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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread: Kevin McCarthy’s Select(ive) Committee(s)

Friday Evening Open Thread: Kevin McCarthy’s Select(ive) Committee(s)

by Anne Laurie|  January 27, 20238:40 pm| 34 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality

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Friday Evening Open Thread: Kevin McCarthy's Select(ive) Committee(s)

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Swalwell: "You're seeing now the fulfillment of McCarthy's corrupt bargain w/ Marjorie Taylor Greene, somebody who declared on J5, the day before the attack on the Capitol, 'this is 1776.' Someone who cheered on insurrectionists … she's going on the Homeland Security Committee" pic.twitter.com/J67glW7wEs

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 25, 2023

mainstream reporters are unable, afraid to say that McCarthy is purely a figurehead, even more than boehner, running the House like an Alex Jones type effort. he agreed to a strictly non custodial relationship with his testicles. https://t.co/BjoYFyOgyu

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 25, 2023


“Hakeem Jeffries has 200 other people who can serve on that committee,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said of blocking Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Eric Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, noting the move wasn't “political.” https://t.co/kgM473rRmX

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 25, 2023

'There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump.' — Kevin McCarthy, June 15, 2016.
https://t.co/THOfo35nkz

— Evan Hurst (@EvanHurst) January 25, 2023

Freedom Caucus is a little over 20% of House GOP.

It will be:

-38% of Oversight Committee
-44% of Judiciary
-44% of select covid panel
-50% of panel on "weaponization" of gov't

And that doesn't include Rules, where 2 HFC members + Massie loom large.https://t.co/7QOTzcDc7J

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 25, 2023

And don't believe me re: Tucker Carlson. Just ask @RepThomasMassie (via @NBCNews.) pic.twitter.com/cnUzcswc6t

— Derek Martin (@dmartkc) January 25, 2023

Remarkable this is getting done with a straight face. It’s basically the select committee on black helicopters and shadowbanning pic.twitter.com/xtBwchzZrT

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 25, 2023

pic.twitter.com/RQXGfnu3Jh

— MorningGlory? (@morningglorie52) January 25, 2023

"Kevin McCarthy has begun his job as speaker by servicing the demands of the most extreme—and weirdest—members who supported him, thus handing the People’s House to the Clown Caucus," @RadioFreeTom writes. https://t.co/iKUlePhRM9

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) January 26, 2023

… Let us leave aside the removal of Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the Intelligence Committee. The republic will not rise or fall based on such things, and if McCarthy wants to engage in snippy stoogery to ingratiate himself with the MAGA caucus and soothe Donald Trump’s hurt feelings, it is within his power to do so. In his letter to Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the speaker claimed his decision was all about “integrity.” This is not just the death of irony; it is a North Korean–style, firing-squad-by-anti-aircraft-gun execution of irony. Worse, McCarthy even has the right to channel, as he did, Joseph McCarthy, and smear Swalwell by alluding to derogatory information that the FBI supposedly has about him. It might not be honorable or professional, but he can do it.

McCarthy’s shuffle of the Intelligence Committee pales in comparison to the creation of two new committees, both of which were part of the Filene’s Basement clearance of the new speaker’s political soul. One of them, on the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, is a continuation of the Republican assault on science that predated Trump but reached new heights with the former president’s disjointed gibbering about bleach injections. The committee will include the conspiracy theorist and McCarthy’s new best friend Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Ronny Jackson of Texas, the former White House physician who assured us in 2018 that Trump only weighed 239 pounds and was in astoundingly good health…

The “weaponization” committee is worse, and likely to do far more damage to the United States, because it is starting from the premise that the machinery of the United States government—law enforcement, the intelligence community, and federal agencies—has been turned against the average American citizen. Jim Jordan, who stands out even in this GOP for his partisan recklessness, will serve as chair. The committee will include members whom I think of as the “You-Know-Better-Than-This Caucus”: people with top-flight educations and enough experience to know that Jordan is a crank, but who nevertheless will support attacks on American institutions if that’s what it takes to avoid being sent back home to live among their constituents. Two standouts here are Thomas Massie (an MIT graduate who apparently majored in alchemy and astrology), and the ever-reliable Elise Stefanik (Harvard), whose political hemoglobin is now composed of equal parts cynicism and antifreeze.

The committee will include other monuments to probity, such as Chip Roy; Dan Bishop, who has claimed that the 2020 election was rigged; Harriet Hageman, the woman who defeated Liz Cheney in Wyoming; and Kat Cammack of Florida, who alleged that Democrats were drinking on the House floor during the speakership fight. All of them will have access to highly sensitive information from across the U.S. government…

The Church Committee was, in its day, a necessary walk across the hot coals for Americans who had invested too much power and trust in the executive branch. I suspect that the Jordan committee will not look to uncover abuses, but rather to portray any government actions that it does not like as abuses, especially the investigations into Trump. It will be the Church Committee turned on its head, as members of Congress seek to protect a lawless president by destroying the agencies that stand between our democracy and his ambitions.

