Maybe members of Congress should read the Constitution aloud more often.
Do you remember last Jan. 6 when members of the House took turns reading the document on the floor?
It was a good idea and sparked hope among some that actual adherence to its strict limitations on the powers of Congress might follow.
Alas, there has been no indication that either Democrats or Republicans have any intention of taking the Constitution seriously. If they did, of course, the very first action they would take would be to reject any hike in the debt limit without conditions. As I have suggested on more than a few occasions, nothing would reverse the trend of extra-constitutional governance in Washington faster than a limitation on spending – one that would require an end to the utopian dreams of both parties and the removal of the federal government’s foot from all of our necks.
But I digress.
Last week, I noticed that Anthony Weiner asked a question at his now-famous mea culpa press conference. Few others noticed. The question was, “Did I violate the Constitution by lying about it?”
He didn’t get an answer from any of the journalists present – the very people who make their living under the protection of the Constitution. But I provided it later. The question is answered in Article 1, Section 5, which explains that the House itself governs the issue of conduct by members.
But Weiner already knew the answer to that question – or at least he should since it was Anthony Weiner, of all 435 members of the House, who was chosen to read, ironically enough, that very section of the Constitution on Jan. 6.
What are the odds?
I know it’s hard to believe, but check it out for yourself on C-SPAN beginning at the 18:29 mark. There he is answering his own question six months before he asked it.
Nevertheless, even though we know Weiner has read at least that one section of the Constitution because there is video evidence of it, he clearly doesn’t accept the idea that his own colleagues – and only his own colleagues – have the exclusive, constitutional power to judge his behavior and his actions and determine whether he is fit to serve as a member of the House.
Weiner apparently doesn’t like the answer.
He’s saying only voters in his own friendly congressional district should determine his fate.
I predicted just this hard-line position on Sean Hannity’s TV show last week. At that time, all the experts were writing off his chances for remaining in office. They were counting the days – even the hours – before his resignation. After all, no less of a moral arbiter than Bill Clinton had weighed in against Weiner.
Even his mentor, Chuckie Schumer, had told him it was time to go.
Instead, Weiner did what celebrities do these days when they want sympathy. He checked into rehab.
I didn’t know they even had rehab clinics for compulsive virtual sexual offenders, but I guess they do.
How did I know he would stay and fight?
Because Weiner doesn’t know how to do anything else.
He studied in college to be a TV weatherman, but instead he got a job as an aide to Schumer right out of college. Sadly, the only professional life this man has ever known is life in the House of Representatives – first as a staffer, then as a member. He hasn’t done anything else. He knows nothing else. He’s got a resume that suits him only for elective office as a Democrat. Period. End of story.
So, he’s going nowhere until his colleagues use their constitutional authority to pry him out of his office with a crowbar.
