Well, this flip-flop didn't take long:
House Republican leaders who were criticized for not commemorating the death of Osama bin Laden say an intelligence bill headed to the floor this week will honor the achievement.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday said legislation lawmakers will consider later this week will "pay tribute" to the military and the intelligence community in lieu of a resolution expressly honoring the mission that took out bin Laden.
You wouldn't think that paying tribute to the people who finally caught the world's number one evil doer would be so controversial. But last week, House Republicans refused to do exactly that because it violated their new rule to prohibit silly, non-substantive commemorative resolutions. Because this Republican Congress, ladies and gentlemen, is all about doing the important, substantive work of the people. Like defunding NPR. And prohibiting the already prohibited use of taxpayer funds for abortion. And considering the extremely important H. Con. Res. 13, a critical, jobs-creating, deficit-lowering, terrorist-fighting resolution to reaffirm "In God We Trust" as the nation's official motto and "supporting and encouraging the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions." (It hasn't passed, but it does have 64 cosponsors.)
So it's understandable that last Monday, the House certainly couldn't take precious time away from doing Very Important Stuff—like renaming a courthouse to honor Daddy and Dubya Bush.
After all, only Congress has the authority to name federal buildings, and certainly the country would come to a screeching halt unless the George Mahon Federal Building United States Courthouse was immediately renamed the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush United States Courthouse and George McMahon Federal Building.
But honoring members of the military? Especially on the Monday after Osama bin Laden was killed? Pfft. Who has time for that?
The House also approved H.R. 1423 in a 399-0 vote. That bill renamed an Oklahoma City post office after Spc. Michael E. Phillips. Phillips was killed in 2008 in Baghdad.
So Congress doesn't have time to waste honoring members of the military. Except when it does.