GorT’s entirely correct that Democrats are engaging in their typical naked hypocrisy regarding the Republicans’ attempted changes to the Office of Congressional Ethics. Perhaps it’s just jealousy that the Democrats never managed to do it.

There are two points to consider:

First, the plan was actually to consolidate the Office of Congressional Ethics into another ethics organization, not to eliminate all ethics committees. There are numerous ethics committees better suited, and non-partisan, to monitor, address, and pursue breaches of ethics in Congress.

Second, the reason the Office of Congressional Ethics was selected for remediation was because it was functionally useless. Do you know the last time the OCE addressed an ethics violation? You can spend all day looking and not find anything. It was a waste of time and money, and accomplished nothing. It was Yet Another Committee to make politicians look busy. Its net value was zero.

The Czar agrees it was a weird, and maybe disturbing, choice of priorities for the new House, but yes, the media is intentionally portraying this as a move by Republicans to shut down the United States House Committee on Ethics, which is a larger and more substantive group.

Fortunately, if you live well outside of the District of Columbia, this will be a two-day news story never heard again. It’s noise. Pay it no mind.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.