He knows where the door is


I've been reading with a mixture of fascination and disgust about Mike Nearman, the clownish state representative from Polk County who let rioters into the locked state capitol in Salem on December 21. A fine member of the Republican Party, of course.

There's a whole lotta investigatin' goin' on about his conduct, including maybe even criminal charges. But at a minimum, the House ought to throw him out. They clearly can. Article IV Section 15 of the Oregon Constitution says: “Either house may punish its members for disorderly behavior, and may with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.”

There are 60 members of the House, and so 40 votes would be needed to send this guy back to his gun collection. There are 38 Democrats, and so it could take as few as 2 Republicans to expel Nearman.

There have be at least two Republicans who would agree that when the mobs come, at the very least, you don't invite them in. There are dangerous mobs on both sides, and this is one thing that all the members can easily agree on.

Then they ought to do the same thing for the fools who insist on not wearing masks in the capitol. Forty votes and they're out.

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