I’m in for more Republican mockery today, and I truly hope they can’t get it together, but I fear that Kevin has finally given them enough that as many as 15 of the 20 will fold.
This guy is my happy place on twitter.
Kevin McCarthy finally won a vote…to not lose the vote for the 7th time.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) January 5, 2023
So while we wait…
What’s happening in the House Chambers is a microcosm of what’s happened to the Republican Party.
A fringe faction holds the larger group hostage.
The larger group is 💯 responsible for letting it happen.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) January 4, 2023
Confession: It’s hilarious to see Republicans turn their most effective weapon, tyranny of the ignorant minority, on themselves.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) January 4, 2023
I actually think it’s possible that 15 of the 20 might go Kevin’s way this time. Not Boobbert, though, this is her chance at her 15 minutes of fame so it’s her hill to die on.
Even so, I think this is funny.
If he gets nominated again, they should play Sarah McLachlan’s “In the arms of an Angel” during the vote.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) January 3, 2023
Open thread.
Leslie
First?!?
Plenty of popcorn on hand.
Central Planning
@Leslie: AND alcohol!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Just heard Katie Tur oh-so-earnestly ask Congressman McGovern why Democrats can’t reach out to moderate Republicans and find a way out of this
This will not be the last time she and others ask this. My reply would be: Okay, to start with, you give me a list of those moderate Republicans.
Alison Rose
I wonder if the alternate will still be Donalds or if they’ll move on to someone else. Gaetz? TFG? putin?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s a good one!
Alison Rose
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I know she isn’t the only one asking this, but I loathe her, so it annoys me even more when it comes from her.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Jesus. Even assuming there were moderate republicans, it would be incumbent on them to approach Democrats with a plan.
WaterGirl
oops, i forgot to include the c-span embed for anyone who wants to follow along. It’s up there now.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Alison Rose: Somebody said yesterday, and I agree, that the two names to watch for are Scalise (and I would add McHenry but somebody said yesterday he doesn’t want the job) and trump, and if it’s the latter, Katie, bar the door.
ETA: @Baud: I’m not thrilled MSNBC hired Boehner/Ryan flack Brendan Buck (I think I’ve got that right), he’s good at slipping in RW talking points while keeping a moderate affect, but he said yesterday any real attempts at compromise with Dems would blow up among the R caucus.
opiejeanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This really pisses me off, the idea that only Democrats have agency, that we must be the ones to pull the Republicans’ chestnuts out of the fire for them.
WaterGirl
OOPS, that was last night’s video! My point about praying still stands.
Apparently it’s starting.
I do believe in god, but it makes me crazy that in the US prayers are part of anything government-related.
Tony Jay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Remind me, how many ‘respected journalists’ have posed the same question in reverse to members of the Brain Parasite Caucus? Surely it should be one of the 200 or so ‘moderates’ who want Kevin in the hotseat reaching out to likeminded Democrats, no? Given their (checks notes) willingness to compromise?
Alison Rose
@Tony Jay: and yet the right still complains about the “liberal media”
WaterGirl
@Tony Jay: When someone asks Dems a question like that, I want them to say:
opiejeanne
@Alison Rose: I despise her too, and as we were clearing out things to donate I found her book lurking on our shelves. It went to the Goodwill truck. I can’t remember what possessed me to buy it, but I do remember the utter disgust when I found out that Katie Tur didn’t bother to vote. I lost all respect for her, and to hell with that notion that she didn’t vote because of impartiality. There are times when you HAVE to be partial, and 2016 was one of them.
Old School
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Democrats just showed last year that they could work with Liz Cheney and Adam Kitzinger. That went well for everyone.
Alison Rose
@opiejeanne: LOL she wrote a book??? Was it just full of self-satisfied sneering? Because that’s basically all it seems she is capable of. I have no idea how the hell she got a prominent anchor job.
Ivan X
@Watergirl, what makes you think there will be 15 votes for him today that weren’t there yesterday? And also, even if there are, isn’t he still screwed? Doesn’t he need 16 of the 20 to vote for him to win?
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
That’s from last night, I think.
WaterGirl
@Ivan X: Yes, he’s still screwed with 15 who are willing to vote for him, but I really thought that he might have been able to bribe 15.
Apparently I am wrong because the first thing they did is as for a one-day adjournment.
God, I hope they have to vote today.
WV Blondie
Doesn’t matter if “our Kevin” – to quote TFG – gets 15 more votes. As long as there are just five members of the Rethug suicide squad, he falls short by one!
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: oops! I just added the C-SPAN embed up top.
