House of Reps restricts Presidential insults

Every time I read a story like this (getting to be all too often these days) the first thing that comes into mind is that line by Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men: "Who ARE these people?!?"

Now it's Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Politico is reporting that Slaughter has implemented some new guidelines for decorum among members of the House, particularly in regard to how representatives discuss the President of the United States (no doubt in response to Joe Wilson's crying aloud of "You lie!" during Obama's health "reform" speech last week).

So in case you're wondering, here is what is allowed...

- refer to the government as "something hated, something oppressive."

- refer to the President as "using legislative or judicial pork."

- refer to a Presidential message as a "disgrace to the country."

- refer to unnamed officials as "our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs."

And here is what is not allowed...

- call the President a "liar."

- call the President a "hypocrite."

- describe the President's veto of a bill as "cowardly."

- charge that the President has been "intellectually dishonest."

- refer to the President as "giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

- refer to alleged "sexual misconduct on the President's part."

To be fair, I can agree with some of Slaughter's rulings here, and only because I think sincere discussion of the issues doesn't warrant including words like "cowardly" (or "nitwits" either for that matter). But seriously: don't Slaughter and the rest of Congress have better things to do than play word games with each other and their constituents?

Of course, that's all this really is to these people: a game. One very big amusement that they get to enjoy, at the expense of the money, the liberties and even the very lives of those who sent 'em to D.C. to begin with.

America is at the mercy of a few hundred individuals with no principles, no spine, no vision and no conscience. But they do believe that it's majorly verboten enough to officially outlaw referring to an elected politician as a "hypocrite" or a "liar".

God help us.