The Final F#@* You
May 29th, 2007 at 1:36 am
Early on the last day of the legislative session, Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) filed a resolution honoring the two former parliamentarians Denise Davis and Christopher Griesel, who resigned on what Burnam calls the Friday Night Massacre of the House Rules.
During the many lulls of today’s floor activity (while the chair and the new parliamentarians figured out how to overrule nearly all the points of order of the day), members offered resolutions recognizing their staffers, interns, spouses, kids and even their neighbor’s staffers. Burnam asked the chair when his resolution would come up.
Perhaps it was some of the text of Burnam’s resolution that made the chair more inclined to ignore it.
WHEREAS, Denise Davis and Chris Griesel stood up to autocratic control of a democratic institution by resigning their posts as parliamentarians; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Davis and Mr. Griesel could have given in to dictatorial pressure but instead stood firm and did what they knew was right, even though it cost them their jobs; and
WHEREAS, democratic institutions depend on respect for rules and precedents, Ms. Davis and Mr. Griesel took a stand for democracy on May 25, 2007, otherwise known as the Friday Night Massacre of the House Rules; and
WHEREAS, by resigning to protest a decision that threatened the integrity of the House, Ms. Davis and Mr. Griesel showed great respect for the Rules of the House, the Constitution of the State of Texas, and the institution of the Texas House of Representatives…
Burnam settled for a resolution honoring their hard work sans those four paragraphs, knowing Craddick loyalists were otherwise poised to object to the resolution’s adoption. In politics, you go for what you want and settle for what you can get, Burnam said.
As a final demonstration of the absolute power of the chair, Craddick pronounced Sine Die, the end of the session, by thanking his two new parliamentarians.
