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House Democratic leaders bottle up effort to censure Iowa Rep. Steve King

ImTheresaMay

ImTheresaMay

Banned
Jan 15, 2018
523
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...5fed1b7a081_story.html?utm_term=.e37660a16d90


House Democratic leaders blocked an effort to censure Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) for racial comments, referring the measure to the House Ethics Committee for further review because of concerns that it might set a dangerous precedent for policing members' speech.

Censure is the most serious sanction for a House member short of expulsion, and it has been imposed only six times in the past 100 years. Prompted by King's recent comments to the New York Times questioning the offensiveness of the terms "white nationalism" and "white supremacy," the House adopted a resolution condemning those remarks Tuesday.

But Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) sought to go further by censuring King and pressed for a vote on Wednesday. After the House clerk read the resolution detailing King's inflammatory comments over the years, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) moved to refer the matter to the Ethics Committee — a step that could bottle up the effort indefinitely.

The House agreed on a voice vote.

"I think we have spoken, and we have spoken on both sides of the aisle, that this is unacceptable rhetoric and behavior," Hoyer said beforehand, referring to Tuesday's disapproval measure.

Democratic leaders had feared that a censure of King could open Democrats to Republican retaliation.
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YAAASSSS QUEEN NANCY SLAAAYYYY

Gotta give them white supremacists the freedom to spout their bullshit on the House floor.
 
EMT0

EMT0

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Oct 25, 2017
4,104
SMFH. These clowns are all from the same social club, no shit they're gonna cover for each other when they're not campaigning. We shouldn't have expected anything different from these people
 

Deleted member 32374

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Nov 10, 2017
8,460
On the one hand, this is chicken shitty and cowardly, on the other hand, I can totally see Republicans censuring Dems for pointing out racism and what not.

The second point isn't enough to make what they did right, should have let the censure vote go through.
 

VectorPrime

Banned
Apr 4, 2018
11,781
I like that you didn't even attempt to look into the rational for why they did this because you had to take a potshot at everyone who thinks Pelosi is good.
 
xenocide

xenocide

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Oct 25, 2017
5,307
Vermont
I understand why they did this. Censure's are generally reserved for actions while in office and while in the House itself. It's rare to see someone censured for something they said outside of the House floor (I don't even think it's ever happened). It does set a potentially dangerous precedent. The House voted overwhelmingly to condemn King's comments and the terms he questioned the offensiveness of. Censuring him would accomplish very little.
 
Sir Tsunami

Sir Tsunami

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Oct 25, 2017
3,312
xenocide said:
I understand why they did this. Censure's are generally reserved for actions while in office and while in the House itself. It's rare to see someone censured for something they said outside of the House floor (I don't even think it's ever happened). It does set a potentially dangerous precedent. The House voted overwhelmingly to condemn King's comments and the terms he questioned the offensiveness of. Censuring him would accomplish very little.
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But applying procedures to things removes expediency. That, and thinking about it prevents hot takes
 
EMT0

EMT0

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Oct 25, 2017
4,104
VectorPrime said:
That's not what fucking happened.
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Last I checked they have a majority in the House to block their fear of getting censured by the Republican Party on ideological grounds. The fear of being censured in the future off of a theoretical slippery slope to cover for a proud and outspoken white supremacist while shipping this problem off to the Ethics Committee seems...questionable. As in something only a career politician would stress over
 
Officer Big Mac

Officer Big Mac

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Oct 28, 2017
22,596
It's a calculated move. King is on his way out. GOP stripped him of his Committee assignments. Newspapers back in Iowa have begun asking him to step down. Theres nothing substantial that Democrats can do that's not already happening. Democrats inserting themselves into censuring King only serves to distract from the more immediate concern of Trumps shutdown.
 
Kirblar

Kirblar

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
30,744
The disapproval statement passed overwhelmingly.

The censure motion was given to the Ethics committee because of procedural concerns.

The first is good, the second is not an unreasonable call.
 
