Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ass Meet Hat

Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) prepares for the leadership role of a lifetime; opening and closing a nine second session of the Senate of the United States of America in order to thwart the constitutional authority of the President to make appointments when Congress is in recess.


"Don King comb-out. Climb up on chair. Bang gavel...."

The historic moment nanosecond:
Climbing to the president's chair, Webb took the gavel and banged it.

"The Senate will come to order," he intoned, reading from a two-line script to a floor empty of other senators but witnessed from the gallery by one reporter and about a half dozen staffers. "Under the previous order, the Senate stands in recess until Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 10 a.m."

His work done, Webb left. The floor staff reported to those in the gallery overhead that the session had lasted nine seconds. [link]
For that flash in the pan, all he had to do was sell out a generation of American Warriors, court Hillary Clinton, and kiss John Kerry's butt. How sweet is that?

More background info:
President Bush has used recess appointments to seat blocked judicial nominees, ambassadors, and Federal commission members, angering Senate Democrats each time. After he appointed Judge William Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Ted Kennedy, sued, saying that the appointment was unconstitutional. Sen. Kennedy and others petitioned the court to enforce a narrow interpretation of the president's power to make appointments during Senate recesses, allowing them only during the annual recess at Christmas. The Eleventh Circuit court disagreed, ruling 8-2 that the president's action was Constitutional, settling on a broader interpretation of the power that grants the president the authority to make recess appointments at any time during the year. The Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case, letting the lower court's decision stand.

Since Democrats have taken control of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has sought to make agreements with the White House over recess appointments. In April of this year, the first recess under a Democratic watch, President Bush made three appointments, including appointing a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth donor, Sam Fox, as Ambassador to Belgium. Determined not to let that happen again in August, Reid and the White House agreed that the Senate would move 42 stalled nominations and President Bush would make no recess appointments during the break. The deal held. Later in the year, a deal could not be reached, and so Reid held the Senate in pro-forma sessions over the Thanksgiving holiday, just as he is doing now. [Link]

Senate Meets Briefly to Block Bush
Webb Stands Guard in Empty Senate

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