The power of one (jackass)

There’s a two-word answer for everything wrong with politics today: Richard Shelby. The Senator from Alabama placed a hold ^[1] on dozens of Obama nominees… not because he opposes them, but because he wanted to “get the White House’s attention on two issues that are critical to our national security — the Air Force’s aerial refueling tanker acquisition and the F.B.I.’s Terrorist Device Analytical Center (TEDAC).” Coincidentally, both these “critical” matters will result in large amounts of federal dollars being dumped into Alabama. So what seems like pointlessly dragging the government to a standstill — and it’s not like the government moves at breakneck speeds in the best of times — in a desperate attempt to score two extra helpings of pork is in fact his personal quest to keep the rest of us safe. On behalf of the rest of America: thanks, Richard.

Shelby’s a Democrat gone Republican ^[2], but this should appall people of all party allegiances. The Democrats won’t always be in power, and when the Republicans or the Tea Party or the Klingons or whoever comes next is in charge, they won’t be so amused when a Senator in the minority party impulsively pulls on the emergency brake, then demands a new water slide park in his state — for national security reasons, of course — in return for releasing it again. And it’ll be easier next time, because Shelby will have set such a despicable precedent. The logical thing to do would be for the Senate to forbid holds, but that would require Senators sacrificing some of their personal power. For a place where the joke is that at the annual softball game there’s a 100-way tie for MVP because everyone instinctively votes for themselves, this seems unlikely.

And so the nation’s at the mercy of Richard Shelby, a man with so little shame he’s willing to blackmail America and so much chutzpah he can claim it’s for our own good.