On Wednesday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes condescendingly compared House Republicans to a "bunch of really ideologically zealous teenagers" who put on events equivalent to "campus conservative clown shows."
As Hayes complained about Republicans pushing votes on restricting abortion and the repeal of ObamaCare that are not likely to pass into law, Hayes complained:
But on that rare day that they're actually working with the limited resources at their disposal to tackle the nation's problems, this is what the House Republican caucus is doing, debating a bill that's profoundly unconstitutional as an act of pure theater. It's the same thing they're doing when they vote to repeal Obamacare 39 times. They are essentially a bunch of really ideologically zealous teenagers.
After defending the practice of young people staging political protests, the MSNBC host concluded:
But you, elected members of the House of Representatives, are part of the government running the country. We pay you to do the very difficult and important work of governing. There's a budget that needs to be passed. There are 12 million unemployed people, 11 million people who could be deported at a moment's notice, and there are 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.
For the love of God, work on that stuff. You are not sent to the highest halls of power so you can spend all of your time staging the equivalent of those campus conservative clown shows that sponsor affirmative action bake sales.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Wednesday, June 12, All In with Chris Hayes on MNSNBC:
CHRIS HAYES: So is a bill with no chance of passing the Senate and no chance really of being upheld by the courts. This is what the House Republican caucus does day in and day out. They use their staff's energy and the scarce legislative resources of a body of Congress that is stretched thin to put on a show.
And under House Speaker John Boehner, they rarely even work. The 113th Congress has only 126 planned days in a session, a whopping 34.5 percent of the year. So, and I noticed this because we come in the morning and we write on the board what's going on. And it's amazing how rarely something's happening in the House.
But on that rare day that they're actually working with the limited resources at their disposal to tackle the nation's problems, this is what the House Republican caucus is doing, debating a bill that's profoundly unconstitutional as an act of pure theater. It's the same thing they're doing when they vote to repeal Obamacare 39 times. They are essentially a bunch of really ideologically zealous teenagers.
Teenagers who have just discovered politics and view politics as a means of self expression, politics of symbolism, not of lawmaking. Might as well fire up the performance art engine, destroy some art class project in effigy or make some elaborate puppetry. And, please, let me be clear. There's nothing wrong with any of this when you're powerless.
Expressing dissidence and frustration and rage at the status quo when you're 16 years old or 26 or 36 and you're powerless, that's an important part of engaging in politics. I've done that. And those of you outside the political process, who want the people in power to hear your voices, I say right on, wave those puppets, beat those drums.
But you, elected members of the House of Representatives, are part of the government running the country. We pay you to do the very difficult and important work of governing. There's a budget that needs to be passed. There are 12 million unemployed people, 11 million people who could be deported at a moment's notice, and there are 66,000 troops in Afghanistan.
For the love of God, work on that stuff. You are not sent to the highest halls of power so you can spend all of your time staging the equivalent of those campus conservative clown shows that sponsor affirmative action bake sales. Get it together and grow up. We'll be right back with "Click 3."
-- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center