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Republicans stage congressional sit-in |
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Written by Dwayne Robinson
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Thursday, 07 August 2008 |
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If you pull a stunt, but no one actually sees it, is it a still a stunt? Or perhaps a better question would be, was it worth it?
House Republicans staged a sort of sit-in protest in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, reminiscent of the great Civil Rights Era protests. But was the GOP railing against genocide in Darfur? Maybe funding for troops in Iraq? Or was it for new tax cuts for the middle class?
[T]he GOP wanted to be heard on allowing oil companies to drill off the shore of the United States.Nope. The House Republicans refused to adjourn the chamber after Democrats voted to end the session for their August recess because the GOP wanted to be heard on allowing oil companies to drill off the shore of the United States.
How noble.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, wasn’t having any of it. Not only did all the Democrats bail out of the chamber, but the microphones, lights and cameras were shut off in the chamber, meaning not even the "CSPANers" could zone out to the faux demonstration. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi...wasn’t having any of it.Despite getting a lot of ink, the Republican act of civil disobedience hasn’t gotten much traction, save from Politico.com. Instead, the media is captivated by the Olympics and Paris Hilton’s new response ad to Republican presumptive nominee John McCain’s TV buy that links his opponent with the hotel heiress and Britney Spears (McCain’s ad: "Oh, no! People actually like my opponent, so let’s vote against him. He’s a celebrity. And they suck.").
Next time the Republicans want to stage a protest, it might be smart to stage one where people can actually see them or during a time of year when people are actually paying attention to politics.
Or, better yet, how about protesting something worthy of a protest?
[Politico.com, YouTube.com]
Dwayne Robinson is TheSequitur.com's executive editor and a journalist in south Florida.
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