I know I am going to come off sounding as if I am a curmudgeonly old school traditionalis...

Well. Hang on a minute here.

That's what I am.

While we can all have a good howl at Spartacus and his Day of Senatorial Emotive Performance Art - the only thing missing was the literal toga - it was much ado about nothing. Booker isn't much of anything, and his barking at the moon affected nothing. There was no bill, no resolution to be stymied or heroically bolloxed. It was just a lonely man swaying, bug-eyed, at a podium in a cavernous, dark, empty chamber that echoed much like the voices in his cranium do.

However, what has been happening in the House has been a Theater of the Absurd. What makes it even more appalling is that it's been led by one of the MAGA media darlings who looks great on camera while spewing all the tough talking points until it comes to her own personal convenience following longstanding rules.

I'm referring to one of Florida's representatives, Anna Paulina Luna, who quit the 'Freedom Caucus' in a huff this week because those GOP ingrates wouldn't back her motion to allow a rules change for new Congressional parents to vote by proxy.

WHUT

She's just 'shattered' by the betrayal, you know.

Anna Paulina Luna resigns from House Freedom Caucus, says 'mutual respect' was 'shattered'

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is resigning from the House Freedom Caucus, she announced in a letter to fellow conservatives on Monday.

It's the latest escalation in her fight against House GOP leaders and a small group of members on the right flank of their conference over the issue of proxy voting. Luna has teamed up with Democrats and several other Republicans on a mechanism aimed at forcing consideration of legislation that allows new parents in the House to vote remotely for 12 weeks around their baby's birth.

"I have consistently supported each of you, even in moments of disagreement, honoring the mutual respect that has guided our caucus," Luna wrote. "That respect, however, was shattered last week."

Holy smokes, snowflake. I couldn't believe it when I read that. Get over yourself.

But sweet thing wasn't through yet.

What Luna did next to circumvent House leadership was introduce her bill to change the rule as a 'privileged' resolution.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is forcing a vote on legislation to enable new parents serving in Congress to vote remotely in the weeks surrounding the birth of their child.

Luna introduced the measure as a "privileged resolution" on Tuesday, which gives House leaders two legislative days to take up the measure.

It’s the latest in an increasingly high-stakes fight between Luna and House GOP leaders, who have teamed up with some of Luna’s now-former House Freedom Caucus colleagues to ensure she cannot force a vote on the legislation.

Luna’s initial plan to fast-track her bill despite opposition from House GOP leaders involved a discharge petition, a mechanism for getting a bill onto the House floor if it gets a majority of lawmakers’ signatures – which Luna’s resolution did.

...Luna’s bill, which is co-led by Rep. Brittney Pettersen, D-Colo., would give new moms and dads serving in Congress the ability to vote by proxy for up to 12 weeks surrounding the birth of their child.

Luna not only worked with Democrats to sidestep both the Speaker of the House and a hard and fast constitutional rule...

Anna Luna Paulina thinks her baby is the most important issue facing America.

She needs to be removed from office so that she can care for her baby.

— Rebel A. Cole (@RebelACole) April 2, 2025

...but pissed off Johnson to the point where he shut the whole circus down.

Here are the Republicans who voted with the Democrats. pic.twitter.com/BVLKyqVF6X

— David C (@beegjuan1) April 1, 2025

Before I offer up some supporting facts and opinions, let me just state for the record my own - I think this is an abominable way for Luna to behave. Being a member of Congress is a privilege, and with that comes following the rules, some of which are locked in stone for a reason.

Proxy voting is one of those and a Pandora's box of the first magnitude. Your giving birth doesn't confer some special additional status on you as a member of Congress, as you can always resign to spend that time with your child. Likewise, those new fathers.

But what's so infuriating about this entire exercise is that, unlike, say, me as a military mother, Rep Luna and her fellow actors in the virtue-signaling parade of 'FOR THE CHILDREN' petitioners...

We just changed House rules. pic.twitter.com/FVWG4kQMg0

— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) April 1, 2025

...have a brand-new $12M daycare facility right there.

Just 6 years ago Congress spent $12 MILLION US Taxdollars to build a 26,000-square foot on-sight Daycare Facility for members of Congress - so that Elected Officials like Anna Paulina Luna & Brittany Pettersen would have No Excuse for missing House Votes.https://t.co/73cQUhHKiV

— Michael Hustus 🇺🇸 (@HustusMichael) April 2, 2025

I mean, I had to go begging for people to watch a tiny Ebola all those years on active duty and still pay for before and after care when he got old enough for grade school. When one of us was on a scheduled six-month deployment - or, in major dad's case, off to war or some 3d world s**t hole like Somalia - talk about a daycare nightmare. You learn some world class panic care juggling skills.

You are also very poor paying for the best child care you can find.

