In a recent American Thinker article having some fun with the little known inanities passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, mention was made of the House's habit of spending an inordinate amount of time "...officially congratulating multitudes of successful amateur athletes, college teams, and professional sports franchises..."

These sorts of mostly harmless things are very easy to vote for, but they beg the question: Why bother?

Nonetheless, we are now able to report (gleefully) that the House has found a new way to squander its time. Seriously, YCMTSU*

The lame-duck House has now resorted to congratulating - itself!

The Library of Congress "Thomas" website shows that, on 16 November 2010, the House passed H.CON.RES.328 "Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the successful and substantial contributions of the amendments to the patent and trademark laws that were initially enacted in 1980 by Public Law 96-517 (commonly referred to as the "Bayh-Dole Act") on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its enactment."

Translation: "Damn, we're good!"

The resolution was sponsored by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., who has served a safe Democratic Detroit district since 1965, and co-sponsored by sixteen Democrats with varying amounts of seniority.

The resolution was passed 385-1 with 46 members not voting.

The record does not say if the missing votes were due to the members' absence or embarrassment.

Strike that. Embarrassment isn't very likely, since politicians, especially the career variety, tend to be among the least introspective people in American society.


*You Can't Make This Stuff Up.