I watched as a small, very special, piece of History was made yesterday. I watched as the House of Representatives, itself part of the Congress of the United States, voted to bar two Bills which had been voted into law by the Washington D.C. Council. One Bill was to give voting rights to non-citizens of the US; the other gave, amongst other lunacies, reduced sentences for various crimes. Both Bills were not only opposed by Washington’s Mayor, but also by the Chief of Police in Washington. But the liberal, left-wing led Council thought it knew better, and overrode the Mayor’s veto.
So the House, itself now assembling with a slim Republican majority, sat down, had a reasoned discussion, the way things used to be done in America, and then voted, within its powers as the overseer to the District, to veto and disallow both DC Laws. But here’s the thing which makes this vote so special, the Republicans were joined by 42 Democratic Members in the winning of one vote, and in the winning of the second vote, the Democratic votes which joined with the Republicans numbered 31.
It is, in itself, a tiny beginning; but it augurs well for Democracy within the Republic. With a Speaker who had to compromise on all his powers with a twenty-strong mix of Republican Representatives, before being himself elected; thus brushing away the almost tyrannical leadership of Pelosi, with sensible decisions returning to Committee memberships and positions, The House itself looks better by the day as a result.
Both D.C. decisions will now move forwards to the Senate, where the Democrats still hold sway, but even here the Democrats will not find it easy to block these Laws, because both are sensible, and both Laws attracted Opposition votes to the cause. Biden’s White House may still veto, but those who now move the president’s voice and pathways will not find a veto easy to stand.
As an Englishman, I liked President Trump when in office, he did what he could to make things better for America. As to his claims of election fraud, I believe that those claims should have been carefully examined in open court: maybe he was right, maybe not; but even as the months and years pass, and the various films and documentaries, with their evidence of tampering piled up, he should have at least been listened to.
But Trump’s huge shadow over Republican politics really did him, and America, no favours at all, because many of the 2022 mid-Term Election candidates which Trump favoured were not themselves favoured by the electorate: and the swing which so many polls hoped for never really arrived, which is why the Senate is still Democrat by numbers, and the House Republicans really depend upon everyone speaking with one voice to stay that slim majority.
But, in closing, I reckon that a swift glance at that YouTube video is still recommended, if only to allow the memory that ‘The Flag still Flies, o’er the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave.’
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