Not that any of the bobbleheads will notice, but the Republicans are still complete fucking clowns:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced legislation to raise the debt ceiling on Thursday, apparently with the intent of showing that even Democrats would not support such a bill.
However, McConnell’s plan backfired after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) called for a vote on the legislation, which would have given the president the authority to raise the federal debt ceiling on his own. The top Senate Republican was forced to filibuster his own bill.
“What we have here is a case of Republicans here in the Senate once again not taking ‘yes’ for an answer,” Reid said, after McConnell announced his filibuster. “This morning the Republican leader asked consent to have a vote on this proposal, just now I told everyone we were willing to have that vote — up or down vote. Now the Republican leader objects to his own idea. So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill, so I object.”
Reminds me of the old Groucho Marx quip where he stated he didn’t want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member. It’s been a really proud week for Republicans.
Baud
Can one of the amateur parliamentarians among us explain why McConnell didn’t just withdraw his bill?
Roger Moore
Sounds like a great time for a cloture vote. Force all the fuckers to own this shit. Or get it to pass and force the clowns in the House to deal with it.
J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford
Both sides do it.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
Can he do that without Reid’s permission once Reid has decided to try to bring it to a vote?
Ann Rynd
Turtles alway forget.
ranchandsyrup
I blame obots. Damn your sycophancy!
PsiFighter37
I hope Kentuckians are happy with those two complete fuckwits (Mitch the Bitch and Rand the Aqua Buddha worshipper) they have representing themselves in the Senate.
If there’s still some stuck-up pundit that doesn’t see filibuster abuse being an issue after this, they need to have their skull checked for signs of intelligence.
Yutsano
@PsiFighter37: As long as they’re both seen fighting against THAT ONE and give the proper love to Jeebus they’re totally fine with most Kentuckians.
Tokyokie
Nice use of Dick Widmark from Kiss of Death by Stewart.
Baud
I bet Ashley Judd would never filibuster her own bill.
the Conster
Watching Republicans twist themselves into tight little black holes of self destructive dissonance because of Obama-fu is the most fun I’ve had out of bed and sober.
Steve
@Baud: I’ll bet she could sell tickets if she did.
Turgidson
@PsiFighter37:
Gonna need to crack an awful lot of skulls.
edit: ohhh, you said “checked.” Well, I stand by my comment.
BGinCHI
McConnell, like a lot of geniuses, is doomed to be misunderstood during his lifetime.
Lurking Canadian
What exactly was Mitch planning to do? He expected the Dems to vote down a plan to let the president not be held hostage over the debt limit? Where’s the hidden knife in all this? Does Mitch need to have his forks blunted so he doesn’t put out his own eyes at the supper table?
arguingwithsignposts
The entire chorus of village fuckwits were creaming their panties over Jim DeMint all day on Twitter, so they probably didn’t even notice this little bit of parliamentary theater.
redshirt
UP OR DOWN VOTE! UP OR DOWN! Oh wait, Republican rules only.
gf120581
Poor Mitch. He knows now he’ll never be Majority Leader and it’s clearly causing him to lose his mind.
PeakVT
@Baud: Is it actually McConnell’s bill or just his idea? (I can’t tell since the Senate website lags by a day or so.)
dmsilev
“Can a Senator filibuster his own bill?”. Well, it doesn’t quite have the same ring as “Can God create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it?”, but I guess we live in less poetic times.
Next up, how many Republicans can dance on the head of a pin?
Turgidson
@Lurking Canadian:
Well, to be fair, betting on a handful of Democrats being willing to poke Obama in the eye is generally a winning play. But even the biggest assholes in the Dem caucus had to have been horrified by the debt ceiling bullshit. So your point stands.
Jeffro
This is why it’s so hard to get decent help…or any help…in Kentucky. Good lord, you don’t even have to be a political geek to know that between Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, it ain’t a great state to raise a family.
