Here we go again. Last week, congressional Republicans struggled to see through their crocodile tears just long enough to push resolutions condemning MoveOn.org for its “Betray Us” newspaper ad.
Next week, it’ll be Dems’ turn. From Greg Sargent:
I’ve just learned that Rep. Mark Udall (D-CO) will be introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on Monday condemning Rush Limbaugh for his “phony soldiers” remark.
This is significant because it has the potential to dramatically up the stakes in this fight. If the Democratic leadership allows it to go for a vote, it will force all the Republicans in the House to either vote for it, against it, or skip the vote — and to pass judgment on the powerful conservative talk show host’s contention that troops who don’t support President Bush’s war policies are “phony soldiers.”
It will also potentially present the Dem leadership with a not-so-easy choice. Many people will naturally call on the leadership to allow the resolution to come to a vote, which is not necessarily something the leadership might want, since it could look like a tit-for-tat reso in retaliation for the measure condemning MoveOn. It also is potentially problematic for some in the leadership because there is an internal sentiment that it’s not Congress’ job to go around denouncing the remarks, however reprehensible, of private citizens.
Following up on a post from the other day, it’s not exactly encouraging to think we’ll have competing congressional resolutions every time a person or group of political significance says something intemperate. Political posturing certainly has its place, but part of the problem with the Republicans’ apoplexy over the MoveOn ad was its inherent silliness — the GOP had nothing better to do, so it chose to waste time hyperventilating over a newspaper ad, instead of, you know, legislating.
On the other hand, Glenn Greenwald presents a compelling case: “[S]everal people express the unquestionably valid concern that it is inappropriate, even McCarthy-ite and dangerous, for Congress to start formally condemning private political speech. That is true, and if we had a healthy political system, that would not happen. But, as the MoveOn vote demonstrated, we have the opposite of a healthy political system, and it is thus far preferable — for reasons I set forth here — to ensure that a corrupt standard is applied equally rather than allow it to be applied by one political faction against another.”
OK, but can the Limbaugh resolution be the last of these? Maybe we can call it even?
In related news:
* The AP finally did an item about all of this, but included an error: “In a transcript of Thursday’s show posted on his Web site, Limbaugh said the comment followed a discussion of Jesse Macbeth, who was sentenced to five months in prison earlier this month for collecting more than $10,00 in benefits to which he was not entitled.” That’s plainly false — the “phony soldiers” comment did not follow a discussion of Macbeth.
* Mitt Romney has joined John McCain in criticizing Limbaugh’s comments: “Governor Romney would disagree with the negative characterization of those men and women who serve with honor and distinction in the United States Military. There may be disagreements with individual opinions, but no one would ever dispute the fact that those members of the military who disagree with the war have earned the right to express that opinion.” Rudy Giuliani, who could barely contain himself in going after MoveOn, remains shy.
* For all his denials, Limbaugh must be feeling somewhat embarrassed by all of this — he posted a touched-up transcript on his site. Was the original too accurate?