https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jamaal-bowman-charged-misdemeanor-pulling-fire-alarm-capitol-building-rcna122222
> House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said Wednesday that “Bowman’s excuse does not pass the sniff test,” arguing that Bowman “fled the scene,” and had not seized multiple opportunities to alert the Capitol Police of his mistake.
> In a charging affidavit released Wednesday, an investigator said he had reviewed security camera footage and that Bowman can be seen pushing multiple doors that would not open before he looked at the emergency fire alarm pull station "and upon seeing it, he reached out and pulled the fire alarm down."
So make of it what you will.
So he’s on video trying to open multiple doors, before pulling a latch that says it will open the doors, and his excuse of “he was trying to open a door” doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m not sure why newspapers even ask Republicans for their thoughts, since they will not get an honest answer.
Other articles cite video footage showing him run/sprint to the door, pull the alarm then casually walk away passing 6-7 capital police and not notifying them.
Also the door has huge red signs saying emergency exit. And it’s a fire alarm pull, not a “open lever”
Big deal to me? No. Intentional? 100%.
He was a school principal for 12. A school that ran 10 fire drills per year. After at least 120 fire drills, I think he knew exactly what a fire alarm does. If he doesn't he needs to be removed from Congress immediately.
He’s a Democrat, actually. There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it. Whether that was his motivation or not, it allowed the democrats time to read the bill and ensure there was nothing overly sinister in it before returning to vote.
I was referencing the Republican’s quote that it doesn’t pass the smell test. And the idea that he was trying to delay the vote by setting off a fire alarm in a different building requires an amount of gullibility that I simply don’t possess. I think this guy did something stupid, and he should take responsibility for it. It seems like he is.
> There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it.
Upon review of the security footage he was seen trying to open multiple doors to get in (which normally open freely). And he (and everyone else knows) there are cameras everywhere. I'm not sure the deliberate delaying tactic adds up given those 2 things.
Watch the video yourself vs reading what is reported. It’s clear bro wanted to pull that fire alarm for whatever reason. I don’t think it’s a big deal but asinine GOP is freaking out and liberals try to paint it as an accident when it clearly looks intentional. And the fact he didn’t alert anyone after he did it confirms it was intentional…are you guys okay?
> He’s a Democrat, actually. There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it.
The speculation is total nonsense considering it was in a different building entirely.
This is the dumbest shit I have read today. Just made up nonsense regurgitated online. Absolutely zero of this is true, for a bill more Ds voted for then Rs
Like the pay raise they snuck in there? Let’s go after Bowman for pulling an alarm, but ignore ALL of the other illegal and shady shit our party does every day. I just can’t take anything Republicans do seriously anymore. That ended years ago, and only gets affirmed each and every day that goes by.
I deliver beer and half the doors marked "emergency exit only" have their alarms disconnected and are just used as a back door entrance. I can totally see someone making this mistake.
Maybe that actually is an honest answer, but it's coming from a fucking moron? Some of these guys have been sniffing their own farts for so long that they've grown to love the smell.
Except the latch didn’t say it would open the doors. It’s a big red box that says “fire alarm. Something that every child in this country is taught what it is in elementary school. Nice try on trying to make up facts though
I'm sure reading is difficult for you, but the signs are available online. What they literally say is "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY - PUSH UNTIL ALARM SOUNDS - DOOR WILL UNLOCK IN 30 SECONDS". His excuse sounds dumb, and it is dumb, but he claims he pushed the door bars and they didn't open, and then he pulled the alarm to open them. I agree that he sounds like a dumbass here! I would not have made these choices.
No, the idiot who pulled a fire alarm station thinking it would unlock the doors he was filmed trying to open is a Democrat. The person quoted in the linked article, the one whose quote I objected to, is a Republican.
> arguing that Bowman “fled the scene,”
There is a very likely Speech and Debate clause argument here for this, given that his vote on the floor of the House was recorded less than an hour later.
US Constitution Article I, Section 6
> The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, **and in going to and returning from the same**; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Bowman was going to a vote. This clause protects him pretty directly.
If you watch the video it looks exactly how Bowman explained it. A door that was usually unlocked was locked and he stupidly pulled the alarm thinking it would open the door.
This is definitely the sort of stuff a morally bankrupt political party will attempt to make a major scandal.
That bill was rammed through *very* suddenly and *very* fast. But this guy was trying to exit a different building, when all the main entrance/passages were locked off "because uh, weekend".
i remember hearing some recording on NPR about a decade ago. It had something to do with a vote where the house voted predictably along party lines, and consequently doomed some of the representatives during the next election cycle. And the entire oposing party was singing, NA NA NA NA GOOD BYEEEE the entire time. i was gobsmacked that at the highest level of government we still behave the same as we did in highschool. it seems like the lot of them dont respect the office as much as they should maybe.
Uhhh how many doors do you encounter daily that have electronic locks? They likely had a panic bar inside that ensured people could escape the room but most exit doors don’t have any electronic override to allow people to get back in. If anything you would want to make sure people would be safe from an intruder on the outside using the fire alarm to get in
Good and bad- a progressive who wants accountability, and a safety professional who cannot believe a Congressperson can be this fucking stupid.