However, maybe the free entertainment more than compensates, I dunno..
dmsilev
@Lurking Canadian: The guesses I’ve seen suggest that Mitch thought Reid was bluffing about having the votes to torpedo the debt ceiling. Basically, Mitch tried to call the bluff and found out that it wasn’t actually a bluff.
Keith G
@Baud: This may explain it a bit.
Edit: If nothing else, go there for the picture.
Raven
I just came from the Athens “Festival of Lights” parade. As soon as the 70 float parade got rolling I was trying to figure out why there was a WVU EER theme to the show. All these people were running around in West Virgina shirts. I asked a friend and she said “what’s the theme” this year. I had no idea that Charlie Brown wore West Virginia shirts!
eta That was the Athens Pride float.
Publius39
@Baud:
The majority leader controls what bills make it to the floor and which ones do not, so Mitch had to filibuster his own bill because he didn’t withdraw it in time. Ried basically caught McConnell off guard with it, so up until the moment he withdrew the bill Ried could order a vote on it.
Patricia Kayden
This should push Reid and other Dems to reform the filibuster rule.
Also, perhaps the House shouldn’t have banned the word lunacy after all. Repubs keep proving that they are certifiable.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Don’t know.
@PeakVT:
Don’t know.
redshirt
Mitch is quite literally the poster boy for rich, powerful, clueless white men ruining this country. Those jowls! That giblet! The soulless eyes. He’s perfect.
Gosh, I hope Judd runs against him. That would be an awesome campaign.
Publius39
@PeakVT:
It was his bill and his idea. He created it during the last budget ceiling debacle as a fall-back plan, and this time he just dusted it off and submitted it before he filibustered it.
JWL
The national GOP has lost its mojo. I watched the same thing unfold in California over the past twenty years. Even 30 years ago, I never would have thought it possible. But it happened.
Evolving Deep Southerner
I haven’t understood why I’m not seeing more glee and rejoicement (yes, just made up a word) at DeMented’s departure. He can carry on the battle at American Foundation Freedom Whatever (all the right-wing thinktank names sound the same) but his ass can’t do shit in the Senate anymore. Where’s the rejoicement?
Michael G
Introducing a bill in bad faith to prove a point should be grounds for impeachment.
SiubhanDuinne
@dmsilev:
FTFY.
MattF
The Village, btw, is normally breathless in its admiration for McConnell’s parliamentary maneuvering. He’s a genius. And a shithead, but you can’t say that.
BGinCHI
@dmsilev: Shorter: can any Republicans dance?
ETA: SiubhanDuinne beats me to it….
BGinCHI
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Also a surprising lack of rejoiceitude.
Hill Dweller
@MattF: A shiny spoon dazzles the Village.
HgMn
is that kinda like committing
fili de se ?
Evolving Deep Southerner
@BGinCHI: Rejoiceness?
Mr Stagger Lee
@PsiFighter37: You talking about the state of Justified here, either they are bunch of Boyd Crowders, Dicky Bennetts, or Dewey Crowes, maybe an occasional Arlo Givens’.
Baud
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
The word you’re looking for is rejoiceosity.
low-tech cyclist
Reminds me of the old Groucho Marx quip where he stated he didn’t want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member.
As a longtime Groucho Marxist, I’m thinking more along the lines of “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”
“No matter what it is or who commenced it,
I’m against it.”
J. Michael Neal
I applied for a position as an internal auditor today. It’s at a company where I actually know someone, that network connection I’m always told is so important. We’ll see if it helps.
The thing is, internal audit is actually what I want to do. Back when I was considering going into a PhD program my research interest was connected to risk assessment and internal control. Yeah, there’s always the chance that, like so many things in life, once I see it up close it’ll turn out to be a lot less interesting than I was hoping. I’d still like the chance to find out.
I want this job.