MattF
Republicans can, perhaps, provide a brand-new set of moveable goalposts. But that’s all.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl:
@SiubhanDuinne: Yeah, here is today’s feed
twbrandt (formerly tom)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: hell, Jeffries has 212 votes, why don’t 6 republicans vote for him? Why is it always on the Democrats to save the republicans from themselves?
MisterForkbeard
@Alison Rose: Boebert was getting beat up yesterday on Hannity and suggested Trump.
That would make for a grand time for all involved.
WV Blondie
@MattF: Now that’s an interesting thought. If they change the rule to require a plurality, those 15 votes would give McCarthy enough to beat out Jeffries. But if the 15 fragment, or he only gets, say, 10 of them, they’d wind up with a Democratic speaker.
Redshift
@WaterGirl:
“Whatever you pray to, I don’t want to be brought to its attention!”
Alison Rose
Every time I hear people saying the pledge, I remember 3rd grade when I stopped reciting it, because I told my parents I thought it was dumb and they agreed and told me I didn’t have to. My teacher got very upsetty spaghetti over me not saying it, but she compromised and said as long as I stood up, I could just be silent while everyone else spoke.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: thanks! added up top.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: It appears that the deity who is hearing their prayers is Loki.
MattF
@Alison Rose: Also, all those kids saying the pledge with their hands over their little bellies. Cute, but not really official.
Alison Rose
Only 311 people? Jeez, set your alarms earlier, you lazy gits.
WaterGirl
300+ people present. Are some representatives not showing up today?
Ocotillo
I remember back when our media were always counseling Obama, if only he’d invite the GOPers that were obstructing every last thing they could over for dinner or drinks like Tip and Ronnie……
Why hasn’t Kevin schmoozed Boebert or Gosar?
Anonymous At Work
Question: How many of the Shit-Our-Pants Caucus are needed to vote “Present” to make Jeffries into Speaker of the House? How many crap-tastic Republicans have to switch their votes entirely to allow Kev-kev his one wish and dream come true?
Alison Rose
Translation: “Don’t call the other side a bunch of drunks again, you fucking asshole”
Anoniminous
Let us pray.
Alison Rose
Hey someone ask this guy how he feels about attacks on CRT from his party
Betty Cracker
According to Politico, the Club for Growth (Bigots for Plutocracy) and Congressional Leadership Fund (Plutocrats for Bigotry) super PACs settled their beef, which supposedly was animating some of the opposition to McCarthy.
Alison Rose
I am so fucking tired of the nominators blathering like this. Just say the fucking name and stop.
TooManyJens
Seriously. It’s the seventh fucking time we’re doing this. Get on with it.
WaterGirl
Oh my god, a black Republican man is talking about hanging.
Alison Rose
wtf is he talking about?
tobie
Elise Stefanik has a terrifying smile. It’s not only that it’s clearly fake. It’s that it looks like she wants to bite your head off with teeth sharpened for that purpose.
geg6
I don’t know this guy speaking and I have no standing to call him an Uncle Tom (being a very white woman). But he’s as full of shit as any of the white nationalists he’s decided to ally with. I despise him on sight..
Ken
Kevin just needs a little more time to finish his homework.
This somewhat reminds me of my junior-high speech class. When a class project was due, we would each give our speech, and it usually took two or three days to finish. The teacher asked for volunteers at first, and when those ran out, went through the roster.
One week she changed the process, and asked everyone to bring their speech paper to her desk. I was the only one who did, since apparently everyone else had thought they’d be able to present on day two or three. I got a library pass for that hour, and never did find out what the teacher said to the others.
CaseyL
I just can’t figure out Black Republicans. John James extolling his family’s rise from slavery to his being a member of the House of Representatives, without mentioning that his current colleagues would love to reverse the laws that made the rise possible.
Alison Rose
OMG STOP MAKING MOUTH NOISES
Anoniminous
To be elected Speaker a candidate has to have an absolute majority of the votes cast. If all members of the House are present and voting the candidate needs 218 votes. If a House member is either not on the floor during the vote or says “Present” a candidate only needs 217 votes to be elected. If all members are present and voting and as long as 5 members of the Crazy Faction vote for someone other than McCarthy AND all Democrats are on the floor and voting for Jeffries then no Speaker can be elected.
WaterGirl
It’s easy to double when the N is 1, or close to 1.
Kent
I absolutely LOATH these dipshit takes.
To what end? The GOP has already told us its agenda. Which is 24/7 Hunter Biden’s laptop, hanging of Fauci, and shutting down the government. Why would a single Dem help the GOP get there faster?
If the GOP wants to propose some sort of BINDING power sharing agreement as part of its compromise candidate then we can maybe talk. And I don’t know how you could actually make it binding and avoid Lucy and the Football. Such as equal representation on all committees as was the case in the Senate during 2020-2022. But they will never agree to that because it will cut off their planned red meat orgy.