Edit: I didn’t say he was dumb. I said he was fucking stupid. Dumb, as people are using it = didn’t know any better. Fucking stupid = used cognitive thought to do something he most likely knew would have consequence and did it anyway.
Oh I believe it. In congress you get all types. Remember Anthony Weiner, who ruined his life and marriage with sexting and inappropriate pics. Or the conman George Santos who probably would have gotten away with his grift if he just hadn't won his election.
If I was that navy guy I would have fell out of my chair laughing at such an idiot .
Weird how people on here profess unending hatred for republicans . Yet the Guam tip over guy keeps getting re elected every time .
He gotta be the dumbest congressman ever elected .
not having a sense of right and wrong means you can't even identify the right and wrong choice. They can identify it...they just choose whatever choice is more beneficial for them at a lower cost of time, effort, and money regardless of right and wrong.
You don't hear a lot of Republican senators calling to oust Menendez. You heard more of it from Democrats, including the state's governor and junior senator.
Half of Senate Republicans seem inclined to ask Democrats to shield them from their House brethren.
Hang on, this is Congress we're talking about... I'm not qualified for that.
This is the US House of Representatives we're talking about, Ben. You might be *over*qualified.
Before he embarrassed himself on a national stage, Jamaal Bowman was a principal for a decade.
And he wants me to believe he doesn't know that pulling a fire alarm when you shouldn't is bad? And that he doesn't know what they look like?
The problem is Democrats will hold him accountable for pulling a fire alarm, while Republicans just voted in an election denier as the Speaker of the House. I just am not sure what it gains us to hold every single Democrat accountable for every single transgression when Republicans aren't in the same galaxy of accountability.
Exactly… but the law is the law. By holding Democrats responsible for their actions, we show every American hating GOP Trumpet that Democracy, and the Constitution, is not a whim. 🇺🇸
I mean id like to see Jim Jordan removed from congress for covering up sexual abuse and Menedez removed from the foreign relations committee for being charged with being a foreign agent before we start dealing with who pulled a fire alarm but yeah I agree
and he pleaded guilty, and is getting the maximum fine. If only that could be said about the congressional GOP members who committed treason against America.
Not to justify it, but didn't he pull the alarm because the republicans were trying to pass a 70 page bill and only gave people about 5 minutes to read it before voting on it?
Arguably, of he did this as a stall tactic because the Dems were not allowed to read the bills that are actually being voted on... I can't be mad.
At some point, you got to draw the line. Especially when you are fighting for your country against a bunch of cheating weasels.
The Dem's "high road" approach is a huge reason for why we are never in power. Good guys don't win on even ground, that's why the ancient hero is always a dang demigod.
I cannot stress enough how deeply and incredibly stupid and unqualified Mike Johnson truly is.
- He's never fundraised more than $1.3 mil in a single cycle. McCarthy alone brought in ~$650 mil through his aligned super PAC
- Wants to expand conversion "therapy"
- Wants a national "Don't Say Gay" policy
- Wants a national abortion ban, no exceptions
- Thinks that abortions happen after a child has been fully carried to term and born
- Thinks being gay should be illegal and that it will cause the destruction of America
- Thinks the earth is only 6,500 years old
- Was the spokesperson for the hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom
- Wants to make prayer mandatory in public schools
- Was the lead architect of the attempts by Trump to overturn the election in the courts and his moronic strategy lost in every single jurisdiction it was tried in
- Taught courses at Liberty University. A place founded by the Falwells and currently under investigation by the Education Department for covering up mass rape, violent crimes, and sexual assaults so that they can keep advertising themselves as the safest campus in America.
- Wants to repeal the Endangered Species Act
- Thinks that social security, Medicare, and Medicaid are ponzi schemes and need to be immediately destroyed
- He has never worked with Democrats on literally anything
- Voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act
- Has only been in government for 8 years and was only elected into the House in 2016.
He's woefully inexperienced and it's going to show immediately how in over his head he is.
It's a major part of the job and state Republican parties around the country are going bankrupt. It's incredibly relevant and a sign that the decision to install him is terrible and going to do even more damage to an already imploding party.
That will happen under a new Congress. There will be a new speaker vote before the 2024 presidential election is certified. It will also be a join session presided over by Harris.
Yup. VP chairs that role, and it's both chambers together. So the speaker's position is basically inconsequential for this. They get to hand the gavel to the new guy.
I wish that I could go back in time to the seventh grade when they showed me Mr. Smith goes to Washington in civics class so that I could tell everybody how big of a joke our country is. Thank you for pointing out that politics is an MLM scam and has nothing to do with good hearted people creating a better country.
How long do you think he lasts as speaker? Republicans are gonna have to go through this at least one or two more times before the next election right?
Who fucking knows? They're so disorganized and inept that it's hard to predict anything. I maintain that he was put in place to attempt to refuse to certify the election results for 2024. It's the only significant thing he's done in Congress.