Suffern ACE
@Keith G: oh I don’t know. The bill will be focused grouped and if it’s unpopular, can’t we all agree to name it after him? Pick some retiring Democrat from the house do that the name will look bipartisany and therefore lauded in the press.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Baud: All of y’all are just being fallopian and totally flagellant now. Sometimes I can’t stand the verisimilitude that pervades almost every comment on this blog.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@J. Michael Neal: I don’t know you from Adam’s house cat, but I hope you get it, brother. Especially as we share the same surname, assuming “Neal” is your real surname. ETA: You didn’t happen to used to work at a Southeastern university in the last six-to-eight years in the English Department, did you? If so, we know one another.
Spaghetti Lee
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
Maybe it’s because people think the seat isn’t going to be remotely competitive (Is that true, by the way, South Carolinians?) and his replacement will be just as bad (sounds impossible, but just you wait). But yeah, it is a good thing just that he’s gone.
I think the people who say there’s a sex scandal in the wings might be on to something. Seems word for a Senator in such a safe seat, an opposing party President, and a sorta-national fan base to just go away. Maybe something drops over the weekend.
J. Michael Neal
@Evolving Deep Southerner: Nope. Different Neal. It is my real last name, though only due to a legal name change 16 years ago. It is my mother’s maiden name.
PeakVT
Some of the right-to-shitty-pay bills have passed in Michigan.
Suffern ACE
@J. Michael Neal: I hope you get the job, too. If only so that I can crack COSO jokes at your expense.
Anne Laurie
@J. Michael Neal: Fingers crossed that you get it!
Suffern ACE
@Spaghetti Lee: Sex scandal is doubtful. Heritage is too high profile a think tank to hire someone who immediately needs to go into hiding. It’s actually a safe place to go if you want to have an affair someday.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@J. Michael Neal: Different fellow, then. Still, all luck to you.
PeakVT
@Evolving Deep Southerner: I’ll rejoice when the republic/asylum of South Carolina gives the country a substantially better senator.
General Stuck
Senate wingnuts are much more lined up with the plutocrats than the populist nutters in the House. So they are no where near as enthused to use the debt ceiling as a cudgel to force Obama to their bidding. Since default is bad for bidness. I don’t think Boehner is either, but he is leader of the asylum over in the House and has to tread softly as the long knives are never far away. So for now he is sounding the tea tard horn to play with the debt ceiling, but is also taking out his opponents one by one from any semblance of power, usually as to committee members in key positions. As well as lining up the old bulls that aren’t running scared of the tea party. When he thinks that is shored up and he not in danger of a palace coup with Cantor drooling in the wings, he may as well drop the dangerous chicken with the national debt. That is my take, with the usual caveats that analyzing the republicans right now, is a tricky deal.
Baud
@PeakVT:
Senator Colbert!
It could happen. Apparently, a bunch of dumb wingnuts think he’s for real.
Evolving Deep Southerner
Last I read, Nimrata was ready to give it to the owner of the Sticky Fingers barbecue chain.
RobertDSC-PowerMac 466
I wonder if DeMint leaving today means that the Rethugs aren’t going to lift the debt ceiling and he didn’t want to have a hand in that.
NotMax
@dmsilev
Plenty of room to show off their moves on that pinhead once you take out people like John Ashcroft and the students at Oral Roberts University and their ilk, who are forbidden dancing by their religious strictures.
thalarctos
@J. Michael Neal: “I want this job.”
Here’s hoping !
Evolving Deep Southerner
@RobertDSC-PowerMac 466: I think it means they probably will and that he doesn’t want a hand in that.
NotMax
The question is:
When will Donald Trump move to South Carolina?
Evolving Deep Southerner
@efgoldman: Sure, but whoever it is won’t be Jim DeMint. Tell me One. Fucking. Person. Who’d be worse than Jim DeMint. ETA: The man had some minimal seniority, and an outsized voice. Who can replace that? Wish Haley had appointed herself. The whole nation could have experienced her inconsequentuality (another invented word.)
Suffern ACE
@efgoldman: yep. The choice is really between Goths, Visigoths, or Ostrogoths.
