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The Republicans in the state senate of Oregon

 


In 2022, voters in Oregon approved measure 113, which bars from reelection any member of the state legislature with ten or more unexcused absences.  The measure was pressed by public sector labor unions in the state unhappy about the tactic of blocking legislation by avoiding a quorum. 

This year, the mousetrap snapped shut and the mice were caught. Ten of Oregon's state senators, each Republicans, have been disqualified from the ballot. Ten out of a total of twelve in the GOP caucus in that body. 

What strikes me is something in the NATIONAL REVIEW story on this:  https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/court-disqualifies-all-but-two-of-oregons-republican-state-senators-from-reelection/ 

NR's Dan McLaughlin wrote that measure 113 was "barely even opposed by Oregon Republicans who were focused on the Governor's race." 

What a case of strategic malpractice! I don't know if McLaughlin's account is true. But let us take his word for it for a second. The Republicans in Oregon paid no attention to measure 113 when it was put on the ballot. It passed.  The fact MUST have been in all the state's news outlets. The could hardly have missed it. They then proceeded with their avoid-the-quorum trick anyway and passed the newly legislated limits on their absences. 

I am reminded of something Casey Stengel said when he was managing the hapless first-season New York Mets. 

"Doesn't anyone here know how to play this game?"  He is pictured above. 

Apparently not.  (And that sort of incompetence may save us as a republic.) 

Consider the excuse McLaughlin seem to offer them. The Republicans in the state were so focused on the Governor's race that they didn't notice measure 113. Really? Should this make us sympathetic to the plight of those now barred from running for re-election? 

Isn't that a bit like excusing one's walk into a telephone phone booth with, "well, I was trying to chew a piece of gum at the time"? 

Okay youngsters, go ask your parents what a telephone booth is....


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  1. Paul D. Van PeltFebruary 17, 2024 at 10:10 AM

    Arrogance and obfuscation have their roots in the fundamental disdain people have for being told what to do. The former president illustrated this by repeatedly eschewing advice from advisors---those getting compensated for giving the best advice available. Some adherents to contextual reality, in the political arena, believe laws or rules will just go away if ignored often enough. Sometimes they are right. They win the round when complacency rules and outcry is stifled. "Reality is whatever we say it is". The mantra is insidious and pernicious.

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