‘This can’t be the most articulate, most informed voices of the Republic Party, can it?’

February 10, 2007

From time to time, many of us, including me, suggest congressional Democrats aren’t nearly forceful enough in taking on the GOP. To help demonstrate the fact that there’s still plenty of fight in these guys, I offer this terrific clip of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), on the House floor, speaking on the Republicans’ mind-numbing whines about Speaker Pelosi’s military plane. (via Atrios)

Notice the constant use of the phrase “Republic Party.” By my count, Weiner used it literally 10 times in his four-minute speech.

I don’t know how many GOP lawmakers were in the chamber at the time, but I have to assume Weiner was annoying the daylights out of those who heard him.

For those of you who can’t watch video clips online, I’m including the full transcript of Weiner’s remarks after the jump.

From the official congressional record:

Mr. WEINER: Mr. Speaker, this can’t possibly be the best they have got. This can’t be. I cannot imagine that a party that governed for the last 12-some-odd years, who had a Congress that met less days than the do-nothing Congress, who wasted billions of dollars in the Iraq war doing no oversight, drove up the deficit to record heights, wasted homeland security funds, it can’t possibly be that the best that party has is to now devote an afternoon talking about the security arrangements for the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Well, let’s talk a little bit about what we have. Putting aside for a moment, which apparently is what the other side wants, putting aside for a moment the bill we are here to debate, which is a way to improve energy programs with existing infrastructure, and I can guarantee my colleagues will be lining up to take advantage of that program, we have, in the first 100 hours of this Congress, raised the minimum wage; we have lowered the cost of people to send their children to college; we have implemented the 9/11 Commission Report. We have moved through an agenda with efficiency to get things done for the American people, and now my colleagues on the other side want to have an argument with the White House over the appropriate arrangements for the Speaker.

Now, look, I am sure that my good friends on the other side are so detached from reality that they think this is what the American people want to work on. This is a party that squandered the leadership that they had. Now the Republic Party is in the minority for the foreseeable future. The Republic Party is so completely bankrupt of any ideas of their own, they have taken to bringing up 3 hours of discussion and a debate between the White House and themselves about what kind of security the Speaker should have.

The Republic Party is the minority party not only for this reason, but this is one of them. And then to make it worse, the Members that the Republic Party sends over can’t possibly be the A team. This can’t be the best. This can’t be the most articulate, most informed voices of the Republic Party, can it? This is it?

I was in my office and I heard a Member of the Republic Party, and you will correct me, Mr. Speaker, if I am wrong, complaining that he had to sit in a middle seat. No! Not a middle seat! Complaining that he had to eat peanuts on his flight. I don’t even know what this is about.

Let me tell you what the American people are interested in. They are interested in the idea that, like Damocles’ sword, global warming is now hanging over the head of all of us, all of us, Republican or Democratic, even the Republic Party must be concerned about that. We have had thousands of scientists that have reached a consensus—-

Mr. WEINER: I will certainly be glad to yield.

Mr. McHENRY: I thank the Congressman from New York for yielding, but don’t you think a jet that is a 757 and can seat 42 people, flying one person is contributing to global warming?

Mr. WEINER: Reclaiming my time, even those members of this panel, these scientists that took a look at global warming, global climate change, 90 percent of them, a record level of consensus, say that human causes are to blame.

We are not going to leave it to the Republic Party to solve this problem. They are in the minority. They are probably in the permanent minority if they are going to spend their time obsessing about security arrangements for the Speaker and disagreeing with the President of the United States’ spokesman. But we are. Nancy Pelosi, this party is going to do something about global warming; we are not going to wait for the Republic Party to join in. Just the same way we said we were going to increase the minimum wage, the same way we said we were going to increase safety by implementing the 9/11 Commission Report, the same way we said we were going to reduce college costs for the American middle class and those striving to make it, that is what we are going to do.

You can have this debate all you want about the security arrangements for the Speaker, but we are going to go about doing the job of the American people. That is why the Democratic Party is in charge, not the Republic Party.

Weiner is truly great here, and we need many, many more people just like him. Unfortunately, for every Weiner, there’s ten limp noodles too frightened of their own shadows. I hope Congressman Weiner’s example can inspire some of those gutless clowns.

  • Could someone go step on that worthless midget, Patrick McHenry? He’s dumb enough it’d be more like stepping on a bug – probably a common torpedo-shaped brown one – than anything else. The guy is every annoying College Republican who ever lived, rolled into one. That he keeps getting elected demonstrates there is at least one district in North Carolina whose voters are proof of what happens with 300 years of inbreeding.

  • This is standing ovation brilliant. Weiner skewered the republic party for their pettiness, stupidity, arrogance, laziness and incompetence – while never letting go of what the Democrats are working toward. Give this guy more airtime – please!

  • I think this Republican whining is counter productive in the long run.

    They want to characterize Pelosi as a spoiled rich liberal. Big deal.

    Democrats should answer these ridiculous charges, but then they should talk about jobs, health care and the war.

    Voters want Congress to address real issues, not to have food fights.

  • “Republic Party” still gives them too easy an out. It could be the party which is pro-Republic (which could just mean all non-monarchists). I prefer chopping the first syllable rather than the last. “Publican” has lots of Biblical meaning, and that meaning even carries over into today’s corporate state.