And those might be the only things standing between us and the Huns anyway. yay! Inohofe is now the most conservative member!
mclaren
I stare with slack-jawed disbelief. Even planaria are smarter than this.
Yutsano
@J. Michael Neal: Crossing everything I can cross for you!!
redshirt
Seriously. Is this like the 3rd best political day of the last, 10 years? Obama election wins are 1 and 2.
Demint. Turtle. Obama bad ass. Reid gives no fucks. And Ashley Judd talk.
FSM BE PRAISED!
EDIT – Maybe 4th. Dems retaking Senate in 2006 was wicked sweet.
MikeBoyScout
Do we need a fund raiser to rescue BJers trapped in Kentucky?
Jamey
@Roger Moore: Thus, another reason why I luv Harry Reid.
Mnemosyne
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
Because people are bracing themselves for whatever replacement the people of SC are going to cough up from the bowels of hell. Too big for a lunatic asylum and all that.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@redshirt:
I think it might be. And this jaded crowd is missing it.
Jay C
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
Well, while the imminent departure of Jim DeMint from the Senate ought to be a joyous occasion, remember that he DOES represent South (“too small for a republic, too big for an insane asylum”) Caroilina — I don’t know offhand what the state’s regs are re Senatorial replacements, but it’s a safe bet that whoever subs for DeMint is likely to just as bad a wingnut – and always, possibly, worse…
sylvan
I’m guessing that 27% don’t realize that the debt ceiling applies to the previous years spending.
PPP should do a poll.
YellowJournalism
This was definitely one of those Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote moments in politics. He painted a big circle on the mountain wall, and the Democrats ran right on through.
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Jay C: Well, let him or her, as a “specially appointed” newcomer, come into the Senate and try to pull one fifth of the shit DeMint pulled weekly, and we’ll see how much juice they have. It’s a win. Don’t give a shit how crazy his bench-warmer turns out to be.
Lurking Canadian
@redshirt: What did Obama do today?
amk
@MattF: beutler at tpm haz it.
J. Michael Neal
@MikeBoyScout: Surely there’s a no-kill shelter for them somewhere in the lower 48.
Felonius Monk
I guess Mitch and the gopers have them some magic:
Chuck Butcher
@MikeBoyScout:
You may need to provide one for this recent immigrant to the state of MI. I’ve been having some difficulty adjusting (well, a lot) but this this RTW bullshit today… well fuck.
My rent is paid up through Aug so my instinct to flee is being short-circuited by economic considerations… I thought I had half an idea what I was doing when I moved here – turns out I had the other half.
J Michael – best wishes buddy, a job you enjoy is a damn treasure.
redshirt
@Lurking Canadian: He told the Repukes, in so many words, to go fuck a chicken.
Bobby Thomson
@Evolving Deep Southerner: DeMint is singlehandedly responsible for the Senate remaining in Democratic hands. Why would we rejoice at his departure? Plus the UAW is toast. This is a shitty day, politically speaking.
arguingwithsignposts
@efgoldman: Indeed. I lived in SC for five years, and the Stupid Evil Bench is deeeeeep in that state.
danielx
May remind Cole of a Groucho Marx routine; reminds me of that famous lament by Casey Stengle: can’t anybody here play this game?
SectionH
@Felonius Monk: just a hint of why I can’t see anyone beating McConnell in ’14. I honestly thought we’d have had a better shot in 2008 if Lunsford hadn’t bought the Dem nomination. I cannot imagine anyone srsly thinking Ashley Judd could beat him. Maybe a 15 year younger Dolly Parton.
I did love seeing Mitch make a fool of himself though.
C
@J. Michael Neal: Good wishes for getting the job!
Suffern ACE
@sylvan: my guess based on Facebook anecdotal evidence, that 27% believe that the outlays for the salaries of Congressmen plus the president equals soldiers pay and social security benefits and that we could somehow balance the budget if we got rid of those congressional salaries.
LeftCoastTom
I guess McConnell has just made a really great case for filibuster reform. Good for him.
