Can the House move beyond horsefeathers?

Last weekend, my husband mentioned the cold weather was making him hungry for duck soup, something we’ve been anticipating since we carved up a duck for Christmas dinner.

“Now why does that always make me think of the Marx brothers?” I asked.

“You know they made a movie with that title,” he said. “It includes the song ‘Whatever it is, I’m Against It.’”

I shook my head, noting I could remember seeing Groucho perform the number he described. “Are you sure it was in Duck Soup?”

Sure enough, after searching online, he found the song in the 1932 movie “Horse Feathers.” Groucho Marx plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. In the opening number, Wagstaff and other college professors sing and dance in full academic robes and mortarboards:

I don't know what they have to say
It makes no difference anyway
Whatever it is, I'm against it!
No matter what it is
Or who commenced it
I'm against it!

Your proposition may be good
But let's have one thing understood
Whatever it is, I'm against it!
And even when you've changed it
Or condensed it
I'm against it. . .

As my husband played the clip for me, we heard our 13-year-old daughter stirring in the next room. “What is that?” she asked. “It sounds just like the Republicans!”

She’d read my mind.

For the last five years, I’ve been continually amazed at the recalcitrance of congressional conservatives, and House Republicans more specifically. No matter the proposal, if it is supported by President Obama, they oppose it. Even policies based upon conservative blueprints, like the Affordable Care Act which was originally conceived by The Heritage Foundation, have been vigorously attacked.

Last June, when Edward Snowden leaked information about the activities of the National Security Agency, conservatives blasted the administration for potential violations of citizens’ civil liberties. Yet after 9-11, they enthusiastically supported the Patriot Act in the name of national security, arguing some loss of liberty was necessary. Also last summer, after the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill, conservatives in the House refused to take up the bill.

In October, this same group felt it was more important to oppose President Obama than to negotiate and compromise their way to a working budget for our government. Before Christmas, they decided that their absolute (and irrational) loyalty to austerity was more important than extending unemployment benefits for workers seeking jobs and funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program to feed the needy, including many elderly, disabled people and children.

Elected to govern, these folks have decided to stand in the corner and pout instead of conducting themselves with statesmanship and working across differences to develop working policies.

Time to vote them out. I took the first step last Tuesday when I attended my party caucus, wearing my “Democracy isn’t a spectator sport” T-shirt.

You know what? Governing isn’t a spectator sport either. I want my representation in there talking to the opposition and looking for common ground and workable solutions for the common good. Enough with the horsefeathers.