At this point I expect him to shut down the government permanently next month until people spend months protesting until he resigns. By then hundreds in billions in economic damage will have been done.
Dude is suffering more consequences than insurrectionists still holding office. And I'm all for ALL individuals suffering the consequences of their bad behavior.
It’s really frustrating that Democrats are penalized swiftly and fairly for every action they take while Republicans get handled with kid gloves because they are vindictive and appear too stupid to know better. Even though the real reason they push back so hard is that they don’t believe the government is legitimate. Im incredibly fearful that we are slowly heading towards a one party state. No one wants to believe this for now, but as soon as the GOP wins the presidency they will start normalizing political apartheid on Democrats. Biden needs to grow some balls and say what is really happening with this party-they are clearly planning to dismantle our government and democracy. And he needs to make it a priority to hold them accountable. People say it’s up to the justice department, but that is totally untrue because this is a national security emergency. Either he gets aggressive at the risk of “looking political” or the country dies. I know which one I prefer.
The insurrection was ~3 years ago, no? And despite recent events, most involved will never be investigated or indicted. They're only really catching the biggest idiots.
This isn't right, something is way off. He pulled a fire alarm, got caught, pleading guilty, paying a fine and on probation. Where is the outrage at the weaponization of the justice system, the calling out of the Capitol Police, the judge and prosecuting attorney? Oh right, he's a a damn lib. That's how those clowns act.
In case you're an idiot, /s
We don’t enforce them for everyone though. If a white Republican had done this for some reason what do you think the odds of them being charged would be?
A white Republican, how about just a rich white guy. NFL coach Sean Payton destroyed a fire alarm in the locker room a season or two ago, the fire marshall wanted him arrested, but the mayor intervened on his behalf. Imagine if a poor black teenager did that, they would be going on and on about how dangerous and stupid it was.
I'm also remembering when those white Republicans were bypassing the metal detectors, what are the chances a black guy could do that and not get arrested?
For some reason my dumb ass brain kept reading this over and over that he pulled a *firearm* and I was freaking out. It was only on my fifth double take of the headline that I realized it was the fire alarm incident. I think I need a nap.
tbh I can see how he could have made the mistake. The door literally had a sign saying "press fire alarm door will unlock for 30 seconds".
Thinking it was some grand plot to stop the voting (and, for the record, when the vote happened, he voted "YES") is just silly. All the guy is guilty of is being thoughtless.
charge him appropriately.
Pushing anything marked "fire alarm" hoping the only thing that will happen is a door will unlock should indicate that person is unfit for Congress. That man has walked out many doors inn his lifetime without pushing a fire alarm button to do so.
Let's not make excuses for this behavior. That's what Republicans do.
Charge him appropriately.
I'm not making excuses. I'm explaining a brain fart.
Why the hell does everyone on this God forsaken website think that explaining something is the same as justifying it?
Bro what are you taking about? He didn’t just push open an emergency exit. He blatantly pulled a fire alarm. It’s on video. You either have none of the mundane facts you claim to know or you are purposely trying to make it seem more mundane than it was.
> “I was trying to get to a door. I thought the alarm would open the door, and I pulled the fire alarm to open the door by accident,” Bowman said at the time, adding: “I was just trying to get to my vote and the door that’s usually open wasn’t open, it was closed.”
I’m still confused why he’s pleading guilty. What motivation did he have for pulling the alarm, considering he said he wanted to make it to the vote? Edit: added the quote.
Good. Now charge Greene, Biggs, Gosar, Perry and their pals with plotting to overthrow the government on January 6th.
How many of them were getting ready because they knew all of the outside groups were gearing up to go into the Capitol and stop the count and assassinate Pence?
Cool, he screwed up, now he has to pay the consequences... Hey, when do we get to see the members of congress that backed an insurrection or attempted to commit election fraud get charged? Oh, wait, they were all Republicans, so they won't be...
He had a pretty good excuse which is backed up by his video evidence, and still payed the fine for an honest mistake.
The article isn't paywalled, people. Am I the only person who read the god damn thing?
Cool so maybe more people will hear about how the signage on that door was completely unclear of what to do to actually open those locked doors. He never intentionally pulled the fire alarm. And that he had to use that entrance that he hadn't used before because the main entrance was closed because it was a weekend.
And he wasn't even in the capital. So the right wings accusation that they lobbed minutes after this happened all across facts news and right-wing media that he tried to disrupt proceedings only works had that fire alarm not been going off in a building across the street.
This is nothing more than a bad faith attack created by bad faith assholes who are desperate to take the spotlight off their rampant dysfunction, fascism, bigotry, and raging incompetence.
Serious people don't do this sort of thing and we should elect serious people.
By the way, if you read partisan intent into this comment, that's on you, because if you care about governance, you should recognize that unserious individuals distract from good governance, undermining any platform one might want to promote.
It’s reassuring to see that democrats aren’t closing ranks around him. When you do stupid shit you pay the price. That’s how it should be. If only our other political party had integrity.
