Poorly Played…
This bunch of Democrat in Congress is beyond the pale, but sadly, some of the Republican leadership is misplaying the response. Harry Reid is suggesting that the Senate should come back after Christmas and before the the Congress ends Jan. 4 to complete their agenda of things like the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and some type of immigration reform. Jon Kyl shot back on two levels, one is completely understandable:
Mr. Kyl said that Mr. Reid’s effort to do too much was inconsiderate of the Senate as an institution and also of senators, staff and their families hoping to celebrate Christmas.
It is a huge personal imposition to suggest this and it is precisely what Reid is relying upon – by imposing on people that have limited family time to begin with he hopes to weaken their resolve to oppose. It’s a common ploy and it is ugly. But then Kyl blew his response with this little tidbit:
Mr. Kyl added, “ It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff.”
This was almost immediately picked up by left wing mouthpiece Talking Points Memo headlined:
Kyl: Reid Disrespecting Christians By Suggesting Post-Christmas Senate Votes
Oops! This reverberated around the Daily Kos as well. There is indeed disrespect for the holiday in Reid’s suggestion, but Mormons like Reid hold the holiday as holy and important as we creedal Christians. And note it is only echoing around the left side of the Internet. What’s up?
Simple – they want to spread the word amongst the lefties who can use this as ammo to continue to drive a wedge between creedal Christians and Mormons politically. This will undoubtedly come up should Romney decide to run. Many lefties will be whispering in the ears of many of their Christian friends “See even the Senators don’t think Mormons are properly religious.” And in Mormon ears they shall whisper, “See they don’t like you or respect your religion.”
Jon Kyl is a smart guy, not prone to mistakes like this, but he made one here. He took Reid’s bait and lost view of the bigger picture. This particular shot needed to come from Orrin Hatch to defuse the Mormon/Christian issue – and that would be the best fix – Kyl and Hatch to appear together and clarify – even though Hatch’s conservative bona fides are a bit tarnished at the moment, he’s the best we have in this instance.
The bottom line is this – the Democratic jam down is beyond the pale of civil governance, and defiantly against the will of the governed. It uses trickery, deceit, guile and parliamentary maneuvering to accomplish what the people have clearly said they do not want. There is good cause for tempers to rise – but there are lines we cannot allow our tempers to push us across. Jon Kyl found one here and he needs to step back behind it as quickly as possible.
Posted in Political Strategy, Religious Freedom, Understanding Religion | 3 Comments » | 
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Holiday Musings | Article VI Blog | Lowell Brown on 20 Dec 2010 at 12:55 am #
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JLF9999 on 20 Dec 2010 at 4:24 pm #
Senator Kyl, your comments comes across as suggesting that Mormons are not Christian. You may think that and that is fine. But it is not a subject for your venue. There are many Mormons who would take exception to what you said and it serves no useful purpose.
jmandelker on 21 Dec 2010 at 10:26 am #
Gee – Republicans shatter US records for filibusters, blocking even the most mundane administrative appointments, leaving critical national security positions open for months. Now they’re asked to stay after class and attend to the most critical of the work they’ve blocked.
It’s the Democrats who have the gripe, they were prepared to do their work and they have to stay over. People who take the pay take the responsibility to do the work.
Most Americans don’t get the holiday time of Senators, Kyl’s sense of entitlement is an example of everything that is wrong in Congress. Shut up and go to work, we do.