John Tierney: “Mr. Chairman, some of us on this side of the aisle are not at all upset that our colleagues on the other side of the…”

“Mr. Chairman, some of us on this side of the aisle are not at all upset that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have chosen to debate this particular issue. We hope it goes on forever and that the American public is tuned in to watch just what motivates that side of the aisle. The fact of the matter is that the debate that they are having is between them and the White House. When people ask that the Speaker come down to present a case as to why there should be protection of the Speaker of the House, they miss the point that the people motivating that are the White House, who decided after 9/11 that the Speaker of the House, then a Republican, Mr. Hastert, should, in fact, have the kind of the security that Americans would expect for the person who is two heartbeats away from the Presidency of the United States and that the President in this instance is consistent in that, in believing that no matter what party is holding the Speaker of the House position ought to also have that protection.”