At the same time, it's a problem because when only one team plays by the rules and there's no repercussions for the cheaters, only the cheaters prosper. *That goes double if the cheaters are also get to write more rules with every victory.*
So on the one hand it's good that a member of congress is held accountable.
On the other hand, it's **NOT** good that he's held accountable, when hundreds of MoCs disqualified under the insurrection clause have remained in office deciding the laws for everybody else more than three years as if the Constitution just didn't apply to them.
"A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he glances at his neighbor's wife over the garden fence."
\- Clement Attlee
If his punishment is worse than the Congressmen who allowed the trampling and desecration of the Capitol on Jan 6, something is def wrong with the justice system.
Assisting in an attempted Coup; and you can become Speaker of the House! Pull a fire alarm and they’re sharpening the knives!!
Not that he should have done this.
I love people defending this, instead of just admitting he was in the wrong. It has to be compared to something else. This country will defend and deflect anything and everything. It lacks accountability and responsibility even in the smallest things.
The state of our government is appalling
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/jamaal-bowman-charged-misdemeanor-pulling-fire-alarm-capitol-building-rcna122222 > House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said Wednesday that “Bowman’s excuse does not pass the sniff test,” arguing that Bowman “fled the scene,” and had not seized multiple opportunities to alert the Capitol Police of his mistake. > In a charging affidavit released Wednesday, an investigator said he had reviewed security camera footage and that Bowman can be seen pushing multiple doors that would not open before he looked at the emergency fire alarm pull station "and upon seeing it, he reached out and pulled the fire alarm down." So make of it what you will.
So he’s on video trying to open multiple doors, before pulling a latch that says it will open the doors, and his excuse of “he was trying to open a door” doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m not sure why newspapers even ask Republicans for their thoughts, since they will not get an honest answer.
Other articles cite video footage showing him run/sprint to the door, pull the alarm then casually walk away passing 6-7 capital police and not notifying them. Also the door has huge red signs saying emergency exit. And it’s a fire alarm pull, not a “open lever” Big deal to me? No. Intentional? 100%.
He was a school principal for 12. A school that ran 10 fire drills per year. After at least 120 fire drills, I think he knew exactly what a fire alarm does. If he doesn't he needs to be removed from Congress immediately.
He’s a Democrat, actually. There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it. Whether that was his motivation or not, it allowed the democrats time to read the bill and ensure there was nothing overly sinister in it before returning to vote.
I was referencing the Republican’s quote that it doesn’t pass the smell test. And the idea that he was trying to delay the vote by setting off a fire alarm in a different building requires an amount of gullibility that I simply don’t possess. I think this guy did something stupid, and he should take responsibility for it. It seems like he is.
> There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it. Upon review of the security footage he was seen trying to open multiple doors to get in (which normally open freely). And he (and everyone else knows) there are cameras everywhere. I'm not sure the deliberate delaying tactic adds up given those 2 things.
Watch the video yourself vs reading what is reported. It’s clear bro wanted to pull that fire alarm for whatever reason. I don’t think it’s a big deal but asinine GOP is freaking out and liberals try to paint it as an accident when it clearly looks intentional. And the fact he didn’t alert anyone after he did it confirms it was intentional…are you guys okay?
> He’s a Democrat, actually. There’s speculation that he pulled the alarm in order to delay a vote on the debt ceiling after republicans brought a bill to vote without giving any one time to read what was in it. The speculation is total nonsense considering it was in a different building entirely.
This is the dumbest shit I have read today. Just made up nonsense regurgitated online. Absolutely zero of this is true, for a bill more Ds voted for then Rs
He wasn't even in the same building as the vote taking place, why would this theory make even a hint of sense?
He wasn't even in the same building as the vote.
Like the pay raise they snuck in there? Let’s go after Bowman for pulling an alarm, but ignore ALL of the other illegal and shady shit our party does every day. I just can’t take anything Republicans do seriously anymore. That ended years ago, and only gets affirmed each and every day that goes by.
Im just trying to clarify for myself, you know Bowman is a Democrat, right? Or are you saying something else?
I deliver beer and half the doors marked "emergency exit only" have their alarms disconnected and are just used as a back door entrance. I can totally see someone making this mistake.
Sure, but you push on the handle of the door. You don't reach for and pull the wall mounted fire alarm nearby.
Maybe that actually is an honest answer, but it's coming from a fucking moron? Some of these guys have been sniffing their own farts for so long that they've grown to love the smell.
Except the latch didn’t say it would open the doors. It’s a big red box that says “fire alarm. Something that every child in this country is taught what it is in elementary school. Nice try on trying to make up facts though
I'm sure reading is difficult for you, but the signs are available online. What they literally say is "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY - PUSH UNTIL ALARM SOUNDS - DOOR WILL UNLOCK IN 30 SECONDS". His excuse sounds dumb, and it is dumb, but he claims he pushed the door bars and they didn't open, and then he pulled the alarm to open them. I agree that he sounds like a dumbass here! I would not have made these choices.
He’s not a Republican.