So fuck them. The GOP has no plans for responsible government anyway. What is the rush to start with the dysfunction?
geg6
He’s claiming McCarthy is a winner?!?!?!?!?!?!?! And dissing Nancy?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Fuck this piece of shit.
Alison Rose
@Anoniminous: Um…we know?
tobie
Did James just tout the success of McCarthy in doubling the number of African Americans in the House GOP caucus? It’s gone from 1 to 2. That is pathetic.
Alison Rose
I think this dude likes hearing himself talk more than TFG does
Anoniminous
@Alison Rose:
Then why are people asking questions about how many votes McCarthy needs?
Roger Moore
@WV Blondie:
I think a plurality vote is intended as a threat. As long as the only consequence of being obstreperous is more votes, there’s very little motivation for the anti-McCarthy caucus to change their mind. A plurality vote changes the stakes to “vote McCarthy or Jeffries wins”, which is a big enough threat they might pay attention.
TooManyJens
LOL, still going with Donalds. Can we shake it up a little? And why do Republicans have to scream all the time?
MisterDancer
A bit of good news on the Abortion Rights front: South Carolina’s 6-week Abortion Ban is rejected by the State of South Carolina’s Supreme Court! https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-carolina/articles/2023-01-05/south-carolina-supreme-court-strikes-down-state-abortion-ban
geg6
So proud of their tokenism, aren’t they?
MisterForkbeard
@tobie: Is that extra black guy George Santos? :)
UncleEbeneezer
Just finished Chapter Two of Mothers of Massive Resistance: White Women and the Politics of White Supremacy and holy shit, is it relevant for our current situation:
“In the antebellum era, white southerners had complained about abolitionist sentiment in historical tracts. In 1855, a Mississippi state legislator called for his state to encourage southern texts, written by southern authors and printed in southern publishing houses…in 1893, Mississippi’s state government established the Diffusion of Useful Information to monitor reading material and promote white, South-friendly texts. By the end of the century, UDC (United Daughters of Confederacy) chapters in OK, MD, GA and TX had tried unsuccessfully to ban textbooks that expressed anti-southern sentiment.”
“By WWI, a national consensus in textbooks offered to the nation’s schoolchildren the following historical ‘truths’: Reconstruction was a mistake; American imperialism provided uplift to non-white people across the globe; the rise of the nation was a story of good democrats and hardworking Anglo-Saxon Protestants; and broad cooperation, not conflict, among all classes of Americans characterized the nation’s development. The elevation this national historical narrative coincided with a decline in the treatments of African Americans.”
And then the fight gets even worse in the 1920’s with the UDC, YWCA, American Legion etc., using their political strength to reinforce White Supremacist and American Exceptionalism narratives in textbooks all across the Southern States and even some Northern ones too). All of which is to say that this fight over public schools goes back over a century and has always been a very difficult one.
Anoniminous
@Roger Moore:
They probably expect the Democrats to bail them out by voting for McCarthy.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Kent:
They only know how to gossip about dysfunction. You don’t expect them to do investigative reporting, do you?
Alison Rose
@Anoniminous: Okay, I saw one person ask how many present votes would make HJ Speaker, and the answer to that would just be “no amount” because he still wouldn’t have 218.
Immanentize
James and Donalds being promoted by Republicans in this fight is the most craven racist tokenism I have ever witnessed. I am sure the Republicans will best today’s effort tomorrow.
CaseyL
Oh, that was fun: Dan Bishop (R) going on about electing the first Black House Speaker of the House of Representatives – meaning Donalds – and the Democrats take up a chorus of “Hakeem! Hakeem!”
Gin & Tonic
@Alison Rose: I go to a lot of municipal meetings – boards, committees, that sort of stuff. Some I’m a voting member of. *All* start with a recitation of the Pledge, which I believe is monumentally stupid. So I stand and keep my hands at my sides and my mouth shut. I’m old and obnoxious, so nobody has ever said a word to me about it.
Scout211
[Oops, just deleted by accident].
Senator Bob Casey announced he has prostate cancer.
Link
tobie
@MisterForkbeard: LOL
TooManyJens
“He’s a man of personal convictions. In fact, he has personally been convicted.”
Kent
It’s really not that much of a threat. Because they can vote to remove him tomorrow if they want and bring us right back to where we started. It isn’t like a regular election where if the Speaker wins he/she serves an automatic 2-year term.
opiejeanne
Who is this idiot speaking on the floor right now? And who did he just nominate? Donalds?
Old School
Enough with the nomination speeches. Don’t these people realize we have 3-4 roll call votes to get through today?
