The NRA's captive House Republican majority rammed through a vote permitting Wall Street "advisors" to scam the elderly over the strains of "We Shall Overcome" sung by anti-assault weapon Democrats.
Such a vivid demonstration of the vastly differing goals of competing political interests has not been seen since the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Then, the Bastille was a symbol of the abuse of the people by the monarchy; here, the Republican majority is just as tone deaf to the will (and safety) of the people as were the French royals. That event was the flashpoint for the French Revolution.
The Democrat sit-in can be the flashpoint for a new American Revolution. Not a violent one, but an electoral one. Approximately 80 percent of Americans favor restrictions on guns but the House has not permitted Democratic gun control proposals to reach a vote.
This event was aided by technology, which permitted the live-streaming of the sit-in via Periscope, which we could all watch in real time on our smartphones. Communication via Twitter and Facebook was instant. The C-SPAN cameras were turned off under House rules, sparing the GOP's shaming by the Democrats.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan likely committed political suicide by ignoring the protests as the clueless GOP voted to loosen the ethical strings of financial advisors as they sell financial products to the vulnerable elderly, protecting them from charges of elder financial abuse as they sell inappropriate financial instruments to people on limited income with limited life spans within which to recover from bad investments. This furthers the GOP goal of eliminating every piece of the government-supported social safety net, from social security to medicare to Obamacare and beyond.
Indeed, Ryan didn't show up an hour later when another bill was brought up to vote by the House.
What should happen next?
Skilled negotiators know that the first one willing to be unreasonable will win a negotiation, and this is indeed a negotiation. The Democrats must now raise the stakes, and not merely acquiesce to a vote on weak gun control reforms dealing with background checks, internet sales and sales to suspected terrorists.
The Democrats should sit in until the assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004, is reinstated.
Opponents of the assault weapons ban say it wasn't effective. But if it wasn't effective, why did violent mass murders increase after the ban was lifted?
photo: screen grab from C-span via Twitter Moments