November 25, 2007


Roses and Thistles: How many senators does it take to change a lightbulb?


A thistle to Republicans in the Senate for using a procedural tactic to stall a new farm bill. Although 55 senators, a majority, wanted to proceed, that was short of the 60 needed under the chamber's ossified rules. In addition, obstructionists flooded the zone with amendments, which the Democrats saw as a waste of time. Why? Get on with debate and pass a bill. This is just one example of how the Senate's anti-majoritarian cloture rule has reduced the World's Greatest Deliberative Body to near-permanent gridlock.

Flame game

A thistle to opponents of illegal immigration for stifling civilized discussion of the issue. The idea of establishing Des Moines as a "sanctuary" community for illegal immigrants was suggested to Des Moines Councilwoman Christine Hensley, who later said she opposes the idea. That's all. Yet, judging from the deluge of criticism that poured down on City Hall, you'd think Hensley had suggested the city secede from the Union to join with Mexico. It's Hensley's duty as a council member to meet with constituents. It got so bad city officials felt compelled to call a press conference to set the record straight. This scorched-earth approach to the immigration debate will incinerate good ideas along with the bad.

Sub-standard attack

A thistle to an animal-rights group for a sly, if not deceptive, tactic. Animals' Angels criticized Sara Lee Corp. for trucking turkeys to slaughter in Storm Lake in "subzero temperatures" Jan. 25. According to the Register's Philip Brasher, however, the low in Storm Lake that day was 16 degrees. Oh, said a spokesperson, we meant below zero Celsius. What scale do they use to measure accuracy?

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