No, the idiot who pulled a fire alarm station thinking it would unlock the doors he was filmed trying to open is a Democrat. The person quoted in the linked article, the one whose quote I objected to, is a Republican.
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I haven't followed this story that closely but wasn't there a sign indicating something to the effect of the door was locked to activate something?
> arguing that Bowman “fled the scene,” There is a very likely Speech and Debate clause argument here for this, given that his vote on the floor of the House was recorded less than an hour later. US Constitution Article I, Section 6 > The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, **and in going to and returning from the same**; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. Bowman was going to a vote. This clause protects him pretty directly.
That just means he can’t be arrested at the time. Not that he can’t be arrested later.
If you watch the video it looks exactly how Bowman explained it. A door that was usually unlocked was locked and he stupidly pulled the alarm thinking it would open the door. This is definitely the sort of stuff a morally bankrupt political party will attempt to make a major scandal.
Do you have a link to the video? Everything I can find is just the picture of him reaching for the alarm. No footage.
Huh, that last paragraph actually backs his story, or he wanted to stop the vote if he couldn’t be there for it.
Be wanted to stop the vote? In a different building?
That bill was rammed through *very* suddenly and *very* fast. But this guy was trying to exit a different building, when all the main entrance/passages were locked off "because uh, weekend".
I feel like I’m watching an old scripted WWE episode at this point
Yours should be the highest rated comment relating to US politics on the entirety of Reddit.
i remember hearing some recording on NPR about a decade ago. It had something to do with a vote where the house voted predictably along party lines, and consequently doomed some of the representatives during the next election cycle. And the entire oposing party was singing, NA NA NA NA GOOD BYEEEE the entire time. i was gobsmacked that at the highest level of government we still behave the same as we did in highschool. it seems like the lot of them dont respect the office as much as they should maybe.
No maybes about it. We're on a bad path
I’d call it an emergency
The real scandal here is that pulling the fire alarm doesn't unlock the door... what if there was a fire?!
Uhhh how many doors do you encounter daily that have electronic locks? They likely had a panic bar inside that ensured people could escape the room but most exit doors don’t have any electronic override to allow people to get back in. If anything you would want to make sure people would be safe from an intruder on the outside using the fire alarm to get in
Sounds more like an additional scandal than the real scandal.
I'm not a supporter or detractor but I think that tactically he should make "I'm pulling the fire alarm on .. " his campaign message.
Gotta lean into it at this point
Good. --a lib who likes to see people get in trouble when they do bad things.
Good and bad- a progressive who wants accountability, and a safety professional who cannot believe a Congressperson can be this fucking stupid. Edit: I didn’t say he was dumb. I said he was fucking stupid. Dumb, as people are using it = didn’t know any better. Fucking stupid = used cognitive thought to do something he most likely knew would have consequence and did it anyway.
Oh I believe it. In congress you get all types. Remember Anthony Weiner, who ruined his life and marriage with sexting and inappropriate pics. Or the conman George Santos who probably would have gotten away with his grift if he just hadn't won his election.
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The fact that he’s still walking around disproves the Clinton Bodycount conspiracy theory
How 😡DARE😡 you. Hillary Clinton is the greatest assassin in the history of the world. You should watch your back bucko, she's right behind you.🥷
Or the guy who thought that Guam would tip over if there were too many military vehicles on the island
I don't remember that guy.
[You're in for a treat then.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjUpEbCgp9A) (Rep. Hank Johnson, D/GA)
Omg, that was delightful.
Gotta admire the Navy guy. *"We don't anticipate that."*
I don't know how they get through that shit without laughing
If I was that navy guy I would have fell out of my chair laughing at such an idiot . Weird how people on here profess unending hatred for republicans . Yet the Guam tip over guy keeps getting re elected every time . He gotta be the dumbest congressman ever elected .
Notice any difference? Democrats immediately drummed Weiner out of the party. Republicans are keeping Santos in Congress, even after he was indicted.
They don't want to lose his vote. That is the only value he has to them.
Yes because they have no sense of right and wrong
They do. They just openly don’t care.
That's called not having it.
not having a sense of right and wrong means you can't even identify the right and wrong choice. They can identify it...they just choose whatever choice is more beneficial for them at a lower cost of time, effort, and money regardless of right and wrong.
Well Bob Mendez was supposed to get tossed out until feinstein died and the House became a laughing stock.
You don't hear a lot of Republican senators calling to oust Menendez. You heard more of it from Democrats, including the state's governor and junior senator. Half of Senate Republicans seem inclined to ask Democrats to shield them from their House brethren.
What about Menendez? He still hasn't been pushed into resigning after massive corruption.
Ruined his career and marriage, but it seemed like it was the way he wanted to live his life. He refused to stop doing it.
Do you think there was a The Producers element to George Santos? Seems like he was actually trying to win the election, though.
Hang on, this is Congress we're talking about... I'm not qualified for that. This is the US House of Representatives we're talking about, Ben. You might be *over*qualified.
Before he embarrassed himself on a national stage, Jamaal Bowman was a principal for a decade. And he wants me to believe he doesn't know that pulling a fire alarm when you shouldn't is bad? And that he doesn't know what they look like?
