British Style Political Grillings on Capitol Hill. Should We?
Written by Sam on May 19th, 2008John McCain suggested the following at a recent speech in Columbus, Ohio:
“I will ask Congress,” said the presumptive Republican nominee, “to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the prime minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons.”
I would love to see this in Congress. I get the BBC on my cable and sometimes the British Parliament will be on debating and it can actually be quite entertaining to watch them hoot and holler and boo the opposition and the Prime Minister when they don’t agree. I think if we actually did something along those lines it might get more people interested and actually start paying more attention to what is going on. If you have ever watched C-Span you know how incredibly boring it is. Americans have to be entertained in today’s “American Idol” culture, so maybe this is the way to get more people on board with the political process.
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It would at least improve the quality of the candidates seeing the public would demand candidates who could handle such grillings successfully. Candidates like Bush and Obama would never make it past the gate if they were expected to face such grillings on a weekly basis because it places a premium on intellectual and verbal skills. You have to articulate policy in a clear and concise fashion very rapidly.
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Count me as opposed, guys. That is not our system, and it destroys the principle of separation of powers. Why should the President weaken his use of the bully pulpit to give Maxine Waters the chance to get on the nightly news blasting him? I see zero benefit to the President, but lots of sound-bite time for liberals. What I would like to see is the STATES (our laboratories for democracy) move to more Parliamentary styles of government.
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Michael, do you even know anything about the runing of the question period? It is a far more controlled affair that it would appear on the surface as there is a certain limit to the number of questions each party can ask and typically parties try to ask the best questions possible and not level too many cheap shots at the Prime Minister. Furthermore, its not just the opposition that asks questions but the governing party gets its turn also.
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This proposal will make it even easier for the Dems to push McCain to the left. They’ll challenge him all the time for his lack of “compassion” because he’s not funding the crisis du jour, and he’ll respond by saying something like, “Why, now that you mention it, of course I’m going to spend money on this, because I’m compassionate.”
The only plus side is that this will be widely televised, which means that McCain’s horrible personality will come shining through. McCain doesn’t take criticism well.
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“and typically parties try to ask the best questions possible and not level too many cheap shots at the Prime Minister”
Does anyone in their right mind expect the democrats to show any dignity during this process? If so, I have some oceanfront property to sell you at low tide.
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Alan-”Mccain doesnt take criticism well”
Sound familiar? Lol.
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No, it doesn’t. I haven’t been criticized on this web site, not in my view anyway. I’ve been disagreed with, and I don’t take that well when the disagreement is couched in stupid arguments, as it tends to be. But criticized? I don’t feel I’ve been criticized here.
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I believe that going in front of Congress to be asked questions will bring back a level of responsibility to our candidates. It will also give the American people a chance to see all sides of John McCain. Not just the liberal side of things or the conservative side of things, both sides. I believe that America will see why John McCain is fit to be the next president.
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lol.
i can see it now….
“McCain gets approval of Nation’s Crooks, Hillary and Obama follow suit.”