There was an allusion to this over on Flame, without the video; but because Flame is where important stories go to die, I think this is best posted here as the current event it is.

Van Hollen’s final statement sums it up: “Democracy has been suspended, Mr. Speaker.” The night before the shutdown took effect, Republicans unilaterally suspended a longstanding House rule that would have allowed any Rep, regardless of party, to request that a disputed Senate bill be allowed to come up for a clean up or down vote.

In other words, had the rule not been changed, a representative could have brought up a bill to reopen the government, and be assured of its passage by all the Democrats and the handful of still-sane Republicans.

This is why we’re in the second week of the shutdown: Parliamentary gamesmanship by people whose actions proclaim their utter contempt for democracy.