The speeches can be continued next week. (Or will they still be there tomorrow?)
Immanentize
@Scout211: fact: the majority of men get prostate cancer if they live long enough, but very few die from it.
Immanentize
@opiejeanne: I so want this insanity to go on until January 6. It is the writer in me …
eclare
@TooManyJens: I immediately thought of that, too. He has convictions, in courts of law.
Dangerman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Good news in writing down any list of moderate Republicans, at least there will be no concerns for writers cramp.
opiejeanne
@Immanentize: True. But there is a very aggressive form of it that is usually early-onset. My husband was treated for it.
CaseyL
@TooManyJens:
Ayup. I thought that was an… unfortunately apt… choice of words.
geg6
@Scout211:
My John had prostate cancer about a decade ago. He was successfully treated quite easily and with little to no side effects. His doctors told him that even if it came back, most men will die of something else before the prostate cancer gets them. I have no doubt that Casey will be fine.
ETA: Plus, with UPHS, AHN, UPMC and Hershey Medical Center at his fingertips, he’ll get the best treatment possible. These are some of the finest medical systems in the country.
MisterDancer
@UncleEbeneezer: Yeppers! Not to sound silly about something very serious, yet it’s hard to underplay how destructive for America the promulgation of Lost Cause ideology into our cultural mainstream has been.
We (as a country) still haven’t come fully to terms with just that aspect, all the work f the last few years included. But it does point very directly to the utter lack of interest in American Participatory Democracy that the GOP is dragging around, right now; you can’t buy into the Lost Cause without asserting that Democracy in America is basically a farce, and the only thing that matters is Raw Power.
Immanentize
@Alison Rose: that is not true. If five Republicans announce “present” Jeffers would, I think, tie McCarthy even if all other Rs voted for Kevin. You only need a majority of members voting. “Present” is considered a non-vote.
Roger Moore
@CaseyL:
They are believers in pulling up the ladder after they’ve climbed it.
opiejeanne
@Immanentize: I do too. I think one more day would just about do it for me.
stacib
@Ocotillo: Remember Obama’s response? “You have a drink with them”. LOL
CaseyL
@Roger Moore: True!
WaterGirl
Is anyone using Betty’s list of the 20 renegades as they listen to the roll call? So we know if anyone changes their vote?
PaulB
Buck keeps threatening to vote for someone other than McCarthy, but he once again voted for McCarthy.
So far, this is a repeat. With Cloud’s vote, McCarthy once again falls short.
Almost Retired
Good Lord, Dan Bishop is only 58. He looks like he should be shuffling around The Villages. Being a hateful, Conservative Republican will age you faster than a month in a tanning booth.
japa21
It will go to another round.
Another Scott
6 for Donalds in the “C”s again. McCarthy loses again (apparently).
Cheers,
Scott.
Scout211
For those jackals, like me, who can’t or won’t watch live, this from The CNN live updates made me laugh.
TaMara
6. Kev’s toast again.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Yep, I am. So far no one has flipped.
PaulB
Yup. No change, so far.
Not Kevin:
Andy Biggs
Dan Bishop
Lauren Boebert
Josh Brecheen
Mike Cloud
Andrew Clyde
Eli Crane
Byron Donalds
Matt Gaetz
Bob Good
Paul Gosar
Andy Harris
Anna Paulina Luna
Mary Miller
Ralph Norman
Andy Ogles
Scott Perry
Matt Rosendale
Chip Roy
Keith Self
Present:
Victoria Spartz
Playing Games (But, so far, still voting for McCarthy):
Ken Buck
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I might provide a list st of the twenty or so Republicans who defected from their caucus in the last Congress to vote for the Infrastructure and CHIPS + Bills. Most of them are still around, I think.
But conditions are not ripe for the solution Tur is pushing, and the Democrats are wise not to pursue it. Conditions could ripen by late summer, when the debt ceiling issue becomes acute. Until then, Democrats should let the majority flail and flounder, and share none of the responsiblity for Republican dysfunction.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It sounds like the media is getting as bored as I am of this spectacle. Except I don’t actually have to watch.
Miss Bianca
@geg6: From what I’ve observed, it seems that prostate cancer has two speeds: tortoise-slow and hare-speedy. Most of the men I know who’ve had it have experienced the former: however, I will never forget how fast Frank Zappa died of it, at age 52.
Dangerman
I thought McCarthy gave the losers everything they wanted but hookers and blow? I thought today was gonna be quick.
Old School
@WaterGirl:
I’ve been following this list. No one has changed yet.
HumboldtBlue
@Immanentize:
Clarence Thomas replacing Thurgood Marshall. Alan Keyes v Obama. Michael Steele elected speaker after Obama elected prez. They’ve been doing the tokenism forever.
