Playing the race card in Congress

Posted by Frank James at 4:05 pm CDT

The race card was played very artfully Thursday night after House Democrats voted to kick Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) off the House Ways and Means Committee because of the ethical and legal cloud hanging over him.

It happened while Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, talked to the press after House Democrats’s vote against Jefferson. Because the decision to bounce Jefferson was made under no known rule, Watt could only imagine what some voters (read African American voters) might conclude.

“…In the absence of a bright-line rule that will be consistently applied to all members, our concern is that the rule is really political expediency or other unacceptable factors, you name it.

“And we believe our constituents will import their own interpretation into this and a number of them will import that there’s a different standard in our caucus based on race.”

Then Watt started to sound like hip hop star Kanye West when he raps “Now I ain’t sayin’ she’s a Golddigga but....”

“Now none of us is saying that,” Watt said, with Rep. Bobbie Rush (D-Ill.) standing behind him nodding agreement. “I’m not saying it. But it is an unacceptable factor. Yes, that is an unacceptable factor.

“…In the absence of a rule, people will put their own interpretation on why it was done and I think there will be some people out there that will say that that’s the basis.”

Now, I don’t know if Watt is right or wrong. One early indicator of whether he’s correct will be to listen to see if this becomes an issue widely discussed on black radio stations.

But it was definitely one of the smoothest uses of the race card I have seen in Washington for some time.

Meanwhile, the whole Jefferson affair did raise an interesting dilemma for House Democrats. If you want to show voters it’s the other side, the Republicans, who have the “culture of corruption” do you handle the Jefferson issue under the rules or strike and strike quickly?

Democrats obviously chose the latter. But, again, that was outside the rules, according to Watt and numerous other Democrats.

Watt’s argument echoed the unspoken but virtually sacred view that we Americans are a nation of laws (or rules) and not men.

So he cited House Rule 1095, subpart D which says a House member must be indicted to be removed from a committee. He also cited the Democratic Caucus’s own rules for Democrats who serve as committee chairs when the party controls the House or as the top Democrat. Those rules also require “indictment or formal charges,” Watt said.

But Jefferson hasn’t been indicted and as a regular committee member, the Democratic Caucus's rules don't apply to him. So according to the existing rules, his removal was at best premature, according to Watt.

To this, leaders of the House Democratic Caucus leadership had a handy response reminiscent of what our parents used to tell many of us: I brought you into this world and I can take you right out of it.

“You serve at the behest of the caucus.” said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.,) vice chair of the Democratic Caucus. “Only the caucus can appoint or remove a member from a committee.”

Larson likened what happened to Jefferson to what happens to police officers, teachers or other public servants facing legal or ethical questions; they’re suspended until everything is cleared up.

But Watt and other members of the Democratic caucus weren’t buying that since there is no written House rule comparable to the operating procedures followed by police departments when officers fall under suspicion.

So it looks like political expediency. If this weren’t an election year with Democrats trying to regain control of the House, there would’ve been less pressure to get Jefferson off the Ways and Means committee so quickly.

(Photo of Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., is from his official website.)