When did we transition from Bowman was totally confused by the signs at the exit and didn’t really pull the alarm to delay a vote to Bowman totally pulled the alarm to delay the vote but what else was he supposed to do?
Just agreeing that there is a problem is progress. Most GOP aren't looking for the best solutions because they don't believe there's a problem.
I am asking that he pulled the fire alarm as a desperation move due to an underhanded tactic by the GOP. What were his other options? If we chastise the decision, then we need to have clear idea of what the right choice was.
Am that would be me. There has been a lot said about the fire alarm. I asked if it was true, he did it to delay a vote and no one presented contradictory evidence. So I assumed we all agreed it was to delay a vote. I am now asking, what would you have had the Dems do if the fire alarm was beyond the pale.
That, and his calling the President (a member of his own party) a liar, are fighting for top spot on that list, IMO.
Not put the lives of other people that count on those same first responders at risk by forcing those responders to show up for a false alarm? Plan better? Call a fellow congressmen/woman and tell them disrupt the floor. You know…pretty much anything aside from this short of actually lighting a fire? Oh….and this happened on September 30th. The vote on the bill he delayed by the fire alarm trick passed by something like 350 yays. It was indefensible on his part….and was rightly disqualifying
That was a pointless and ridiculous move, not to mention he got censured over it. That was totally unnecessary. There is no "right" choice there. Beyond that, as Josh Marshall wrote in his excellent article, Bowman is simply not a very good and smart pol either.
This is like when people scream hand ball but you ask them what was the defender supposed to do with his hand and they have no answer. We get it, in your mind it was a dumb decision but you cannot name what would have been a smart decision.
If you want to use stupid analogies….this is like a defender running over and deliberately picking up the ball in the box as it was about to roll over the end line with no attacker within 50 yards.* He pulled the alarm at 1240pm. There was a motion to adjourn vote at 1:03pm that was defeated 427-0. The subsequent vote on the funding bill closed at 2:42pm. It passed 335-91. Stop defending the indefensible with this what was he supposed to do nonsense. It makes you look silly. *and the answer is….dont pick up the ball.
What about do not hand the ball intentionally? or more appropriately, do not pull a fire alarm when there is no fire whatsoever?
My understanding is that Bowman frequently used a door which was intended as an emergency exit. It's one of those doors that says "do not use unless it's an emergency, the alarm will sound" - but during normal business hours, the alarm was disabled, and it was the fastest / most convenient way for him to get from his office to the house floor, so he used the door regularly. That particular vote was not held during normal business hours, so the door alarm was enabled. He tried to use the door as he usually did, and the door didn't open (if the alarm is enabled, you have to push on it for like 10 seconds before it opens), and he couldn't figure out why it wasn't opening, so he pulled the fire alarm thinking that would get the door to open. There's a lot of dumb here but it's not malicious. I don't think it had anything to do with trying to delay the vote - if he said that, it was a dumb after-the-fact attempt to justify the dumb thing he did. Dozens of Republican house members have done worse things, but because Democrats have higher standards, Bowman got justifiably criticized for it. And maybe the Congressional facilities people shouldn't be disabling the alarm on emergency exit doors during business hours so people don't get used to using those doors and then expect them to be available all the time.
If MTG had done this, I’m sure you would defend her too. That’s why TOTL has been and continues to be a thing. Some of yall share the values of winning at any cost.
Thanks for that Smurfquake. I am gonna no state I stand corrected regarding Bowman and the fire alarm. It was a dumb move but not malicious.
We got a lot of ads for this race where I’m at. I really don’t remember too many making an issue of this anyway. If anything what sticks in my mind were ads pointing out how often he voted against Biden. Perhaps I only remember those as I didn’t really give a shit about the other stuff and that message worked with me?
In the bigger picture, it probably doesn't make a lot of difference to the low information voter, particularly when AIPAC gets their hands on a race. But it does indicate his political savvy, particularly to us who are more in the weeds.
Another thing is that it seems like Bowman's opponent was just a very popular politician from that area. The guy has held an office in that area since the 90s and, from what I've seen in reporting, he is really good at "retail politics" while Bowman was not. It could be Monday quarterbacking, but a lot of the pundits I've seen credited Latimer's deep roots in the district and his familiarity with the constituents and other politicians in the area.
Fvck, there goes the Senate Decision Desk changes the Montana Senate from Lean R to Likely R, with an 81% chance for an R win pic.twitter.com/BvB6IZGl6a— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) July 5, 2024
All over the USMNT forum, people write crap they don’t believe just to get a rise out of people. Its shitty, selfish behavior.