Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) has ousted Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell (Mich.), as Democratic lawmakers voted 137-122 Thursday morning to hand the gavel of the powerhouse panel to its second-ranking member.
The vote marks a stunning rebuke of the seniority system Democrats have honored for decades. It also constitutes a win, of sorts, for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who is ideologically aligned with Waxman and has clashed repeatedly with Dingell.
That's a big deal. Looks like we could be heading for a progressive Congress. Cue conservative whining.
But one of his supporters, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), said Waxman would do just fine in building coalitions if he's elected chairman. "You always try and scare people about progressives," he said. "It's bulls---."
Do-overs don't happen very often in history, but we are getting the chance to rerun the 2002 run-up to war right now with the Iran spectacle. Congressman Jim McDermott took the House floor today and gave this speech on how the media and Congress needs to step up and heed his warnings and the warnings of the blogosphere on the horrific possibility of a war with Iran, one that would be far more disastrous than the one we're facing in Iraq.
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