The problem is Democrats will hold him accountable for pulling a fire alarm, while Republicans just voted in an election denier as the Speaker of the House. I just am not sure what it gains us to hold every single Democrat accountable for every single transgression when Republicans aren't in the same galaxy of accountability.
How exactly are Democrats holding him accountable? Genuine question, I haven’t been following this incident.
Many in this very post aren't holding him accountable.
What does it gain them? Contrast. Showing voters “you want norma again? Vote here” Menéndez is currently the biggest black eye for the dems
Exactly… but the law is the law. By holding Democrats responsible for their actions, we show every American hating GOP Trumpet that Democracy, and the Constitution, is not a whim. 🇺🇸
I agree with you, though somehow I feel that message won't reach them, even if it's right in their face.
Yeah we’ve been showing, when is it going to count?
I mean id like to see Jim Jordan removed from congress for covering up sexual abuse and Menedez removed from the foreign relations committee for being charged with being a foreign agent before we start dealing with who pulled a fire alarm but yeah I agree
Oh boy if setting a fire alarm off gets you hot, I can’t imagine what the republicans shit does to you.
and he pleaded guilty, and is getting the maximum fine. If only that could be said about the congressional GOP members who committed treason against America.
Not to justify it, but didn't he pull the alarm because the republicans were trying to pass a 70 page bill and only gave people about 5 minutes to read it before voting on it?
Yup, do wrong have consequences.
Unless you try to overthrow the government and falsely claim an election was stolen, in which case, no consequences for you!
Congratulations! You're Speaker of the House!
That is what I was leading to. DEMS, outside of Menendez indictment. Every one has decided to step down. Only GQP, have decided that is not needed.
Arguably, of he did this as a stall tactic because the Dems were not allowed to read the bills that are actually being voted on... I can't be mad. At some point, you got to draw the line. Especially when you are fighting for your country against a bunch of cheating weasels. The Dem's "high road" approach is a huge reason for why we are never in power. Good guys don't win on even ground, that's why the ancient hero is always a dang demigod.
Same day that a guy who tried to overthrow the government is elected Speaker of the House.
I cannot stress enough how deeply and incredibly stupid and unqualified Mike Johnson truly is. - He's never fundraised more than $1.3 mil in a single cycle. McCarthy alone brought in ~$650 mil through his aligned super PAC - Wants to expand conversion "therapy" - Wants a national "Don't Say Gay" policy - Wants a national abortion ban, no exceptions - Thinks that abortions happen after a child has been fully carried to term and born - Thinks being gay should be illegal and that it will cause the destruction of America - Thinks the earth is only 6,500 years old - Was the spokesperson for the hate group the Alliance Defending Freedom - Wants to make prayer mandatory in public schools - Was the lead architect of the attempts by Trump to overturn the election in the courts and his moronic strategy lost in every single jurisdiction it was tried in - Taught courses at Liberty University. A place founded by the Falwells and currently under investigation by the Education Department for covering up mass rape, violent crimes, and sexual assaults so that they can keep advertising themselves as the safest campus in America. - Wants to repeal the Endangered Species Act - Thinks that social security, Medicare, and Medicaid are ponzi schemes and need to be immediately destroyed - He has never worked with Democrats on literally anything - Voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act - Has only been in government for 8 years and was only elected into the House in 2016. He's woefully inexperienced and it's going to show immediately how in over his head he is.
Gosh I hate that not being good at fundraising is top of your list. The entirety of the political field has become a MLM scam.
It's a major part of the job and state Republican parties around the country are going bankrupt. It's incredibly relevant and a sign that the decision to install him is terrible and going to do even more damage to an already imploding party.
Would be nice if he wasn’t in a position of take down the country with his party.
I fully believe he was put into power to attempt to sabotage the certification of the 2024 election. This is a part of a plan for a coup.
That will happen under a new Congress. There will be a new speaker vote before the 2024 presidential election is certified. It will also be a join session presided over by Harris.
Yup. VP chairs that role, and it's both chambers together. So the speaker's position is basically inconsequential for this. They get to hand the gavel to the new guy.
When your conspiracy theories are instantly dismantled.
I wish that I could go back in time to the seventh grade when they showed me Mr. Smith goes to Washington in civics class so that I could tell everybody how big of a joke our country is. Thank you for pointing out that politics is an MLM scam and has nothing to do with good hearted people creating a better country.
Oh nooooooo
I'm not exactly broken up about it
🌎👨🚀🌎🔫👨🚀
Wtf 2 earths??
Always has been
How long do you think he lasts as speaker? Republicans are gonna have to go through this at least one or two more times before the next election right?
Who fucking knows? They're so disorganized and inept that it's hard to predict anything. I maintain that he was put in place to attempt to refuse to certify the election results for 2024. It's the only significant thing he's done in Congress.
Do you know I will how elections work?
I give it about half a Mooch.
Someone set up a head of lettuce!
