A House Divided Along Twisted Lines

Blunt speaking was the order of the day. In this case it was Rep. Roy Blunt. (By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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On the floor, the usual partisan splits gave way to two new coalitions: pragmatists and wing nuts. Far-left Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) crossed over to the Republican side to strategize with far-right Rep. Steve King (Iowa), while Gohmert made common cause with Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), and Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) celebrated with Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.).

Party leaders formed their own cross-aisle camaraderie. Democratic leaders gave Boehner a standing ovation for his speech calling the bill a "mud sandwich" that should be approved anyway. "Nobody wants to vote for this," the minority leader said. But the vote "will separate the men from the boys and the girls from the women."

Minutes later, his colleagues demonstrated their adolescence. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) went over to shake Boehner's hand after the speech, but it became obvious within minutes of the vote's start that Republicans had rejected their leader's plea. Boehner paced about the chamber, shaking his head, puffing out his cheeks and exhaling deeply. Democratic and Republican leaders held open the 15-minute vote for 40 minutes, but after several huddles on the floor, they finally surrendered.

Reporters chased leaders down the halls as they left the chamber. Republican leaders emerged several minutes after a closed-door consult with a strategy: They would blame Pelosi.

"We did think we had a dozen more votes," reasoned Roy Blunt (Mo.), the minority whip, but, "unfortunately, too many of our members were already on the floor when they heard that late speech by the speaker."

A few minutes later, Democratic leaders responded with their own news conference. Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.) ridiculed the idea that Pelosi's speech caused Republicans to turn against the bill. "Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country?" he asked. Still, he offered, "Give me those 12 people's names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them."

Leaders held out hope that the crashing market would force the opponents to reconsider. "The impact this can have on the markets will have a big impact in getting people back to wanting to work together," Blunt forecast.

"We must move forward," Pelosi agreed, "and I hope that the markets will take that message."

Nice sentiments. Except Pelosi and Blunt aren't in charge anymore. The lunatics are.