Dem
51
GOP
49
We wouldn't normally pay too much attention to these stories, if not for the Tuberville news, because they're pretty much "dog bites man." But today we will note a couple of them, just as a reminder that nearly every member of Congress performs some silly political theater, at least once in a while, for the benefit of the folks back home. Tuberville's political theater was just particularly noticeable because it was particularly damaging.
Exemplar #1 is Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) who, admittedly, likes to showboat so much his life could be made into a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Readers who are sports fans will know that there's some controversy in the world of college football right now, as there were six well-qualified teams for four playoff spots, and the undefeated, 13-0 Florida State Seminoles were left on the outside looking in. This is the first time an undefeated champion of a "Power 5" conference (the ACC, in FSU's case) has been excluded.
Scott has noticed that a lot of FSU fans are voters (Donald Trump noticed the same thing, incidentally). And so, the Senator pitched a fit. He also sent a sternly worded letter to Boo Corrigan (what's with these Southern nicknames?), who is chair of the selection committee. In the letter, Scott demands a vast amount of information that would take weeks to compile.
The Senator's letter is written carefully, so as to imply that he's asking for information in an official context, and that his request should be regarded as a subpoena. However, the selection committee has committed no crime and, as a private entity, owes no explanation to a cranky U.S. Senator. Further, the games are less than 4 weeks away, so even if Scott got "satisfaction" (he won't), it would come too late to help Florida State. He will do a bunch more loud complaining, and that will be that.
Moving on to Exemplar #2, Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) has discovered a flaw in the system that must, must, must be fixed. To that end, he has introduced the Congressional Pension Accountability Act, which would cancel the pension of members of Congress who have been expelled. It is one of several pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the last week to try to get some mileage out of the expulsion of "George Santos."
And now, let us remind you that there have been a total of 21 expulsions in the history of Congress; 15 senators and 6 representatives. All but three of those were expelled 150+ years ago, before there was such a thing as Congressional pensions. Michael Myers (PA) and "Santos" were in office in the era of pensions, but did not serve long enough to qualify for one. That means that the new law would apply to a grand total of one person in U.S. history, namely Jim Traficant (OH), who is presently dead.
You might plausibly argue that the list could reach two, depending on what happens with Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). But note that "Santos" held on to the bitter end, and allowed himself to be expelled, since there was no cost to him to doing so. If Menendez thought he was really in danger, he would promptly resign, if that was the difference between keeping and not keeping his pension. This is the exact same maneuver pulled by Richard Nixon, and for the same reason. So, Nunn's new bill is 100% grandstanding, and he knows it. As we note, we just thought we'd point it out as a reminder that Congress wastes a lot of time with this stuff, and it's not just Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Oh, and we know that Show Boat was actually written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, but nobody recognizes the phrase "Kern and Hammerstein." (Z)