EMT0

EMT0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,104
jon bones said:
congrats OP, you got yourself another both sideser
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Fuck outta here with your attempt to incite a dogpile. The Democrats do something worth critiquing and deflect using a common Republican/Right Wing deflection('the slippery slope') and I'm supposed to shut up and not note the obvious? Fuck that
 

Deleted member 5666

user requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
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EMT0 said:
Fuck outta here with your attempt to incite a dogpile. The Democrats do something worth critiquing and deflect using a common Republican/Right Wing deflection('the slippery slope') and I'm supposed to shut up and not note the obvious? Fuck that
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Your post was very very misinformed (due to the awful thread title). You have no clue what the Democrats are doing, they aren't trying to protect King.
 
metalslimer

metalslimer

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
9,558
People not reading the OP, also what does Pelosi have to do with this? This kind of shitposting isn't acceptable for your strange grudge against Pelosi

But yes obviously dems are the same as republicans and want to protect a white supremacist
 
Hollywood Duo

Hollywood Duo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,837
EMT0 said:
Fuck outta here with your attempt to incite a dogpile. The Democrats do something worth critiquing and deflect using a common Republican/Right Wing deflection('the slippery slope') and I'm supposed to shut up and not note the obvious? Fuck that
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OP calls out Pelosi mockingly when she isn't even involved in the events of the article.
 
danm999

danm999

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Oct 29, 2017
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Sydney
Democratic leaders had feared that a censure of King could open Democrats to Republican retaliation.
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61eF9EXcA9L._SX497_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
 

Deleted member 25712

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Oct 29, 2017
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Teh Hamburglar said:
It's a calculated move. King is on his way out. GOP stripped him of his Committee assignments. Newspapers back in Iowa have begun asking him to step down. Theres nothing substantial that Democrats can do that's not already happening. Democrats inserting themselves into censuring King only serves to distract from the more immediate concern of Trumps shutdown.
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Wha-you mean there's something that comes after step one?
 
ItRhymesWithDoom

ItRhymesWithDoom

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,722
You guys do realize the OP is a troll, right?

Look at the damn username. Also post history, but it's not exactly trolling in disguise here.
 

Deleted member 6582

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,789
Yes because in last 2 years Republicans have honored your stupid gentleman's agreements. So they retaliate, what else is new? Who the fuck cares? It's just a condemnation. If you can't call out racism then really censure is pointless.
 
danm999

danm999

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Oct 29, 2017
17,096
Sydney
Somnid said:
Yes because in last 2 years Republicans have honored your stupid gentleman's agreements. So they retaliate, what else is new? Who the fuck cares? It's just a condemnation. If you can't call out racism then really censure is pointless.
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Pretty much my thoughts.

If you don't wanna censure him because it's a waste of time and doesn't mean anything or whatever fine but holy hell how are they still concerned about norms and proportionality when dealing with the GOP.
 

JDSN

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,129
Let them carry King's rot, they are the same as him only he makes their lot look bad.
 
Rune Walsh

Rune Walsh

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Oct 25, 2017
6,020
Insert *wowitsnothing.gif*
Good gravy some people have no eye for bait. If this turns into a honeypot for bans, then congrats OP, I hope you join the heap.
 
EMT0

EMT0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,104
Hollywood Duo said:
OP calls out Pelosi mockingly when she isn't even involved in the events of the article.
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Don't lump me in with the OP then, last I checked I'm not him. It's easy to see this as a move to insulate politicians from what they say and do if they can punt something as clear cut as an open white nationalist voicing white nationalist things as not being grounds for censure, and the excerpt portrays this as being a slippery slope reasoning. Which is why I went straight for the angle of 'This seems like some career politician shit'

Cheebo said:
Your post was very very misinformed (due to the awful thread title). You have no clue what the Democrats are doing, they aren't trying to protect King.
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I know the Democrats aren't trying to protect King en masse. That much is very obvious. It's a Democrat calling for the censure after all. But the reasoning is something I disagree with. King is a proud and out white nationalist and says so. This is the last thing that should merit slippery slope reasoning.
 
Kirblar

Kirblar

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Oct 25, 2017
30,744
UnpopularBlargh said:
What can the ethics committee do? Couldn't they censure or punish King?
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It can recommend censure.

This is basically a procedural move to avoid Dem leadership going straight to introducing a censure resolution without a direct buy-in from the GOP, which the Ethics committee provides because the Ethics committee is split 50/50. They're worried about setting a precedent of leadership bringing censure motions to the floor unilaterally.

The statement of disapproval already passed. The only difference is that censure is an "official" punishment while the statement is an "unofficial" one.
 
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