But here are Congresswomen, some of the most privileged people on Earth, trying to remove one of the most sacrosanct mechanisms for preventing Congressional voting abuse purely for their convenience? When they already have assets for childcare - and hugely affordable ones - available?

How dare they.

No corners were cut building the U.S. House daycare. It’s a state-of-the-art, 26,000 square-foot facility, complete with a miniature version of the National Mall in the playground.

To employees of the U.S. House, however, it represents more than just a top-end daycare. For a lot of them, the chance to send their kids to any daycare at all is nothing short of a miracle.

The average wait time for a U.S. House employee to get their children into government daycare is three years. For a mother in politics, that means the only way to get childcare in order to keep representing the people who voted you into power is to get on the waiting list before you’ve even conceived.

...The new U.S. House daycare, which will provide care for up 120 children, is expected to bring that waiting list down from 3 years to 1. Once in, House representatives won’t get free care. The $1,100 to $1,700 monthly charge, however, will be significantly lower than the average private daycare in the D.C. area

While Luna may have gotten Democrats and a few turncoat squishes to roll with her, there's a good amount of seething anger. Not one Republican woman voted for her, and you would think if it were so almighty a woman's issue, they would have.

MTG had something to say about that.

I can’t believe that Congress was hijacked this week over Luna’s resolution to allow members to skip work and vote from home.

As a mom, I know all about seasons of life. If you aren’t capable of doing the job your constituents sent you to do, then you should step aside and let… pic.twitter.com/pKVKCirFJv

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 1, 2025

...As a mom, I know all about seasons of life. If you aren’t capable of doing the job your constituents sent you to do, then you should step aside and let someone else do it. 

We have critical bills to pass to prevent illegals from voting and to stop judges from vetoing President Trump’s agenda. 

It’s a shame that selfish politicians are putting themselves before the American people.

If you can't hack it, nothing says it's indentured servitude.

Please go home.

I am sorry, but if you cannot be in DC to do your job, maybe stay home.

— Denise Welsh (@welsh_denise61) April 2, 2025

There is little sympathy among the knuckle-dragging class for this charade.

Agreed.

When you took the job you knew two things:

• You have ovaries
• You were going to have to be PRESENT to vote

You insult women with kids who go to work after dropping their kids at daycare.

You’re a queen because some staffer voted while you went to Mommy & Me.

— Alfred Q Holic (@JohnnyWhales3) April 2, 2025

And, as this Xweet says, the tactical implications of being the first through that long-unopened door are so unbelievably horrifying, why on Earth would they allow it?

Can this be undone?

I'm no Congressional procedural expert - I only play one here at HotAir - but I'm getting the impression it's up to Luna to pull it back. What about the 'proxy is unconstitutional' part of it?

I haven't the first clue.

What a stupidly self-centered piece of vanity art to blow yourself up on.

Some people tend to start believing their own press, and I guess this is what happened here.

We'll have to see how much of a darling she is when this all shakes out and, if she's successful, when the damage starts rolling in.

Beege ADDS: You know lemme add something that makes me sound even more unreasonable. All I can think about with this whining is a guy named Caesar Rodney, whom I've always thought of as a paragon of patriotism and duty.

On the night of July 1-2, 1776, through a blinding line of thunderstorms, that man climbed on his horse to ride the 80 miles from Dover, Delaware to Philadelphia to break the tie in his delegation so the Declaration of Independence would be approved.

No, there wasn't a 'congress' yet, but he was one of Delaware's delegates to the Second Continental Congress.

In his 30s, as well as suffering from asthma, he'd been diagnosed with cancer on his face, the excision of which left a bone deep hole 'extending from his eye to his nose.' He always wore a scarf over it.

That afternoon, when the call came to his Delaware home, Rodney was terribly ill.

But only he could cast that vote.

...As of July 1, only nine of the 13 colonies planned to vote in favor of independence from Great Britain.  New York planned to abstain from the vote, and South Carolina and Pennsylvania opposed the resolution.  The two delegates from Delaware reached a stalemate; George Read opposed severing ties with the British while Thomas McKean favored independence.  While at home in Delaware, Rodney received notice of the deadlock. 

Weak and ill, Rodney, aged 48, hopped on a horse and rode the 80 miles to Philadelphia during a thunder storm.  Rodney’s arrival set off a series of events culminating in the approval of the Declaration of Independence.  Rodney entered the building now known as Independence Hall, ready to break the tie ensuring Delaware’s support for independence.  Shortly after, South Carolina changed their vote to favor independence.  The Pennsylvania delegates opposing the Declaration stayed away, and the remaining delegates voted in favor.  With New York abstaining, on July 2, the colonies passed the resolution with a 12-0 vote.  On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress agreed on their final draft, which had undergone substantial debate and revision over the previous week. 

His courage and commitment gave courage to the others who were wavering. He changed history.

Hard to do from the couch.