Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Days Since JD Vance Insulted Women Across America: Zero

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Ask Me. Go Ahead and Ask Me

Ask Me. Go Ahead and Ask Me

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Ask me how many fucks I give that Kevin McCarthy was ousted. That scumbag is getting everything he deserves.

We have 45 days for these guys to unfuck themselves and try to govern, and if they can’t, Democrats should try to reach out to Republican “moderates.” Until then, let them smear feces all over themselves in public.

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  2. 2.

    Roger Moore

    I agree the Republicans should be left to flounder.  It’s time for them to put up or shut up about how much they want to accomplish.  If they can’t even achieve the absolute minimum for a governing party- electing a leader- they need to sit down, shut up, and turn Congress over to a party that’s interested in getting stuff done.  If they can’t do either thing, the country needs to see it happen so they understand exactly what happens when you vote for Republicans.

  4. 4.

    Geminid

    I couldn’t say how this will play out, but I don’t expect the Speaker’s Chair to be empty more than a week, ten days at the most.

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    I just saw that Kevin McCarthy has announced or is about to announce that he is not running for speaker!

  7. 7.

    Baud

    100% of their problem is that theor culture requires them to hate Democrats rather than work with them.

  8. 8.

    Nukular Biskits

    Can’t say as I disagree, John.

    My only problem is the collateral damage to the rest of the country from allowing these asshats to fuck  around for the next days trying to figure out what to do next.

    To quote Markos Moulitsas:

    Republicans are unable to take responsibility for their own actions, so the likes of former Rep. Tom Cole, Rep. Patrick McHenry, and Republican operative Brendan Buck were sure to claim it was Democrats that were sending our nation into turmoil because they wouldn’t bail McCarthy out. Democrats had no reason to help McCarthy, and he never offered them a deal to protect him. It’s always someone else’s fault with them!

    Too bad a US president can’t call snap legislative elections.  I have a feeling that Republicans would lose mightily.

  10. 10.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Roger Moore:

    If they can’t do either thing, the country needs to see it happen so they understand exactly what happens when you vote for Republicans.

    You’d think that … but one only need to look at MS & AL to see that people keep voting “conservative” Republicans into office, despite it being against their best interests.

    Belligerent ignorance (which encompasses a whole range of what is now called “MAGA”) is indeed a traditional conservative value.

  11. 11.

    scav

    Are we finally about to be introduced to that deep bench we’re so often told Dems don’t have?  Let’s hear it for the grownups, they gotta be here somewhere. The steady sober hand of established ways should be showing up any time now. . ..

  12. 12.

    HeleninEire

    McCarthy’s press conference was THE BEST THING EVER. He blamed the whole thing on Democrats.

    I am loving loving this.

  13. 13.

    SpaceUnit

    The speaker doesn’t have to be a member of the House.  Five bucks says they’re gonna nominate trump.

    Actually I’m surprised they didn’t do that before.

  14. 14.

    Elizabelle

    Someone brought up Liz Truss in the previous Kevin thread.

    I saw a photo of Rishi Sunak today, and could not for the life of me remember the immediately previous PM’s name.  Eventually we will have to google “last public photo of Queen Elizabeth II” and “head of lettuce.”  But for meeting, briefly, with QE2, we would not even have that mnemonic.

    WRT Kevin:  what idiocy, to go out blaming …. Democrats.  They might have had his back if he ever kept his word, or was not blaming them over the weekend for the shutdown attempt.

    Liar gonna lie, and now it sounds like he may not be doing it from the great halls of Congress for too much longer.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I saw a tweet that the Republican members of the Problem Solvers Caucus are so miffed they’re going to resign en masse from their very important and effective caucus.

    I never took those clowns seriously, looked ever so-slightly askance at Dems willing to join their ranks (though I do understand the realities of advertising that nonsense to the sort of affluent suburbanites a lot of Dems need theses days), but if I did take them seriously, I would’ve thought that things like the gov’t shutdown, aid to Ukraine, a clown-car impeachment and everything Jim Jordan would be the sort of problems our Problem Solvers might want to at least make some noise about trying to solve.

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    It’s early, maybe someone hasn’t posted this yet.

    Meanwhile, there’s finally some science on how cats purr. Science.org:

    The new study challenges this. To conduct the work, scientists removed the larynges from eight domestic cats, all of which had been humanely euthanized because of terminal disease and were investigated with the full consent of their owners. The researchers pinched the vocal cords together and pumped warm, humidified air through them. By isolating the larynx this way, the scientists guaranteed that any sound produced was occurring without muscle contractions or any input from the brain.

    The team was able to produce purring in all of the larynxes—a “great surprise,” says lead author Christian Herbst, a voice scientist who holds dual appointments at the University of Vienna and Shenandoah University. Without any active neural control, all eight larynges produced self-sustaining oscillations at frequencies between 25 and 30 Hz—suggesting purring doesn’t necessarily require active muscle contractions.

