Opinion: Debating the Debate

There’s been a great deal of debate about last week’s debates in Washington. I’m sure that you’ve heard about the saga of Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s now successful bid to be the Speaker of the House. Final votes have been counted, fingers were pointed, names were called and hands were wrung. Pundits expressed daily dismay over the few days of delay in getting the new members of Congress officially sworn in.

Suddenly the mantra was that without committee chairmanships being official national security was at risk. Investigations into Hunter Biden, the Wuhan Lab, the January 6th files, Twitter suppression, the raid on Mar-A-Lago, and all sorts of other egregious doings of the establishment and deep state were delayed by at least a whole 96 hours. The pearl-clutching was unnecessary and a bit ridiculous.

Was it chaos on the floor of the House? Sort of, but not really. The best way to gauge the mood is less from what was said in front of the camera’s and more as to the mood you could actually see on the House floor. Bloomberg ran an article that unequivocally stated in the headline that “Conservatives have thrown Congress into Chaos”, but yet chaos is not what we saw as all members of Congress were actually seated in the Chamber together for the first time since God knows when.

The debates were being held in the public eye, and the Clerk of the House deliberatively called the roll for each person to answer or abstain. One could watch as members huddled for discussions, joked in the far corners, and compared notes on what they knew and who they knew. Twitter blew up midweek when conservative members Paul Gosar and Matt Gaetz were seen having amicable conversations on the House floor with none other than progressive Democrat Squad Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Oh, the horror!

Members of Congress actually talking to one another! In public no less!

In truth, what we watched was refreshing. Actual debate, with actual roll call votes by members who were actually present for duty. It was as if the era of Pelosi had been vacated for good.

For the past several years the Pelosi regime has shut the doors of Congress to the general public, allowed committee meetings to take place by Zoom, and votes “on the floor” to done by proxy. When the 4,155 page $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package was passed by the US Senate a few weeks ago it was transferred to the House and Pelosi brought it to a floor vote in just a few hours. No public debate to speak of. No hashing out amendments in committee. When the final votes were cast there were 226 members of Congress who didn’t even show up, they just cast their votes by proxy.

So I was not a bit put off by a few days of wrangling in which a minority group of conservative members of the rank and file, with no establishment backing, and no choice committee assignments, and really everything to lose, stood together on principle to achieve a modicum of reforms to aid an otherwise broken and bent Congress.

It was not only necessary it was right, it was good, and it was what Democracy is supposed to look like. The ability for elected Representatives to take the floor and to hold sway over something that they believe is antithetical to the reasons for which they were elected is one of the hallmarks of a free society.

They stood despite the accusations of belligerence, showboating, and obstructionism that were flying from the mainstream media and moderate

Republicans. Insults and condescension are typical of a side that doesn’t have the angles it needs for free and open debate.

Ronald Reagan once said, “Too often character assassination has replaced debate in principle here in Washington. Destroy someone’s reputation, and you don’t have to talk about what he stands for.”

Some of them lost their way. Members of both sides needed to take a step back from personal attacks. Congressman Matt Gaetz needs to learn to argue his points without hack insults and to refrain in the future from writing snide letters calling his fellow Congressman a “squatter” for the sole purpose of creating embarrassment.

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Congressman Dan Crenshaw needs to back off of the condescending comments about those who “aren’t on board” and realize that his own fellow Texan is leading the charge. This is not a military mission where good order and discipline mean saving life, limb and property. This is political debate.

Alabama’s own Congressman Mike Rogers needs to forego any further threats to have committee assignments revoked for those who don’t jump in line to vote as he sees fit, and certainly should never be seen again lunging at a fellow member of Congress.

But by and large the members of the body from both sides of the aisle acquitted themselves well, albeit with tedium and monotony at times. We should never mind healthy debate if the other side is truly of the belief that their side has merit. Political posturing and grandstanding certainly get old. But a professional elected official should never grudge someone of a different position, and sometimes in their own party, differing on an issue and being willing to go to the mat to deliver their thoughts. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, once said, “true consensus is the absence of leadership”, meaning that if everyone always automatically agrees without question or comment then no one is really leading.

All of the whining and hand wringing by pundits about jeopardizing the Republican agenda was premature. What we watched was Congress actually running as it was originally intended.

It was democracy in action. It was messy, it was raucous, it was tedious, but yet the wheels did not come off. If anything, it appears that conservatives nationwide should be elated that rules and procedures and committee assignments have been negotiated in such a way as to more fully engage a conservative agenda for the American people.

None of the machinations of the past week on the House floor were a concern for those who know the value of real debate.

Real debate. The kind that is open, transparent, and sometimes bellicose.

Real debate. The kind that we haven’t seen in a Pelosi Congress in years.

Real debate. The kind that brings negotiated outcomes that have the potential of making the Congressional majority stronger. Real debate. The kind that grown men and women are supposed to be able to handle.

Real debate. The kind that our founding fathers contemplated when they designed the legislative branch as one of the three coequal branches of this great democratic experiment.

The truth be told, I would be far more concerned if there had been no debate.

This past week was healthy. It was truly democracy in action.

Phil Williams is a former State Senator, retired Army Colonel and combat veteran, and a practicing Attorney. He previously served with the leadership of the Alabama Policy Institute in Birmingham. Phil currently hosts the conservative news/talkshow Rightside Radio M-F 2-5 pm on multiple channels throughout north Alabama. (WVNN 92.5FM/770AM-Huntsville/Athens; WXJC 101.FM and WYDE 850AM – Birmingham/Cullman.) His column appears weekly throughout Alabama. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of this news source. To contact Phil or request him for a speaking engagement go to www.rightsideradio.org.