Replies

Reid appealed a ruling from the chair that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not need consent to force a vote on a motion to suspend the rules to consider an amendment after cloture has already been approved.

I thought I learned English when I was in school...but I cant tell what this run on sentence says and like so much other inside the beltway speak, it makes no friggin sense...anybody care to diagram this so I can discern what it actually means?

It's not a run-on sentence. Here's the basic sentence:

Reid appealed a ruling.

What was the origin of the ruling?

...from the chair...

What was the ruling?

...that Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) does not need consent...

Consent for what?

...to force an amendment...

For what purpose?

...to force a vote on a motion...

What kind of motion?

...a motion to suspend the rule...

To suspend the rule for what purpose?

...to consider an amendment an amendment after cloture has already been approved.

It's a sentence that is a little longer than what someone commonly encounters in a newspaper, but it's a simple and direct construction.