The House of Representatives is Full of Idiots

I understand, Gentle Reader, that you probably already agree with the title of this post, but permit me to give two examples of ideological imbecility, one from each side of the aisle.

First, the Democrats. As John Richardson has pointed out, over sixty Democrats have signed up as co-sponsors of Carolyn McCarthy's bill to outlaw magazines that hold over ten rounds.

Second, the Republicans. As LabRat pointed out, a bunch of conservatives in the House are trying to outlaw gay marriage in Washington, D.C.

Neither bill stands any chance of becoming law. So in that regard, both parties are taking up time and energy chasing windmills.

The Republicans are just amazing here. The ideological trends on gay marriage in this country are pretty obvious: The upcoming generations don't give a shit about gay marriage, in the same way that the voters who gave a crap about interracial marriage are dying out. The politicians who screamed about this issue are gone, the late unlamented Jesse Helms was probably the last one in the Congress who gave a damn. The state miscegenation statutes are now viewed as an embarrassment, where they still exist.

I have little doubt that, in two or three decades (or less), Republicans will be twisting themselves into pretzels as they run away from the homophobia that currently defines their party. But for now, they keep at it.

The Democrats are almost as brain-dead. They lost the Congress in 1994 over the Brady bill. President Clinton acknowledged that point the following January. Barney Frank advised his fellow Democrats over 20 years ago that gun control bills were almost certain to guarantee the party electoral defeat (he is not a co-sponsor of H.R. 308). But the morons keep trying and when they manage to pass a bill, they get punished by the voters. If the old saying is true that insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different result", then there are at least sixty Democrats in the House of Representatives who are certifiable as having screws loose.

There are fights worth having in this Congress. There are going to be bitter bare-knuckle fights about health care and spending. There will be fights over defense procurement and earmarks. Those fights are worth having.

Fighting over gay marriage and gun control is futile. The parties ought to pick their battles; these two bills are not worth it.