(Bunched Knicker Syndrome, the hot new political disease of 2012. BKS Fever… catch it!)

Dear oh dear. House Republicans are in a flutter because Governor Shumlin dared to show his face in “their” chamber during a session. Via VTDigger…

Last month, Gov. Peter Shumlin, a former representative and senator, sidestepped the usual form and took a seat in one of the plush red velvet-covered Senate chairs behind the House podium. The circumstance? The governor was making the rounds at the Statehouse with Thomas Sullivan, the new president of the University of Vermont, who was introduced to the General Assembly.

The governor didn’t speak or draw attention to himself, but his very presence was duly noted by Republicans who say Shumlin breached protocol by entering the chamber while the House was in session.

Apparently the presence of The Great Man™ was unnerving to the assembled throng. They were unable to concentrate on the People’s Business™ due to the waves of charisma emanating from Governor Shumlin. Or maybe they feared he was planning to pass orders to Shap via secret hand-signals, which would be a clear violation of protocol. Or something.  

(For those unfamiliar with the State House, the chairs behind the Speaker’s podium are open to the public whenever they’re not occupied by the State Senate. It’s equivalent to sitting in the gallery.)

After the jump: Hurt fee-fees as political tactic.

Rep. Tom Koch, a Republican member from Barre who has served in the House since 1997, called it a “symbolic type of thing.”

“When he’s at work, we don’t go marching into his office,” Koch said. “I don’t want to make a big stink about it, but it’s technically not proper.”

You don’t want to make a big stink about it, eh? Then what are you aiming for here, a mid-sized stink? Fart in an elevator? A passing whiff of perfume?

Oh, another thing: the Governor’s office doesn’t have public seating. So your comparison is, well, completely off base.

But for the sake of fairness, let’s take this to the impartial adjudicator.

Donald Milne, Clerk of the House, says the governor’s presence in the House was unusual, but not inappropriate. The Senate seats in the House, he said, are open to the public – and the governor is a member of the public.

Gov. James Douglas appeared in the gallery several times over the course of his tenure in office, Milne recalled.

Well, then. Never mind!

Looks like we have a developing epidemic of BKS on the Republican side. They made a big fuss over Democratic texting in a recent health-care debate. And, of course, they’re in the habit of putting out press releases castigating the Governor whenever he goes on vacation. Which, as we all know, Republicans never do.

(Well, yeah, George W. Bush set the all-time record for executive vacations… but he was doin’ manly stuff, like bike-ridin’ and brush-clearin’. And yeah, he broke the record set by Ronald Reagan, but Ronnie was on his ranch, ridin’ horses and looking’ all John Wayne-y. That’s an Amurrican vacation, dangit. Not like Shumlin idling away on some foreign beach, prob’ly wearin’ a lavender Speedo.)

(Oops, I think I just started a rumor there.)

National Republicans make a habit of this — slamming Democrats for any perceived slight or shortcoming no matter how irrelevant. Guess we’ll be getting more of the same from Vermont Republicans. Another sign that the formerly moderate VTGOP has adopted the Fox News/Karl Rove playbook.