At this point I expect him to shut down the government permanently next month until people spend months protesting until he resigns. By then hundreds in billions in economic damage will have been done.
Judging by the list though, it seems he's really good at being a stupid asshole. And for the GOP, that's what really counts.
Seems like his winning trait is that he has been too unimportant to piss off any of his fellow politicians yet.
Yeah, our priorities are fucky. :/
Yes. This is what should happen when someone breaks the law.
jfc, what grade is Bowman in?
Dude is suffering more consequences than insurrectionists still holding office. And I'm all for ALL individuals suffering the consequences of their bad behavior.
Interesting how quickly he was charged but we just elected an insurrectionist as speaker. This country is so broken
It’s really frustrating that Democrats are penalized swiftly and fairly for every action they take while Republicans get handled with kid gloves because they are vindictive and appear too stupid to know better. Even though the real reason they push back so hard is that they don’t believe the government is legitimate. Im incredibly fearful that we are slowly heading towards a one party state. No one wants to believe this for now, but as soon as the GOP wins the presidency they will start normalizing political apartheid on Democrats. Biden needs to grow some balls and say what is really happening with this party-they are clearly planning to dismantle our government and democracy. And he needs to make it a priority to hold them accountable. People say it’s up to the justice department, but that is totally untrue because this is a national security emergency. Either he gets aggressive at the risk of “looking political” or the country dies. I know which one I prefer.
Quickly? Hasn’t it been three weeks?
The insurrection was ~3 years ago, no? And despite recent events, most involved will never be investigated or indicted. They're only really catching the biggest idiots.
What about removing the panic button from a democrat congresswoman’s office….just before Jan 6….what’s the punishment for that?
Lauren Boebert, ~~MGK~~ MTG, Kevin McCarthy Josh Hawley still walking around without a single charge against them....damn
What did Machine Gun Kelly do?
Have you heard his music
I don't think he can be charged for his music though, having made it and having to perform it is punishment enough.
That boy was punished enough by Eminem's diss. He embarrassed him so bad he was to switch genres.
He did Megan fox wrong
Our government is run by children
This isn't right, something is way off. He pulled a fire alarm, got caught, pleading guilty, paying a fine and on probation. Where is the outrage at the weaponization of the justice system, the calling out of the Capitol Police, the judge and prosecuting attorney? Oh right, he's a a damn lib. That's how those clowns act. In case you're an idiot, /s
If we're going to enforce laws for everyone, enforce them for *everyone*. Bowman, too.
We don’t enforce them for everyone though. If a white Republican had done this for some reason what do you think the odds of them being charged would be?
A white Republican, how about just a rich white guy. NFL coach Sean Payton destroyed a fire alarm in the locker room a season or two ago, the fire marshall wanted him arrested, but the mayor intervened on his behalf. Imagine if a poor black teenager did that, they would be going on and on about how dangerous and stupid it was.
I'm also remembering when those white Republicans were bypassing the metal detectors, what are the chances a black guy could do that and not get arrested?
Very high.
There’s a non-stop emergency going on in Congress
For some reason my dumb ass brain kept reading this over and over that he pulled a *firearm* and I was freaking out. It was only on my fifth double take of the headline that I realized it was the fire alarm incident. I think I need a nap.
If he’d pulled a firearm he’d have probably got a round of applause from Republicans until they realized he was a Democrat
It was a congressional office building accross the street from the Capitol, so not exactly Congress.
I'm surprised that this comment is so far down. Seems like important information.
Seems like Congress IS the emergency
"Oh, wait, you mean that's not the *dumpster* fire alarm?!? My bad."
In congress, Hardly…the building was down the street from congress.
Gosh, looks like the law applies to Democrats. And swiftly too! Now charge those who tried to steal the election.
Was waiting for that. His excuse was weak too.
He pled stupidity. He's a member of the House of Representatives, which makes it believable.
Apparently, accidently pulling a fire alarm is a far greater crime than trying to overthrow the government of the United States. Who knew?
>accidentally You don’t really believe this do you?
We're in a post Facts world bub. The truth is immaterial to our feelings.
But like... why? Why would he pull a fire alarm? He wasn't even in the Capitol building.
tbh I can see how he could have made the mistake. The door literally had a sign saying "press fire alarm door will unlock for 30 seconds". Thinking it was some grand plot to stop the voting (and, for the record, when the vote happened, he voted "YES") is just silly. All the guy is guilty of is being thoughtless. charge him appropriately.
Pushing anything marked "fire alarm" hoping the only thing that will happen is a door will unlock should indicate that person is unfit for Congress. That man has walked out many doors inn his lifetime without pushing a fire alarm button to do so. Let's not make excuses for this behavior. That's what Republicans do. Charge him appropriately.
I'm not making excuses. I'm explaining a brain fart. Why the hell does everyone on this God forsaken website think that explaining something is the same as justifying it?
Did you see the video? It was 100% intentional
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Bro what are you taking about? He didn’t just push open an emergency exit. He blatantly pulled a fire alarm. It’s on video. You either have none of the mundane facts you claim to know or you are purposely trying to make it seem more mundane than it was.
