(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



U.S. Representatives Can Learn from British Parliament [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-24  

In the United States, we tend to think we have nothing to learn from the British, but members of the House of Representatives certainly do. We pretend that the House is historically a place of deliberation and decorum. But this is the same institution that passed a “gag rule” in the 1830s to ban discussion on the abolition of slavery. Then, in 1856, a member of the House savagely beat Senator Charles Sumner into unconsciousness with a cane. Preston Brooks attacked Sumner in the Senate chamber for insulting South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler during debate over whether slavery should be permitted in Kansas. Brooks was censured and resigned from the House of Representatives but was reelected to that august body by his constituents.

Recently, the world witnessed Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) trade insults during a televised House Oversite Committee meeting. The hearing was supposed to be about Republican efforts to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt. After Greene made fun of Crockett’s eyelashes, Crockett asked the committee chair if it would okay for her to make fun of someone’s “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body.” Although Crockett did not name Greene, she was clearly referring to her. Later in an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show, Kimmel asked Crockett if Greene is “the dumbest person in the House of Representatives.” Crockett responded, “I’d be hard-pressed to find someone dumber.”

Republicans in the House of Representatives where they hold a narrow majority are now trying to impose a new gag rule. This time they want to block references on the floor of the House and in the Congressional Record to the felony conviction of former President Donald Trump and his hush money payments to a porn star. They insist that any references to Trump’s peccadillo’s constitute personal attacks that are in violation of House rules on decorum. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA) was barred by from speaking on the House floor for the rest of the day and his comments were deleted from the Congressional Record after he pointedly mentioned Trump’s conviction and pending court cases.

Members of the British House of Commons are well-known for finding ways to bend the rules to their advantage when they want to insult each other. The real master was Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th century Prime Minister. While out of the government, Disraeli charged that half of the party-in-power’s cabinet members were asses. When told to withdraw the comment as an offensive violation of Parliamentary rules, Disraeli is supposed to have responded: "Mr. Speaker, I withdraw. Half the cabinet are not asses.”

Taking from Disraeli’s example, Representative McGovern could have apologized for any insult to Donald Trump and the Republican members of the House and corrected himself by noting that “Former President Trump has not yet been convicted in three other pending criminal cases where he has been indicted.”

To better prepare Democrats with repartee for future insult matches with House Republicans, I found these British Parliamentary quotes online. Disraeli’s chief political rival was William Gladstone. Once Disraeli was asked to explain the difference between a misfortune and a calamity. “If Gladstone fell into the Thames, that would be a misfortune, and if anybody pulled him out, that, I suppose, would be a calamity.” Another member of Parliament once described Disraeli as “a self-made man who worships his creator.”

Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill was well known for nasty remarks, especially directed towards women. After being berated by a female member of Parliament for being drunk, Churchill is supposed to have responded, “My dear, you are ugly, but tomorrow I shall be sober, and you will still be ugly.” In another incident, Lady Astor is supposed to have said to Churchill, “if you were my husband, I’d poison your tea.” Churchill’s response, “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink the tea.” However, Churchill did not limit his biting remarks to women. He described one male opponent as “a sheep in sheep’s clothing” and as a “modest man with much to be modest about.”

Congressional Representative Crockett is already good at insulting repartee, but I’m sure if she and Representative McGovern studied the history of British Parliamentarians, they could find ways to verbally dig their jabs in even deeper.

I particularly like this one. British Prime Minister David Cameron supposedly said to his young children in reference to his colleagues, “No need to go to the Natural History Museum to see a dinosaur, come to the House of Commons at about half past twelve.” If Cameron was in the United States, he might have been referring to Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/24/2248302/-U-S-Representatives-Can-Learn-from-British-Parliament?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/