THE MIDNIGHT SURRENDER: JOHN THUNE EXPOSED HIS TRUE NATURE TO THE NATION

HOW THE SENATE FOUND ITS SPINE MISSING AND CALLED IT PROCEDURE

There are moments in a nation’s life when history leans forward, clears its throat, and waits to see whether the men in charge will rise to the occasion, or politely excuse themselves and go lie down.

Last week, the United States Senate chose the pillow.

Senate Majority Speaker John Thune

While most Americans were asleep, because honest people tend to sleep at night, the Republican-led Senate slipped through a bill so feeble, so artfully hollowed out, that it might as well have been written on tissue paper and dissolved in a glass of lukewarm water. And when morning came, they stood blinking in the sunlight like schoolboys caught with ink on their fingers, insisting that what had happened was not cowardice but process.

To demonstrate how courageous they were [NOT], the bill was passed at 3.00 am with the vast majority of the Senate at home and asleep, followed by a quick exit from DC to their home states for a two-week recess, all before the w…