Kelly
George Takei: On the upcoming anniversary of January 6, it looks again like a group of chaotic, political terrorists are trying to gain control of Capitol Hill.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1610692172801781760
Ken
@japa21: Not if 7 Republicans try the pundits’ One Weird Trick and vote “Present”. Or if 5 Democrats try the pundits’ Other Weird Trick and vote for McCarthy. Or if…
You know, I’m beginning to think these pundits don’t actually know all that much about politics.
japa21
Let’s follow the GOP policy on not counting any more votes. Jeffries has a majority at this moment.
eclare
@WaterGirl: On MSNBC Kornacki tracks the twenty and their votes each time. So far in vote seven, no one has switched.
CaseyL
@WaterGirl: I want to see if that deal with the PACs has borne fruit.
OMG. Gaetz just voted for Trump. Oboyoboyoboy.
Alison Rose
Well that was weird…Donalds didn’t vote? We know he’s there, that dude kept pointing him out
Ken
And they get those for free at the Republican orgies, according to former GOP Representative Madison Cawthorn.
PaulB
Gaetz votes for Trump. What an idiot.
eclare
@Almost Retired: Only four years older than I am! Wow!
Old School
There’s been a switch. Gaetz votes for Trump.
mrmoshpotato
And it’s damn delicious too! May they lose the majority because of a few special elections.
Alison Rose
LOLOLOLOLOLOL GAETZ
Immanentize
@Dangerman: oh, hookers and blow were McCarthy’s FIRST concession. They had a lot left over after Cawthorn left Congress.
Almost Retired
I think the stupidest concession McCarthy made was agreeing to stay out of contested Republican primaries – basically giving away the best tool the “sane” wing of the party had to thwart the triumph of the crazies.
WaterGirl
@Old School: @PaulB: Thank you so much!
Spanky
@Scout211: Prostate cancer is one of the most treatable and recoverable cancers. He says he expects a full recovery, and anything else would be something of an anomaly.
mrmoshpotato
@PaulB:
Doesn’t Matty know that Dump isn’t a high school girl?
Ken
@PaulB: @Old School: The dam breaks. Next round, one of the twenty loons nominates Trump, and they all vote for him, plus another dozen or so switch from McCarthy.
Then we see if there really is such a thing as a “moderate Republican” in the House, because they’ll be the ones being carried out by the paramedics after having a stroke.
Immanentize
@Old School: Soldier til the end. Gaetz is playing the stupid game….
PaulB
They may still be negotiating the details, particularly with respect to committee membership and chair assignments. If he gives them everything they ask for, he risks pissing off the other members who also want committee representation and chair assignments.
EarthWindFire
@CaseyL: Bishop’s butthurt over a “member-elect” calling Donalds a prop was just precious.
Please. If they were so hot on electing Donalds, why didn’t they nominate him the first round? Why didn’t they know Gym didn’t want the job before putting his name out and just nominate Donalds? Another group of questions our “liberal media” won’t be asking.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: Maybe he wants the spotlight when they call the names of those who haven’t voted, and give them another chance to vote.
CaseyL
Wait, is Hageman (Nut-WY) a no-show??
Geminid
@tobie: I think with Burgess Owens of Utah the number of Black Republican Representatives is now 3. That does not detract from the point you make though.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Saw a tweet saying he and Emmer had just left Emmer’s office. I wonder if they convinced him not to vote for himself
opiejeanne
@Miss Bianca: My husband had the second type, diagnosed at 56. It was treated successfully, but things did not go back to the way they were before the surgery.
I’d rather have him still tottering around for another 20 years than the alternative.
Immanentize
Ok, serious question — isn’t Scalise supposed to be the whip?? Can’t any Republican count before a vote is taken?!
Alison Rose
TaMara
Gaetz wants to make sure that pardon comes through if the spoiled orange marmalade every takes power again.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
For those who would like their schaden to freudeth over.
PaulB
I have a simpler way to vote:
“Any member who wishes to change their vote from the last time we did this, please raise your hand.”
“I see no hands raised, the vote stands as previously tabulated.”
Ken
@PaulB: Ah yes, the “lie to everyone and hope they don’t get together to compare notes” style of leadership. But he has to realize they’ll notice sometime after the House convenes, and he’ll get hit with a vote of no confidence. Unless his ambitions begin and end with becoming Speaker, and he doesn’t care if he’s also the shortest-serving one in history?
