House Republicans vs. Virginia’s citizens.
Time and time and time again, House Republicans have voted to make their deliberations as secret as possible. They refuse to to have their votes be recorded and, lest somebody accidentally observe how they vote, they refuse to broadcast their deliberations. Tim Craig reports in the Washington Post that now they’re upset that the free market has solved this problem, with the DPVA videotaping some subcommittee meetings in order to make public the secret subcommittee votes.
Damn that capitalism!, cries the RPV.
Del. Vince Callahan, entirely missing the point, describes recording the proceedings as “indicative of a culture of viciousness that is infecting these halls.” Presumably he also believes that, if they’re forced to start putting their votes on the record, “the terrorists have already won.”
Republicans are threatening to respond in kind, recording subcommitee meetings and posting the video. I call bullshit. House Republicans recording subcommittee deliberations and making the video available publicly? They won’t even let the clerk record their votes on paper. No, what they’ll do is tote around cameras and post videos of Democrats nodding off or instant messaging or whatever, precisely the opposite of what the DPVA has been doing with their website.
If House Republicans really wanted to respond, they’d simply syndicate their existing video feed publicly, making each day’s session available as a QuickTime file on their website. By flooding the market with superior goods, they’d so devalue the DPVA’s video that few people would watch it. But they won’t do that.
Frankly, I see all of this as enormously good news. Had House Republicans failed to respond to Democrats’ videotaping, I’d have been disappointed. Had they responded properly, by announcing they’d be providing their own video feeds and recording their votes (since clearly the market is demanding that they do so), I’d have been pleased to have access to such information, but disappointed for what this means for November elections.
No, instead, House Republicans fucked it up. (Surprise!)
This setup should be familiar to any delegate who has been in the House for at least a decade or two. Democrats were doing the same thing then, back when the were in charge, running proceedings like they might run their own caucus meeting, totally uninterested in open government and oblivious to how the public felt about this approach to democracy. Democrats got their comeuppance, and learned that if governing can’t be done in daylight then you’re doing something you shouldn’t be.
So I’d like to offer my public thanks to the House Republicans. Thank you for providing us with this fresh batch of cement and this bucket. Pay no attention while, between now and November, we pour this cement into the bucket, place your collective feet in the cement, and give you a gentle push over the side of this here bridge. We appreciate it.
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