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Congressman ‘Caught on Camera’ Pulling Fire Alarm to in Apparent Attempt to Delay Vote to Avoid Shutdown (www.mediaite.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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[–] 282 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Thanks a lot, dude. Gonna be hearing about this from the right for forever

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  • [–] 119 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Yep. Shitty, stupid move. Should be censured for it.

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  • [–] 123 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    No, minor issue. Don't let it distract from the fact that Republicans can't even pass their own budget, or even a stopgap measure.

    Republicans can't govern because they have no policies besides tax cuts for the rich.

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  • [–] 103 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Minor or not, it was simply a dumb thing to do. I'm not saying he did a terrible thing, but it was stupid and an unforced error that gave Republicans ammo. Censuring is basically just formally being told you did something bad and warned to knock it off.

    Imagine what Republicans will say if he doesn't get any response at all.

    The sad fact is, Republicans could be spending all day, every day, raping puppies, but it's the fire alarm thing that would get all the press attention, and they damn well know it. Democrats have to be held to a higher standard than the puppy-rapers, because we know exactly how everyone will respond when they're not. It's unfair and stupid, but that doesn't change anything, unfortunately.

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  • [–] 27 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Imagine what Republicans will say if he doesn't get any response at all.

    It doesn't matter what they say. They are going to say something negative about Democrats either way.

    This is actually good because they can focus on this minor issue, blow it out of proportion, and look like idiots. Democrats should just respond with:

    "He was pulling the alarm to wake up the Republican leadership. Our government needs to be funded as fast as possible."

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Sadly, it does matter what they say, if it's something that news outlets will blast 24 hours a day.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Imagine what Republicans will say if he doesn't get any response at all.

    What are Republicans saying about the fact that Trump is a fraudster and a rapist, that MTG spreads the most idiotic anti-semitic conspiracy theories and that Bobert gets tossed out of a theater for smoking, hollering, getting her boobs grabbed and giving a guy a hand job? What are Republicans saying about the fact George Santos is an obvious liar, huckster and fraud who has been charged with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements?

    What response did that get from Republicans - as compared to, say, the response Al Franken got from Democrats?

    And where's the benefit for Democrats in acting in good faith when dealing with an opponent that doesn't even know the meaning of the term "good faith?"

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    [–] 142 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    That explanation that he didn’t think it would set off an alarm has to be the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a while. At least as dumb as the fact that the government is going to shut down because of a few moronic house members.

    Charges should be pressed, IMO. Whatever the law says about pulling a fire alarm when there’s no fire. No idea what the code is but he shouldn’t be above the law.

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  • [–] 45 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Obstructing an official proceeding. Federal felony, what many of the January 6th defendants were charged with. Potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Of course, in practice the results will be much less severe.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago

    Pretty much. He was trying to bide a bit of time in a moronic way in order to give democrats more than 5 minutes to look at the 45 day budget bill the Republicans were trying to immediately force a vote on before it could be read at all. Surprise surprise, one of the first crooked things found in it was a raise to give themselves.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Obstruction of congress too

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    [–] 134 points 2 years ago (9 children)

    STOP GIVING THE RIGHT AMMO YOU FUCKING DUMBASS!

    In any case, isn't this basically the whole "yelling fire in a crowded theater" example of speech that isn't protected and is explicitly criminal? Charge his ass.

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  • [–] 95 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    The story I'm hearing elsewhere is he pulled the alarm to delay the vote, as Republicans are violating their "72 hours to read the bill" rule they agreed to at the start of this Congressional term.

    While I don't condone the actions, the result was a delay, long enough for representatives to read a bill they are voting on, which is something that should always be allowed.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago

    That certainly adds interesting context.

    I previously read that the 72 page bill was given to House members initially with only about an hour before the vote to read and review it so that helps me make more sense of it than my own face value first conclusion.

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  • [–] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    If only people got this riled up whenever the other side broke the rules...

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    I'll own it: I over reacted.

    The older I get, the more critical I realize politics is - when we fuck up, people lose their rights and push our planet closer and closer to non-life-supporting, so seeing dumb shit from the left is especially aggravating cuz that's where our hope is. Dig through my recent posts and you'll find several chewing out Feinstein, and it's for the same reason. We cannot afford that shit in today's political environment - the stakes are just too high.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago*

    Reading a bill is part of a normal procedure and the outcome is more important. So, while I don't condone the action, at the end of the day, if the outcome benefits people other than himself, then I can understand his action. The thing is they weren't given enough time to read as Republicans violated their own 72 hours to read the bill rule.

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    [–] 91 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    Many people are saying he pulled the alarm because McCarthy's pants were on fire

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    [–] 69 points 2 years ago

    Dude, this is what your Congressional aids are for...

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    [–] 61 points 2 years ago

    seems like most people owe this guy an apology. the signage was genuinely confusing / missing according to the images and recordings. he legit was trying to get out.

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    [–] 53 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Following reports of Bowman pulling the fire alarm, his spokesperson released a statement claiming he “did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.”

    I don’t even understand how this non-answer even makes any logical sense.

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    [–] 36 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    he “did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.”

    huh?

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    • [–] 20 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Between this idiot and Menendez refusing to resign after his second corruption investigation, the Dems are having a bad week, not even sure what Bowman was thinking, but punishment must be swift and severe, because the Right wing clout chasers are already chirping about it.

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    • [–] 17 points 2 years ago

    What an idiot

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    [–] 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I can't say it was a great move, but on the other hand he fucking did something

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    I'm with you on this. This was a real dumb thing to do. Like, sitcom protagonist thinking.

    But when you look at the stakes - extremely minor risk of injury, disruption to operations, and risk of a minor punishment... the stakes on the action don't compare to the stakes of the vote on the table. Effectively, maybe he just took one for the team.

    If it sounds dumb but it works...

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