Raoul Paste
The banner of Jack E. Smith’s Twitter, page is many duplicates of him wearing the same suit, tie and sunglasses. Well played, Mr Smith
CaseyL
@Immanentize: You’d think, even if there was no Whip, someone would do a count.
eclare
@PaulB: Hahaha…
UncleEbeneezer
@MisterDancer: And it was always more than just the Lost Cause, also using the threats of Socialism, Communism, Immigrants, Bussing, Diversity etc. Anything that might hurt White People’s feelings. I swear, you could easily swap in “CRT/Groomers” and the pearl-clutching screeds from the 1890’s, 1920’s, 1950’s etc. would be identical to what we are seeing now. Sadly in a system where States and local School-boards have outsized power and are dominated by white people, (plus our current SCOTUS) this problem is going to be around for a very long time.
Immanentize
@Spanky: This is a great point. Some, I have read, think the failure of the NY Dem party this round is primarily the product of a very week central committee.
dmsilev
@Ken: At this point, that seems plausible. He wants to Be the Speaker just for the title, not to pass any sort of signature legislation or anything like that. So, is there really any difference between being Speaker for one term vs. one head of lettuce?
WaterGirl
@Raoul Paste: What is that referencing? I must have missed that meme or that movie.
geg6
@Miss Bianca:
Treatments are infinitely better and more effective than they were in 1993. John’s doctors told him almost no one dies from prostate cancer anymore. The survival rate is something like 95%.
mrmoshpotato
@Alison Rose:
LMAO!
WaterGirl
@CaseyL: Maybe they are trying to whip the votes and all 20 are responding with their usual maturity: “wouldn’t you like to know?”
Miss Bianca
@opiejeanne: I’m wondering if age of onset has something to do with its virulence. Like, if you get it at a younger age (40s-50s) it’s more serious than if you get it when you’re older (60s+)
ETA: To your later point, seems like that’s true. And hormone treatments (e.g., testosterone suppression) seem to be playing a bigger role in treatment regimens. Have a friend going through that now – I need to call him, now that i’m thinking about it, thanks for the reminder!
CaseyL
@WaterGirl: A distinct possibility.
Ah – someone must have switched their vote to McCarthy; there was applause.
opiejeanne
@Almost Retired: McCarthy needs to walk across the aisle and ignore the bomb throwers in his party. He can offer to take the budget threat of a shutdown, cuts to Social Security & Medicare, and a couple of other important things completely off the table, write it in his own blood with Nancy and Hakeem as witnesses, in return for just enough votes from the Democrats. promise to reneg on EVERYTHING he promised those particular idiots in his own party.
And then we might consider it.
Anoniminous
@Alison Rose:
218 votes is, once again, McCarthy’s needed total IFF all 434 House members are present and voting. Change either of those two criteria and the total absolute vote changes, thus the needed majority of votes. Example, McCarthy got 203 votes in the last ballot. If the Crazy Faction members had said “Present” instead of voting for dumbass Jeffries with his 212 votes would have been elected Speaker for the 27 seconds it would take for enough members of the Crazy Faction to stand up and demand a House Speaker election under the current rules.
Roger Moore
@Barbara:
The media’s attention span should not be a major determinant of how our government works, and it displays a stunning degree of solipsism on the part of the media to behave as though it should.
CaseyL
@Anoniminous: At least two members seem not to be there today.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: Looks like The Matrix to me, but I could be wrong, I haven’t seen a new movie in like a decade.
Immanentize
@opiejeanne: Besides those things, Dems want equal member representation on all committees.
PaulB
No, that was McCarthy voting for himself. The Democrats applauded when Jeffries voted for himself.
Alison Rose
@CaseyL: I don’t think anyone switched, not by my list. I think it was just the dopey way they said it?
Geminid
@Ken: I don’t think the more moderate, purple district members will have strokes. Most will be too busy polishing up their resumes because they know they’ll be hunting jobs come 2025.
Some like Don Bacon (NE) will be planning their retirement life. If I were in Bacon’s shoes I’d be making a list of different miniature golf courses to tour.
mrmoshpotato
@tobie:
Ever seen Trilogy of Terror from 1975?
Immanentize
@CaseyL: Can you really blame the for deciding their acupuncture appointment was more important?
PaulB
I’m pretty sure the party doesn’t whip on votes like this, so it’s not Scalise’s responsibility.
It is, however, Kevin McCarthy’s responsibility to make sure he has the votes. He’s still scrambling and groveling. Now why they didn’t ask for a multi-day postponement, I don’t know.
geg6
@mrmoshpotato:
Perfect! That’s exactly what I was trying to think of!
dww44
@geg6: I’ve a cousin in my extended Family whose prognosis is not good. There are 5 males in that family line, 3 of whom all had prostate cancer, another who survived to die from something else. This relative’s cancer has metastasized to other regions of his body.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: Not sure who’s counted whom, but: Owens, Donalds, Wesley Hunt of TX (co-starred in that goofy Dan Crenshaw campaign video and won) and John James of MI? as I see it, James is the one to watch. Second-generation successful business, West Point and UM, and doesn’t come across as a kook, but is willing to pretend to be one.