  • I like Weiner’s fight. A lot. Calling the Republic Party on their “civil” and “reasonable” “debate” on the Pelosi plane issue is great. I hope others are as tired of that crap as we are. Mocking the Republic Party on its pseudo-nobility of trying to prevent global warming by denying Nancy Pelosi proper security is what needs to be done. Laugh at the idiots. Maybe they’ll finally be ashamed of their actions … for a change.

  • Parliamentary rules usually forbid anyone from mentioning the name of any party — which is why they say “the minority,” or whatnot. That rule may be more relaxed in the Congress, though they do observe the prohibition against directly addressing colleagues by name. Instead it’s “my friend from…” and so forth.

  • I’m beginning to wonder why we even give these fools equal time… 99% of their arguments wouldn’t hold up in a high school debate class.

    The mistakes we liberal/progressives have made was to legitimize their inanities over the last six years. We are, after all, the geeks to their Captains of the football team; reason must prevail in our nation or all is lost.

    Don’t stop fighting, pushing, thinking… for damn sure don’t forget compassion and honesty and all the good things they’ve made us forget about.

  • I don’t think this is helpful, actually. I think Republicans’ saying “Democrat party” as opposed to “Democratic party” really has to do more with including people who can’t get it right (stupid people, bigoted people, thugs) and making them feel like they can be part of politics. I think it has less to do with annoying people and if you think it does it may just be because it annoys you. I think a lot of these Republicans are old hands at the annoying-people-game, and a lot of stuff you try to do to annoy them may just lead to them rolling-with-the-punches. I think it’s really better to stick to calling ourselves Democratic, correcting people on saying Democrat once in a while (but if they don’t change their behavior, don’t correct them all the time anyway) and call the other part Republican so that they can’t start telling their supporters that we’re hypocrites and that we’ve been fools all along for criticizing people who say “Democrat party.”

    If you really think that it’s really important to them to call us the “Democrat party,” or that it will affect them if we call them “Republic party” or anything else so silly I think it’s all in your mind. It’s not going to work out best for us if we do that.

  • Since they don’t stand for anything but oposition to the majority “Democrat” party, why not call them the “Anti-Democrat Party”? (“Anti-Democratic Party” would be more accurate, though)

  • Bravo! I suspect the “non-A-Team” members of the Republic Party had trouble sitting down after that spanking.

    I especially like the way he kept mentioning security measures. Way to snatch one of their favourite sticks out of their hands.

  • To answer gasbag McHenry’s question, yes, using a 757 to fly one person does indeed contribute to global warming but not as much as running the oil furnace in his mother’s house does.

    McHenry’s attempt at “gotcha” is about as profound as a fart in a wind storm.

  • I love this guy. Finally somebody with the spine and articulation to give the Republics the verbal chainsaw they so richly deserve. I want to see more of this guy…..much, much more.

  • benjoya: (”Anti-Democratic Party” would be more accurate, though)

    There’s an idea! Start spreading that one around, and if any Republicans (er, Anti-Democrats) make a fuss, just say, “You oppose Democrats, don’t you? Your party is anti-Democratic, is all I’m saying.”

  • Speaking of farts in a windstorm:

    During the hearing, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) — one of the 87 percent of congressional Republicans who do not believe in man-made global warming — questioned the authors of the report about a period of dramatic climate change that occured 55 million years ago. “We don’t know what those other cycles were caused by in the past. Could be dinosaur flatulence, you know, or who knows?’

  • Yea for Rep. Weiner. Loved the amused look of the aide at one point in the speech. Loved the punch he gave in saying “Demo-CRA-TIC” party at the end. His leaving off the -an of Republican was quite deliberate.

  • Wiener’s great!

    I like Ed’s ‘Publican Party. #6

    Good bit, 1watt! #18 I can’t say Elephant Flatulence is causing Global Warming but it sure isn’t helping.

    As for McHenry’s remark, I believe that it is the Republickins who are against Pelosi carrying passengers with her.

    The Democrats might mention during all this Republickin whinging that Pelosi allowed Hastert to keep some very nice offices for Republickin use. Shame them with their pettiness.

  • I like the way that Weiner took back his time and continued on, without so much as acknowledging McHuff-n-Puff’s speed bump. Very good form—and a standing-O to Mr. Weiner.

    “Anti-Democracy” Party, eh? That could catch on rather quickly. Maybe someone should take that one out for a spin, and see how well it runs. Bush is Anti-Democracy.” Cheney is “Anti-Democracy.” Rice is “Anti-Democracy.”

    I’ll wager it would ingnite a firestorm—aimed directly against the “Anti-Democracy” Party….

  • If Newt wanted a plane this big you liberal hypocrites would have been crying like babies and the media would be drumming it up.
    I guess she just needs her own jumbo private jet to keep pace with Al Gore and his own CO2 production. Now that is an incovenient truth.

  • Why not just give Nancy a Lear or something similar, that’d do nicely. Something big enough for a dozen or so with a little partition for her to snooze. I bet she’d be perfectly happy with that, and it would totally make the Republics look like the whiners they are.

    • Comments are closed.