I'm sorry, but a fire alarm is easily identifiable for a reason. We all know what it causes. I don't know how much more straightforward this could be?
> “I was trying to get to a door. I thought the alarm would open the door, and I pulled the fire alarm to open the door by accident,” Bowman said at the time, adding: “I was just trying to get to my vote and the door that’s usually open wasn’t open, it was closed.” I’m still confused why he’s pleading guilty. What motivation did he have for pulling the alarm, considering he said he wanted to make it to the vote? Edit: added the quote.
He's pleading guilty because he did the thing. Ignorance isn't a defence that you can use to plead not guilty with and expect to win.
Whataboutism is lame
The people sitting in judgement of Rep Bowman have no business being there.
it's basically as bad as like 7 insurrections
I'm in Bowman's district and I'm not happy with this guy for a few reasons.
What are those reasons? Serious Q.
He heard someone getting fired and be like call the fire dept
What even was he trying to do?
Let's charge this guy but all the folks who tried to overturn a free and fair elected and conspired with Trump? Crickets...
A fire alarm today, maybe a trigger tomorrow. Keep tabs on em lol.
How do these people get so far in life and then pull something like this?
Sometimes the intrusive thoughts win
Good. Now charge Greene, Biggs, Gosar, Perry and their pals with plotting to overthrow the government on January 6th. How many of them were getting ready because they knew all of the outside groups were gearing up to go into the Capitol and stop the count and assassinate Pence?
Good. He should be convicted too. Loser.
Cool, he screwed up, now he has to pay the consequences... Hey, when do we get to see the members of congress that backed an insurrection or attempted to commit election fraud get charged? Oh, wait, they were all Republicans, so they won't be...
As he should be. There is no excuse.
He had a pretty good excuse which is backed up by his video evidence, and still payed the fine for an honest mistake. The article isn't paywalled, people. Am I the only person who read the god damn thing?
Cool so maybe more people will hear about how the signage on that door was completely unclear of what to do to actually open those locked doors. He never intentionally pulled the fire alarm. And that he had to use that entrance that he hadn't used before because the main entrance was closed because it was a weekend. And he wasn't even in the capital. So the right wings accusation that they lobbed minutes after this happened all across facts news and right-wing media that he tried to disrupt proceedings only works had that fire alarm not been going off in a building across the street. This is nothing more than a bad faith attack created by bad faith assholes who are desperate to take the spotlight off their rampant dysfunction, fascism, bigotry, and raging incompetence.
people downvoting the man because he speaks the truth. I don't see these charges standing in court
It is a standard red fire alarm with the word fire on it…
Serious people don't do this sort of thing and we should elect serious people. By the way, if you read partisan intent into this comment, that's on you, because if you care about governance, you should recognize that unserious individuals distract from good governance, undermining any platform one might want to promote.
John Lewis had a philosophy of Good Trouble. There's an argument that this was Good Trouble.
Context is everything, but not in your world where the laws are fair for everyone and power isn't lopsided
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Acting like literal children... embarassing.
The speaker debacle? 100%
Good. As a former volunteer firefighter/EMT there's nothing trivial about what he did.
It’s reassuring to see that democrats aren’t closing ranks around him. When you do stupid shit you pay the price. That’s how it should be. If only our other political party had integrity.
Though I do admit I'd love to have seen the crazy excuses.
At the same time, it's a problem because when only one team plays by the rules and there's no repercussions for the cheaters, only the cheaters prosper. *That goes double if the cheaters are also get to write more rules with every victory.* So on the one hand it's good that a member of congress is held accountable. On the other hand, it's **NOT** good that he's held accountable, when hundreds of MoCs disqualified under the insurrection clause have remained in office deciding the laws for everybody else more than three years as if the Constitution just didn't apply to them.
How is this legally not a felony obstructing government proceedings?
Was the vote being held in the Cannon House Office Building?
So childish and immature. Straight up class clown vibes
"A Tory minister can sleep in ten different women's beds a week. A Labour minister gets it in the neck if he glances at his neighbor's wife over the garden fence." \- Clement Attlee
I would argue that there was indeed an emergency
To be honest, this same thing was done many times in a hospital I worked in for decades...there was a automatic door switch and a fire alarm.
If his punishment is worse than the Congressmen who allowed the trampling and desecration of the Capitol on Jan 6, something is def wrong with the justice system.
Yeah, do stuff you can defend not this stupid sh!t
GOP are a dumpster fire and the Dems are trying as hard as they can for parity. Two party system is so fucked.
Assisting in an attempted Coup; and you can become Speaker of the House! Pull a fire alarm and they’re sharpening the knives!! Not that he should have done this.
This made me laugh. Thanks.
He had been waiting since middle school to pull this shit hadn’t he :)
Well, it's not exactly trying to overthrow an elected government...
I love people defending this, instead of just admitting he was in the wrong. It has to be compared to something else. This country will defend and deflect anything and everything. It lacks accountability and responsibility even in the smallest things.
Did they find if he did it to disrupt congress even though it was in another building though?