Kevin McCarthy will be fine with all of it, as long as he gets to wear the top hat and red tails while indulging in the fantasy that he is in control of the clowns and wild animals, and not the other way around.

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Reader Interactions

34Comments

  1. 1.

    lollipopguild

    January 27, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    The minute you say that something “isin’t  political” you make it political.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    January 27, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    Jim Jordan, who stands out even in this GOP for his partisan recklessness, will serve as chair

    Jordan will be on Chuck Todd’s show this Sunday.

  3. 3.

    eclare

    January 27, 2023 at 8:47 pm

    The quote by Josh about the Squeaker’s testicles is perfect.

  4. 4.

    FelonyGovt

    January 27, 2023 at 8:51 pm

    Send in the clowns. (And I HATE clowns.)

  5. 5.

    Baud

    January 27, 2023 at 8:51 pm

    I wonder who the Dems will put on these committees to point out the crazy.

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 8:51 pm

    Speaking of McCarthy not having any clue how to do his actual job, yet more Santos shenanigans revealed!

    We Tried to Call the Top Donors To George Santos’ 2020 Campaign. Many Don’t Seem To Exist.

    The Regor and Berger contributions are among more than a dozen major donations to the 2020 Santos campaign for which the name or the address of the donor cannot be confirmed, a Mother Jones investigation found. A separate $2,800 donation was attributed in Santos’ reports filed with the Federal Election Commission to a friend of Santos who says he did not give the money.

    These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 the Santos campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, have not been previously cited in media reports. Mother Jones identified them by contacting (or trying to contact) dozens of the most generous donors to Santos’ 2020 campaign, which he ended up losing by 12 points.

    Santos did not respond to a detailed list of questions Mother Jones sent to his lawyer and his congressional office that included names of donors whose identities could not be verified.

    Numerous cases where they could not find anyone by the name or address provided. Yet Kevin thinks this MFer deserves his seat. Sure, Jan.

  7. 7.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    January 27, 2023 at 8:53 pm

    @FelonyGovt:  that could go in the other thread, too.

  8. 8.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    January 27, 2023 at 8:54 pm

    @Alison Rose:  he may have made them up.  He makes things up, you know.  [I’m thinking of the Golux and the Thirteen Clocks.]

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    January 27, 2023 at 8:55 pm

    @eclare: Agreed.

    My Kevin is such a putz.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    January 27, 2023 at 8:55 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    Talk about the gift that keeps on giving.

  11. 11.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 8:59 pm

    @Baud: why did I suddenly start singing “Dick in a Box” in my head

  12. 12.

    Baud

    January 27, 2023 at 9:04 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    I assume it’s a lesbian thing.

  13. 13.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 27, 2023 at 9:11 pm

    @Alison Rose: I’d like to note that I’ve missed your sense of humor. 😄

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    January 27, 2023 at 9:24 pm

    @Alison Rose

    It’s Friday. Supposed to sing Bounce Your Boobies.

    h/t Randi Rhodes.
    :)

  15. 15.

    stinger

    January 27, 2023 at 9:25 pm

    I’d like to thank whoever — can’t recall if it was in a front page post or a comment — posted the link to Cal. Gov. Newsom’s press conference after the Half Moon Bay mass shooting. I didn’t know much about the governor but was extremely impressed. He gave up on prepared notes — he’d read from them too many times — and just talked off the cuff, then answered media questions. I may watch it a second time.

  16. 16.

    bjacques

    January 27, 2023 at 9:26 pm

    That “Weaponization” Committee even comes with its own theme songs:

    Soul Coughing – Unmarked Helicopters
    Talking Heads – Puzzling Evidence
    Chumbawamba – Everything You Know Is Wrong

     

    Also, welcome back Alison Rose!

  17. 17.

    prostratedragon

    January 27, 2023 at 9:26 pm

    @Alison Rose: ​And speaking of old tunes shaken loose from memory by current events, here’s one I keep thinking of lately. Admittedly could use some new verses:

    “Funky Nassau”

  18. 18.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 27, 2023 at 9:29 pm

    @NotMax:  I love Randi. I’ve been listening to her since her Air America days.

  19. 19.

    gene108

    January 27, 2023 at 9:30 pm

    McCarthy is the perfect man to be Speaker for this Republican House of Representatives.

    Republicans are supplicant yes men to right-wing media, their billionaire backers, and the MAGA voters.

