Reply #41: What this is, is a particularly brazen breach of the unspoken "Let's [View All]

[Nothing Without Hope]

pretend this is still a democracy" rule in Congress. Sensenbrenner believes that his party holds all the power and he was only indulging the Dems' silly requests for the hearing. But he got tired of playing the game, as if what they did made any difference to what will be passed into law.

So he walked out. Not worth his time to playact.

Now that the GOP majority feel their power is absolute, the veils can come down, the gloves can come off. No more pretending that this is really a democracy and that there are laws that must be followed even if they are inconvenient.

"No truly sophisticated proponent of repression would be stupid enough to shatter the façade of democratic institutions." -- Murray B. Levin, Political Hysteria in America, 1971

Sensenbrenner is not sophisticated. And at this point, he feels that he no longer needs to pretend to be. In his mind, one-party rule is permanent and the Dems who speak up (never mind the ones that still think they can get ahead by appeasement) are irrelevant annoyances that can be dismissed as a waste of his time.