In the Philippines, political dynasties dominate — with the Marcos family being among the most well known. Ferdinand Marcos, his wife, Imelda, daughter Imee and son have all held political posts in or representing the province of Ilocos Norte. Imelda, 92, who previously launched two unsuccessful presidential bids, arrived at a polling station Monday in a red outfit, rosary and Chanel pin.

The musical stylings of Weird Al Yankovic rarely offer clarity about the state of legislation in Congress.

But Weird Al’s 1984 hit “Eat it” (a parody on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”) was inadvertently invoked this past week to crystallize the conundrum facing House Democrats after the Senate approved a crucial border spending bill 84-8.

HOUSE OKS BORDER BILL AFTER PELOSI REVERSES COURSE

House liberals were either going to hold out against the Senate measure in favor of their own – or accept the Senate bill.

Amid these deliberations, former Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott, a veteran of such impasses, ambled by the Speaker’s Office late Wednesday afternoon as a coterie of reporters stood watch in the hallway. Lott advised that if he were still running the Senate – where the overwhelming 84-8 vote spoke volumes – there would be only one clear path.

“I’d say ‘Eat it, House,’” Lott said with a laugh.

It’s exactly what they did.

But not without a fiery fight first within the House Democratic Caucus – and one that threatens to keep burning for weeks and months to come.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi faced a huge challenge as she sought to both assuage the concerns from her left flank and engineer a bill that could actually pass.

The House had approved its own version of the border legislation Tuesday night, 230-195. But the Senate devised a different, more bipartisan piece of legislation. Not as many controls and consequences for those charged with caring for children. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., wrote the measure alongside Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the top Democrat on the panel. The committee approved the bill 30-1. The Senate then followed suit with a staggering roll call tally of 84-8.

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“The administration opposes what the House is going to do,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “We believe they support what we’re going to do.”

The House and Senate were out of alignment, approving competing bills. The front-runner for final passage, though, was fairly evident: The Senate bill secured more than 60 yeas, making it filibuster-proof, while the White House threatened to veto the House measure.

The House still held out hope, engineering a revised bill on Thursday as the plan came back across the Capitol from the Senate.

But the administration wouldn’t budge. McConnell wouldn’t budge. Things looked bleak for the House bill, even as it was apparent the House could approve the Senate version with most Republicans and many Democrats.

But Democrats faced a more immediate problem as the House began a pre-debate on the revamped measure Thursday afternoon. House rules allow members to vote on something called “adopting the previous question.” In short, it’s known as a “PQ.” If the House approves the PQ, things continue as normal. However, if the House defeats the PQ, the minority seizes control of the floor for an hour and gets to call up whatever legislation it wants. The majority rarely loses a PQ vote. The House hasn’t defeated a PQ (thus, turning over the floor to the other side) since 2010. If Republicans defeated the PQ, they would bring up the Senate bill. Losing control of the floor in such a fashion would be a major embarrassment for Democrats. But this was a distinct possibility. There was near unanimity on the GOP side for the Senate plan and dozens of Democrats were prepared to join them.

So, the House Democratic brain trust changed course. Pelosi dashed off a letter to her colleagues.

“The children come first,” wrote Pelosi. “We have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available. Therefore, we will not engage in the same disrespectful behavior that the Senate did in ignoring our priorities. In order to get resources to the children fastest, we will reluctantly pass the Senate bill.”

So, the Senate jammed the House. And Pelosi relented because the math simply wasn’t on her side.

The House ultimately moved the Senate package 305-102. Pelosi lost 95 Democrats. But there were 129 Democratic yeas. So, despite the sniping from the liberal wing of the Democratic caucus, Pelosi still marshaled a majority of the majority. But Pelosi couldn’t get to 217 yeas (the magic number in the House right now to pass bills) exclusively on the Democratic side.

That’s the same issue that tormented former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan. They couldn’t quite move some bills with only GOP support when Republicans were in the majority. This was mostly due to protestations from the House Freedom Caucus. So, Boehner and Ryan often turned to the other side for assistance to pass major legislation. Pelosi did the same Thursday.

In a statement, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said “what happened today is unacceptable and we will not forget this betrayal.”

A number of moderate Democrats privately vented their frustrations about the internecine warfare among Democrats. One Democrat said it would be “shameful” and “immoral” not to do “something.” Another moderate Democrat groused about liberals placing a premium on “ideological purity.” One Democrat noted that a yes vote on the more tempered Senate bill was a good vote for moderate and conservative Democrats who face tough races in 2020. After all, members from swing districts are why Democrats won the House.