    Also, Republicans have been working to undo any oversight on what they do in government for decades. The Weaponization of Government committee is just another step on the road they’ve laid out. Destroying campaign finance laws, voting rights, etc. are all part of this path.

  20. 20.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    @Baud: I’ll have you know I’m only like 94% lesbian.

    Maybe 95.

    96.

    97.5 tops.

  21. 21.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: Aw shucks. Honestly, that’s like the best compliment you could give me, so thank you :)

  22. 22.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 9:35 pm

    @stinger: One thing I like about him is he very rarely does read from prepared notes and yet always sounds informed and smart. He has dyslexia and has said that it’s harder for him to do that than to just memorize what he wants to say and say it more extemporaneously. It makes him sound much more genuine, IMO.

  23. 23.

    stinger

    January 27, 2023 at 9:42 pm

    @Alison Rose: Interesting! I have to say, he certainly didn’t sound memorized in that clip.

    Also, I love when people with “disabilities” such as dyslexia or stammering show that they are completely capable and even better than most.

  24. 24.

    gene108

    January 27, 2023 at 9:43 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    In all honesty, there’s no reason for Republicans to do a damn thing about Santos. Republicans in tough districts keep a healthy distance between themselves and “honest” George, and George’s scandals aren’t going to hurt them.

    I think politics is so polarizing that there’s no way most of the nation unites in horror at a politicians wrong doing and those defending the politician, unlike say in 2006 with the Mark Foley scandal.

  25. 25.

    Immanentize

    January 27, 2023 at 9:57 pm

    @bjacques: I nominate “Life During Wartime” instead by THs

  26. 26.

    Anne Laurie

    January 27, 2023 at 10:04 pm

    @Alison Rose: One thing I like about him is he very rarely does read from prepared notes and yet always sounds informed and smart. He has dyslexia and has said that it’s harder for him to do that than to just memorize what he wants to say and say it more extemporaneously.

    Cher was one of the first highly public figures to come out as dyslexic, thirty? forty? years ago.  She said Sonny Bono told her she was ‘stupid’ because she memorized her lines for The Sonny & Cher Show — because she couldn’t read the cue cards with any fluency.

    If I didn’t already love Cher (& despise her ex), I would’ve done so from that moment.

  27. 27.

    kalakal

    January 27, 2023 at 10:11 pm

    As usual Big Bill Shakespeare described McCarthy’s type best

    “199  And cry ‘Content’ to that which grieves my heart,
    200  And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
    201  And frame my face to all occasions…

    207  I can add colours to the chameleon,
    208  Change shapes with Proteus for advantages”

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2023 at 10:26 pm

    @Baud:

    Jordan will be on Chuck Todd’s show this Sunday.

    As if I needed another reason besides Upchuck Toddler to not watch any of the Sunday Shitshows.

    I wonder how many lies Chuckles will “have to leave right there.”

  29. 29.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 27, 2023 at 10:28 pm

    @eclare: Yup.  I was going to quote it.

  30. 30.

    Alison Rose

    January 27, 2023 at 10:38 pm

    @Anne Laurie: When Newsom first started talking publicly about his dyslexia (and also wrote a very cute picture book about it!), a bunch of shitheads in his Instagram comments started calling him illiterate and the r word and stuff. Disgusting.

  31. 31.

    Trollhattan

    January 27, 2023 at 10:41 pm

    Watching the junior girls final, Australia Open, between two eevas–Andr and Korn. The skill level is boggling and they make few mistakes for 15YO. Not just finesse, one ripped a 114 mph serve. Hour 2.

  32. 32.

    Sister Golden Bear

    January 27, 2023 at 10:46 pm

    @stinger: I was not a fan of Newsom at first, he seemed more of an empty suit even since his days as mayor of San Francisco. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised that he’s grown into the job.

    Plus he seems to enjoy his other role as the designated finger-giver to Republicans, and does seem to genuinely give a damn.

  33. 33.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 28, 2023 at 5:34 am

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: ​
     

    I’m thinking of the Golux and The Thirteen Clocks.

    I’m thinking it’s a shame we can’t take all these crazies and feed them to the Todal.

  34. 34.

    artem1s

    January 28, 2023 at 8:24 am

    McQuarthy is certainly spinning as fast as he can with the Biden papers and now allowing a committee to refute the Jan6 committee and TFG impeachments. Sooner or later Smith and the DOJ is going to start going after the planners and enablers in Congress who help foster the Big Lie and Gym won’t be do anything about it. I’m wondering if Qevin is actually hoping these asshats continue to perjure themselves in public and eventually lose their seats. It would remove a lot of his headaches so why not let them play in their own feces? I doubt it will work out the way he thinks it will but, you know, never interrupt your enemy, etc


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