Spaghetti Lee
@SectionH:
I don’t get it either. Ashley Judd seems like a nice enough person, but why would I expect that she could beat the senate minority leader in a Republican state? She’s never held elected office of any sort.
And this feels kinda old. Every so often people start chattering about Tim McGraw running as a Dem in Tennessee or Toby Keith in Oklahoma and everyone gets giddy about picking up a senate seat we haven’t held in decades, because apparently our opinions of voters are so low that we’ll assume they’ll just sweep someone into office for being a famous celebrity. We remember the likes of Reagan and Ventura and Franken because they’re the exception. Franken’s presence makes the Senate 1% ex-celebrity, but it doesn’t mean much beyond that.
James E. Powell
@LeftCoastTom:
But will it convince the necessary Democratic senators?
I can’t think of any reason to keep the filibuster other than “we want it if we are in the minority.” I don’t consider that a very good reason.
Karmus
@J. Michael Neal:
Good luck.
Villago Delenda Est
@Spaghetti Lee:
The thing is, a lot of politics is just name recognition. The actual policies involved are secondary to just getting your name out there enough so that people will bother to check out the policies you advocate.
It’s getting your foot in the door, basically.
trollhattan
@BGinCHI:
May we find out very, very soon. Also, too.
Yutsano
@Spaghetti Lee: To be fair, McGraw has said he would run (if he ever did) in his native Louisiana. And he has shown some slight political interest, but it appears to be mostly dabbling at this point. I highly doubt we’ll have a Senator McGraw any time soon.
James E. Powell
@Spaghetti Lee:
If Ashley Judd can take out Mitch McConnell, would that be bad? Can you name any other plausible candidate who could beat McConnell or give him a hard re-election race?
And while I certainly do not have a low opinion of everyone in Kentucky, my opinion of those who elected both McConnell and Paul could not be lower.
redshirt
Politics has been “Reality TV” for a long time – for ever? In some fashion? What does a lawyer or a doctor have over an actor in terms of being a politician – specifically when the actor has a Masters from Harvard and is Kentucky blue blood?
Every Dem votes for Judd. Does she draw extra voters because of her name? Because of her Ma? I think so, in a big way. Couple that with general dissatisfaction with Republicans even among the Wingnuts (seriously, read [but don’t if you value your soul]www.freerepublic.com – it’s a direct view into the Wingnut Hive Mind and as such a place of strange terrors.) and I think Judd has a “not bad” chance of beating the Turtle – especially maybe if a third party Paulite runs in the race.
Judd can beat the Turtle. Youth vote plus African Americans plus Republican leaners due to Judd name = KENTUCKY VICTORY
trollhattan
@Baud:
Oh boy, he has his superPAC money salted away. They’d never know what hit ’em. And hey, Senator Franken is a quick study, Colbert would be, too.
But I’d miss the show too much, so I can’t allow it.
Spaghetti Lee
@James E. Powell:
It wouldn’t be bad. I wouldn’t be angry if she won. And even if she gets in and loses 60-40, I think it’s better to have some sort of warm body in every Senate race. At the least, it would soak up some money and media.
I just don’t think it’s likely.
Uncle Cosmo
(This is o/t but where the hell is an open thread when you need it?)
Hey gang, I need your help to get a cat bleg going–not for me but on behalf of my cousin in WV who needs to find homes for her brood. Can John or anyone else with access to my e-mail address e-mail me so I can ‘splane the situation & maybe we can get something going here? Thanx in advance.
FlipYrWhig
@Spaghetti Lee: Ashley Judd is one hell of a warm body.
fuckwit
No fucks are given here.
cmorenc
@Evolving Deep Southerner:
Many of us realize that there’s a near-endless supply of GOP politicians in South Carolina available to take Jim DeMint’s place, and that SC’s other incumbent senator, Lindsey Graham, is about the best-case (or least-worst) case we could hope for from that state in contemporary times – and his continued survival is threatened next election cycle.