From what little I’ve seen of Hunt, he may have a future too. Another West Pointer, flew Apaches in the Bush Wars, and from what little I’ve seen of him can also appear normal to Normies (which is a pretty low bar for a TX Republican).
Alison Rose
Immanentize
@Geminid: i have decided to make a concerted effort, whatever that might mean, to swing my new vacation home district blue (NY 22). Getting college students fired up would be one strategy.
snoey
@Miss Bianca: Everything slows down as you get older, including your tumors.
JaySinWA
@CaseyL: The new COVID is ripping through the Northeast along with flu and RSV. I am not seeing anyone masking in the chamber. There will be sickness.
geg6
@dww44:
Oh, that’s bad and I’m sorry to hear it. It is unusual though. My mother died of breast cancer that metastasized to her bones after battling it three times and winning twice. It’s not a good way to go, for sure. I wish him all the best and that he beats the odds.
mrmoshpotato
I can’t believe some of you are watching day 2 (3?) of this obvious shitshow. But thank you for your running commentary. It’s entertaining. :)
Ken
And now even that has been snatched away from him.
Almost Retired
@opiejeanne: That would be imminently sensible. Which is why it won’t happen.
PaulB
Two voters missed their vote call (Donalds and Perry) but the rest of the crazy caucus has continued to vote for not-Kevin.
Spartz, who voted Present in the last two calls, missed her vote, as well.
Aside from Gaetz voting for Trump, nothing has changed.
geg6
@Ken:
LOLOLOLOLOL!
Alison Rose
So, from the Never-Kevins, Donalds and Perry weren’t in the room to vote when called, and neither was “present” Spartz. Wonder what will happen when they go back for the missed votes. Everyone else still went for Donalds. Except Gaetz of course, LOL
Immanentize
@mrmoshpotato: Elise Stefanik is auditioning for the actual (not fictional) position as The Mouth of Sauron.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: So Hunt would make it 4 Black Republican House members.
Owens’ Utah seat was held by Mia Love, another Black Republican. She got washed away by the 2018 Blue Wave, and then Owens flipped the seat back in 2020.
I mainly know Owens as the target of a hardhitting Judiciary Committee speech by Hakeem Jeffries. Owens had attacked Democrates in his first Committee speech and Jeffries was not having it. Part way through Jeffries started, “You know what?…” Savvy Jeffries watchers commented that they knew then that he was was taking off the gloves, and he did.
SiubhanDuinne
@HumboldtBlue:
Walker v Warnock.
opiejeanne
@Immanentize: Definitely one of the important things.
We should make a list of demands.
Immanentize
@PaulB: whipping and counting,true, may be two different things. But Scalise ought to be counting if he really supported McCarthy. I suspect Kevin may have some momentary allies, but he has NO friends.
Nancy Smash had both.
HumboldtBlue
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yup, how’d I forget that?
opiejeanne
@Geminid: If he comes to Seattle, he needs to be wary of the indoor course.
Immanentize
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Why is it I trust Democratic members who are ex-military way more than such Rep. members?
Hmmmm🤔
Oh yeah, January 6, 2021! 💡
PaulB
Thank heaven for small favors that the only speeches allowed are the nominating speeches. Could you imagine how bloody awful this would be if each member was permitted to give a speech before their vote?!
Donalds votes for Donalds; Perry missed his vote call again; Spartz voted Present again.
Aside from Perry’s missed vote and Gaetz voting for Trump, this was a repeat.
Edited to add that Perry has now finally voted: for Donalds. So very much the status quo and McCarthy is humiliated yet again.
(I had originally noted that Jeffries was missing a vote, but the vote count has been updated, and Jeffries does indeed have the 212 votes he has had all along.)
Alison Rose
Welp, Emmer’s efforts didn’t work apparently, Donalds still voted for himself. Perry still not there, apparently. Spartz still just present. What a fucking shitshow this i
eta Perry finally showed up and voted Donalds
artem1s
@PaulB:
Oh goodie! let the fun begin!
Ivan X
@mrmoshpotato: Lol, yes I have.
Immanentize
@PaulB:
Donalds missed his vote? Isn’t that rich.
PaulB
So now what? Vote #8 or adjournment? Place your bets.
(Let the finger-pointing and blame game begin!)
