I made a point to watch The Daily Show last night, because the Republicans had spent their first day in power reading the Constitution aloud from the floor of the House of Representatives. This seemed like a gift to Jon Stewart and I wanted to see what he made of it. The comedic strategy--it seems obvious in retrospect--was just to show it. The dramaturgical challenges went unmet. It seems that the planners, while sufficiently shrewd to elide the three-fifths compromise and the provision allowing for the return of fugitive slaves to their masters, failed to foresee the uninvigorating spectacle afforded by one member after another reciting their lines in a fraction of the time it took him to shuffle to the podium. There wasn't a lot of flow.
It has been pointed out that in cinematic baseball games there are no foul balls. It turns out that in recitations of the Constitution there are a few. I don't know what Boehner got to read but I'm sure it was not he who shambled into the spotlight only to deliver himself of the Third Amendment, which reads, in its entirety: "No Soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." And then the walk back, those last unmajestic syllables not exactly filling the unpregnant silence while another mediocrity proceeded toward his assignment.
I suppose tea-party types had a different view of it, one roughly analogous to that with which proud pious parents take in the performances of their children at the church Christmas pageant. The stumbling and bumbling is cute, the rest--sublime. The Constitution! The Christmas story! In a way, they are of a piece. That there are sacred texts means we have the answers. The Republicans are saying: We are right, for it is written. From 30,000 feet it seems plausible; closer to the ground, conditions are cloudy. Maybe that is why they had to read (almost) the whole thing. They aren't sure what parts make it illegal to try and solve our problems here in 2011, but they are sure they're in there somewhere, because they are Republicans, and the Constitution is the Constitution, and they are for it.
Let others try and extend health coverage to the un- and under-insured. They will stand with the Constitution, and read it aloud from the floor of the House.
Comments