This Is Why I am So Cynical About Politics

First they said they would bring courtesy to the capitol. Then they said they had be bullies for the first 100 hours (to get their agenda through and to give the Republicans a taste of what it feels like), but afterwards they would run things the right way (to hear some of this rationalizing, listen to Act Three of Episode 325 of This American Life). Now this: from an article in today's Washington Post by Lyndsey Layton titled "In Majority, Democrats Run Hill Much as GOP Did":

In May, months before her party won control of Congress and she became speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said "bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full and fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute." After the election, Pelosi told the Associated Press: "The principle of civility and respect for minority participation in this House is something we promised the American people. It's the right thing to do." In the first weeks of the new Congress, however, Democrats bypassed the usual legislative committees, refused to allow any amendments and took their agenda straight to the floor for passage. They said they needed a clear path to pass a handful of popular measures that were the basis of their successful November campaign, including expanded money for stem cell research, an increase in the federal minimum wage and implementation of recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission. Democrats said they would impose "regular order," the rules that permit the minority to participate more widely, in short order. But even after passing their domestic agenda, Democratic leaders have continued to marginalize Republicans, preventing them from having a voice in legislation such as a bill to withhold federal pensions from lawmakers convicted of ethics felonies and a $463 billion bill to fund the federal government for the rest of this fiscal year.

"It sounds like we're not doing what we said we would do -- I understand that," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday. "Here, however, we believe we are very justified in one of the most important issues confronting the country, which clearly was a huge issue in the election and which got bottled up in the Senate." Republican leaders have been complaining daily about being pushed to the margins. "It's hypocritical because they campaigned on openness and bipartisanship," said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), adding that shutting out the minority hurts Congress. "It stifles debate and ideas and also manipulates the outcome."

Let me paraphrase: "It sounds like we're not doing what we said we would do...because we are not doing what we said we would do." Help me, Obi wan Obama, you're my only hope!