara Walters (who has previously admitted having an affair with a married Senator), the in flagrante photo of Weiner's weiner is "flattering."
Yuck. Now the ladies on daytime tv will enlighten us (titillate to be exact) as they debate the nuances. It worked for Bill Clinton. I don't mind a joke or two or three at Weiner's expense, but spare me the admiration. That is really disgusting.
I'm beginning to suspect that it's all part of his plan - we'll get SO fed up w/ the daily stupidity, we'll be willing to let him keep his job just to make it all go away.
Personally, I'd rather HE went away...
@Pete(Detroit)- The latest news is that Anthony Weiner has asked for some time away (NOT quitting, just taking a break) so that he can get weiner-waggling therapy... and possibly a Brazilian wax job.
since we can't call the prez a liar, can we call him a "prevaricator of the highest order"?
@george- We can, and we must!
@George, since we are not members of Congress, we are permitted to speak the plain truth: the president is a liar. So is Pelosi, so, as just recently proved, is Weiner. Bill Clinton too.
It therefore seems reasonable to presume that all democrat politicians are liars, until proven innocent.
QED.
What republicans are, seems more variable and up for discussion.
Note, by the way, that Obama. Pelosi, et al seem to think that it is their right to lie and react with outrage or disdain if someone challenges them. This raises the question of whether this is a government of, by, and for the people, or of, by, and for certain so-called progressive elites? Some of whom call themselves democrats and some of whom call themselves republicans.
I'm in the process of reading "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson...its talking about the US Ambassador to Berlin starting in like 1934 and going into WWII....its a lot to think about. I mean obviously nobody here clicks their heels and salutes...but...I can see some vague similarities in the governmental pressure and control they were using back then. As I'm reading, sometimes I get this slightly uncomfortable feeling like something in the book feels a bit too familiar, and then it passes quickly.
History repeats itself because nobody is willing to learn from it.
Endgame's here for Weiner now that law enforcement is involved and looking into the underage angle (and a 17 year old pretty close to DC, at that). So long to Plan B damage control (short vacation then return and dig in).
Now he's at the mercy of whatever local cops and prosecutors want a career boost, not just Delaware but any/everywhere.
I predicted that Pelosi et al would turn on him right about now if the story's legs held out. Now, with 'evaluation/rehab', he's positioning himself for some kind of insanity defense against potential criminal charges. Because his jig's up once a criminal investigation team subpoenas all his hard drives, phone records, Twitter/FB etc accounts back as far as they care to go.
Tasty.
Yeah, can I take a leave of absence from Congress to "get therapy" for my sexual proclivities? It doesn't mean I'll actually CHANGE my proclivities, but it'll be great window dressing, won't it? Weiner will do the same things when he's back, but he'll be a tad bit more careful--maybe...
At his 6/06 marathon I-still-think-I-can-talk-my-way-out-of-anything confessional presser, Weiner confessed to cybersex with 'six women' over 'three years'. The ones who've come forward (so far) have all been quite recent. So there's at least another couple of years worth still out there...since we haven't heard from them yet I assume the shrewder ones are lawyering up and/or negotiating to cash in on their story more lucratively than just firing off screenshots to home town papers. Others may be married or otherwise not ready to cash in...yet.
But the clincher again is law enforcement's now involved. They may or may not find actual criminal acts, but having all his online activities for the last several years scrutinized is likely to yield a lot more embarrassing disclosures for both Weiner and the Dems, possibly way beyond online stalking. They seem to have decided they need him gone, whatever that takes.
There's a thread going around about him dreading the Wrath Of Hillary.
Weiner may remember what happened to Vince Foster when HE became 'inconvenient'...
Suzy, you want something REALLY creepy to read? Grab "Atlas Shrugged"
It's almost like someone is using it as a play book - and not the good guys...
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