In a display of chutzpah extreme even by modern conservative standards, Sam Stein reports that Republicans have begun a campaign to “cast doubt” on the impartiality of Senate Parliamentarian Alan Frumin. Why is this so brazen? Because they’re the ones who hired him in the first place:
Frumin was elevated to the post by Republican leadership in 2001, in part because he had a reputation for adhering to institutional mores rather than personal ideology. At the time, Majority Leader Trent Lott said he was confident Frumin could do the job, having known him for many years.
….In May 2001, Republican leadership fired Frumin’s predecessor, Robert Dove, after he issued a series of rulings that complicated their efforts to pass aspects of the Bush tax cuts and budget proposals through reconciliation. Dove had decided it was inappropriate for money intended for natural disaster relief to be considered through budgetary rules — and he was summarily axed.
Nickel summary: Republicans hired Frumin in 2001 specifically because they thought he might issue friendlier rulings to Republicans. Now they’re afraid he’s turned on them.
This is like Bush v. Gore all over again: no matter what happens, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the process. And, of course, Republicans can do this safe in the knowledge that Beck and Drudge and Rush and Fox will always faithfully adopt their latest meme, no matter how inane, and crank up the outrage machine to fever pitch. Crank it up loud enough and the rest of the media will follow because “it’s news.” It’s a nice little racket as long as you don’t mind undermining public faith in virtually every institution of democracy. Which, apparently, they don’t.