WaterGirl
@PaulB: Who is the missing Jeffries vote? CSPAN is saying 212 again
PaulB
@WaterGirl: I just updated that comment. C-Span had listed 211 votes, so I assumed that a Democratic Representative was absent or had missed the vote. I caught the update just as you did, so I edited my post above.
Warblewarble
“Oh frabjous day calooh callay, he chortled in his joy” Gaetz votes for tRUMP .HA HA HA.
Immanentize
@PaulB: I think they will try another with the plea:
“Please oh please oh please do not make us Republicans do this on the second anniversary of the Republican insurrection!” Which speech will instantly make the anti-McCarthy vote surge to 50 against.
PaulB
@Immanentize: Oh, if only….
opiejeanne
@WaterGirl: The Matrix. He is Mr Smith.
artem1s
one less day to hold Hunter Biden penis hearings. Qevin haz a sad!
PaulB
@artem1s: That’s why I’m not really worried about the current shenanigans. There is no urgency here, as the only thing on the Republican agenda for the first couple of weeks was empty posturing and reading the Constitution. BFD.
Immanentize
@PaulB: If I were the type who wanted to celebrate the insurrection, solidify the date as one of rebellion, and disrupt plans to recognize those who saved the Union that day — I would certainly force votes (if I could) to continue until tomorrow.
Geminid
@opiejeanne: If it were me, I’d start out in Myrtle Beach. They must have 25 outdoor miniature golf course to go along with 40 pancake houses. By the time I got to the Nofthwest the Seattle course will have glued down the loose edge that got you. If they know what’s good for them they’ve glued it down already.
Now, I’m wondering how your healing has progressed. Well, I hope.
opiejeanne
@Warblewarble: I think someone here predicted that Trump would be nominated today. Next round, for sure.
PaulB
Paraphrasing a Politico tweet, as heard on C-Span: “Kevin wants to adjourn; Dems would vote to block.”
Roger Moore
@Miss Bianca:
Very likely so. Many prostrate tumors are so slow growing they don’t even bother to treat them right away, and they might well have been growing slowly since the man was in his 30s. If they took a few decades to grow to the point of being detectable, they’re probably going to take another couple of decades before they’re a health risk. But if they grow fast enough to be detected much earlier, they’re probably in the fast growing minority and thus a lot more dangerous.
mrmoshpotato
@Ken:
Pundits? You sure you didn’t misspell “pustules?”
opiejeanne
@Geminid: The course is built on a series of raised platforms. I caught my foot under the edge of one as I was stepping up onto it.
Other than that, the place is great. It’s a bar with pretty good food, built in an old car showroom, and there’s parking around the corner at some institute or other. It’s a complete hazard course inside, with drunk people hitting golf balls with clubs, and some very wonky holes with very uneven greens.
rikyrah
#7?
SEVEN?
BWA HA HA HA HA HAH A AHAH
PaulB
C-Span is now reporting that there will be an 8th vote today.
Citizen Alan
@HumboldtBlue: The funniest of those was Steele, because he shocked the GOP by being a competent black man and thus was kicked out asap.
Warblewarble
tRUMP demands a recount ,”find me the missing votes”
Geminid
@opiejeanne: Sounds like you may have got caught on what is known as a “tripper.” I did some layout work on walkways when I worked for a building contactor, and my boss emphasized that steps shorter than 4 inches should be avoided as they were trippers.
My Atlanta friend got tripped by a low curb when he was canvassing for Ossoff and Warnock in December, 2020. The area in front of the curb had been repaved so the curb was too short a step. Even 4″ is pushing the safety envelope some.
Warren broke a wrist and injured the shoulder opposite to keep from faceplanting on the sidewalk. That was Warren’s last time canvassing, but he proudly says that he finished delivering all his literature that day. Then his wife Claire picked him up drove him to the emergency room.
lowtechcyclist
@PaulB:
And it’s well underway, and Kevin looks like he’ll be about as successful in vote #8 as he was in votes 1-7. Already 7 non-Kevin GOP votes.
Geminid
@Citizen Alan: Yes, and Steele did not have much of a future in Maryland elective politics. I think he is a good commentator though. I find that often, the most perceptive analysis of Republican politics comes from former Republicans like Steele, the guy who runs The Bulwark, and Ron Filipkowski.
Filipkowski identifies as a Democrat now. I’m not sure about the others but that does not matter much to me.
artem1s
tomorrow is the anniversary. the nomination speeches could really be “something”. they better not be planning any performance art to go with them.
Tony Jay
@Alison Rose:
And they always will. The Gospel of Eternal Victimitude is a call-and-response creed.
@WaterGirl:
This x 1000 exploding stars
Paul in KY
@tobie: A whole 1 to 2!!!! Kevin McCarthy, go on with your bad ass! Whooo!