One senior House Democratic leadership source told Fox News that some liberals will understand why Pelosi did what she did. But the source noted that many far-left Democrats “won’t get it. They’ll keep pushing.” The source said some Democrats will take notice of Pelosi fighting for the original House bill and only losing four Democrats. But the leadership source also suggested that Pelosi should have taken one more run at the issue. Perhaps pass the re-retooled bill, forcing McConnell to flush it back to the House and then accepted the Senate package.

This could be a seminal moment for Democrats. Is their tent big enough to accept both liberals and moderates? This is a distillation of what’s going on nationally in the presidential sweepstakes. Democrats may control the House. But they don’t have the Senate, or the White House. And while the bill may not be perfect, it was the right measure for most Democratic districts. By the same token, a no vote was likely the proper disposition for lawmakers representing the most liberal of districts.

Earlier in the week, Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., was asked if the “perfect was the enemy of the good” in the border bill negotiations.

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“I hate that expression,” said Cardenas. “You don’t want to settle for less than what you’re capable of.”

Many liberal Democrats may agree with Cardenas’s assessment. Otto von Bismarck famously compared passing law to making sausage. And as both Weird Al, Trent Lott and many House Democrats now know, you sometimes just have to eat it.

Fury over the Oregon father who concluded his family’s call with President Biden by saying “Let’s go, Brandon” is being mocked online, with critics pointing out there was little outrage when profane insults were aimed at former President Trump.

“OMG a guy was disrespectful to the president of the United States in one of the most euphemistic ways possible after four years of the entire legacy media celebrating pussyhats, middle fingers, and f*** yous directed at the president of the United States, everybody freak out,” conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said on Twitter Monday.

DAD TELLS BIDEN, ‘LET’S GO, BRANDON’ DURING CHRISTMAS EVE CALL – AND BIDEN RESPONDS

Shapiro was referring to a viral Christmas Eve moment that saw Jared Schmeck, a 35-year-old father of four from Oregon, conclude his call with Biden by saying “Let’s go, Brandon,” a phrase that has become a stand-in for the more vulgar “F*** Joe Biden” chants that at one point were spreading across the country.

The moment caused immediate backlash for Schmeck, who said he has received threats since video of his conversation went viral. The incident was also not well-received by much of the media, with NBC News referring to the exchange as a “right-wing slur” while ABC News called it a “vulgar insult.”

The Atlantic senior editor Ron Brownstein took things a step further during a Friday appearance on CNN, saying that the exchange was “about insurrection.”

“Look, it’s ungracious. It’s juvenile. It’s reprehensible by the father, but I don’t think it’s fundamentally about incivility. It’s about insurrection,” Brownstein said. “I don’t know the individual, but the whole Let’s Go Brandon kind of motif is a reflection of the view of two-thirds of the Republican base, driven by Trump’s claims, false claims, and the Big Lie, that Biden is an illegitimate president.”

But critics such as Shapiro pointed out there was much less outrage in cases where vulgar insults were directed at Trump, including when Virginia woman Juli Briskman was photographed flipping the then-president a middle finger as his motorcade passed her riding a bicycle in 2017.

Briskman was soon fired from her job with a government contractor after the photo went viral, prompting many to come to her defense.

“It should be illegal to fire the cyclist who gave Trump the finger,” declared a headline in the Washington Post shortly after Briskman’s firing. 

Briskman used her newfound notoriety and sympathetic media coverage to launch a bid for and win a race to represent her area on the Loudoun County, Virginia Board of Supervisors in 2019, prompting even more kind news coverage.

“Take that, Mr. President: Woman who gave the finger to Trump’s car wins election,” read an NBC News headline after Briskman’s election victory.

Conservative Commentator Stephen L. Miller also alluded to the differences in reaction between Schmeck’s comment to Biden and Briskman’s middle finger, reposting an image of the viral photo as debate of the Schmeck incident raged on Twitter.

“Trump was very easy to make fun of, and people should have made fun of him. It’s a wonderful thing that we have a country where we can get away with it,” Miller said in a subsequent tweet.

As the controversy rages, Schmeck said that he considered his use of the line a “joke” but has now been “attacked” for the exchange.

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“And now I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech,” Schmeck told The Oregonian newspaper Saturday.

“He seems like he’s a cordial guy,” Schmeck continued, referring to the president. “There’s no animosity or anything like that. It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner. … I love him just like I love any brother or sister.”