    [ A purring domestic cat can reach frequencies as low as 20 to 30 hertz.16GPANSK AZLOCHOVA _ ELISKA/FREESOUND ]

    Looking at the anatomy more closely, Herbst and colleagues turned to unusual masses of fibrous tissue embedded in the cats’ vocal cords. Anatomists had noticed these masses before, but nobody knew what their function might be. It’s possible, Herbst says, that these “pads” increase the density of the vocal cords, causing them to vibrate more slowly and making it possible for cats to produce low-frequency sounds despite their relatively small size. Anatomically, he says, the process works similarly to “vocal fry”—a droning vibrato sometimes added to the ends of words—in human speech.

    The new experiment instead suggests that purring, like meowing and hissing, is a passive phenomenon that plays out automatically after cats’ brains provide the initial signal to purr, the researchers conclude. That explanation “is much more in line with what we know about how vocalizations are produced in other vertebrates,” says Karen McComb, an expert in animal behavior and cognition at the University of Sussex who wasn’t involved in the study.

    Some other researchers don’t agree – that’s the way science works.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    TS

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Too bad a US president can’t call snap legislative elections.  I have a feeling that Republicans would lose mightily.

    Don’t be too sure – people are seriously weird.  The party that shut down the Oz government 50 years ago got voted into power.

    The media will always support those on the right, always blame democrats/labor for the failure of governance – it is what they do to keep their friends in charge of the coffers.

  27. 27.

    hueyplong

    McCarthy gave Pedo Max Headroom veto power over his speakership with predictable results, and now blames the other party (which he backstabbed immediately after making a deal with it).

    Will there ever be a day in which a GOPer so much as pretends to have agency?

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Elizabelle: the squeaker didn’t say he’s going to step down did he from Congress? So I don’t know how you could stay in Congress after you were speaker, and all that mattered to you was the prestige at the office. I

  29. 29.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @SpaceUnit:

    Five bucks says they’re gonna nominate trump.

    They may be stupid enough to think he can do the job.  He wildly cannot.  Not just in a ‘bad at it’ way.  He won’t have the staff a President does to deal with the organizational work he is unwilling to do.  He won’t even slightly understand the rules.  He doesn’t have the patience to oversee the chamber.  He will hate the job ten minutes after his first speech ends.

  35. 35.

    Spanky

    We have 45 42 days for these guys to unfuck themselves and try to govern

    FTFY. Tick tock, and all that.

  36. 36.

    Anoniminous

    There is an acting Speaker so, in theory, the House could pass a budget, eliminate the debt ceiling bullshit raise the debt ceiling …. you know …. do the People’s Business.  That would require the Republicans to act like adults over a sustained period of time which, in theory, is possible.  In practice probably not so much.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Another Scott:

    O/T, but I wanted to thank you for your recommendation yesterday of Irony and Outrage. I ordered and downloaded the Kindle version. Haven’t started it yet, but from the description it sounds interesting and helpful. Thanks!

  38. 38.

    cain

    @hueyplong:

    The fact that he blames Democratic representatives instead of his own caucus – he didn’t protect his relationship with the Democratic and we’re supposed to save his ass after reneging and lying about everything he committed to? Fuck him.

    Right now, it’s civil war with Gaetz on one side and the GOP caucus on the other. It’s going to be a shit show because nobody is going to want that job.

  41. 41.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Elizabelle: I think it’s part of his effort to:

    1) Maintain good relationships with republican moneymen. Never attack Republicans.

    2) Trying to poison the well for any Rs that might vote with dems for a compromise speaker

    Though more realistically, I think he’s setting things up so there’s no alternative and the caucus begs him to run again. and hitting Dems helps with that.

  43. 43.

    Righteous Hazard

    zombie chris matthews: “Not all MAGA”

    motherfucker actually said that. out loud.

  49. 49.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Nukular Biskits: ​ 

    A writer at the Daily Beast issued forth a similar opinion, blaming Democrats for putting a political win ahead of the country. Absolute bollocks.

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl:  We can have a betting pool on when McCarthy eventually steps down.  Later.  I just don’t see why you would stay, with that caucus.  Zippity doo dah.

    Grateful for every day our Speaker Emerita stays in the fight.  But she has sane adults in her caucus.

    Last, David Koch (not) had a great quip on earlier thread:

    along the lines of Nancy Pelosi had a choice of attending Dianne Feinstein’s funeral, or McCarthy’s.

    LOL.

  58. 58.

    CaseyL

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​

    Yeah, I saw that. There isn’t a GOPer who isn’t an immature, spiteful, petty POS.

    If this is how McHenry means to start, the shitshow is going to be even shittier than we could possibly have dreamed.

  59. 59.

    MattF

    @Anoniminous: My understanding is that the Speaker Pro Tem has one job, overseeing the election of a new speaker. If he can’t do that, he has no job.

  60. 60.

    JMG

    Pelosi is in San Francisco for Feinstein’t funeral, as McHenry damn well knows. She ought to kick him in the balls with a stiletto heel when she gets back.

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @schrodingers_cat: I can relate. Buying a very expensive shoulder plane or a very rare compass plane always gave me a thrill.

    I still love the feel of using a draw knife. The old ways never die.

  62. 62.

    smith

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’d seen elsewhere that a temporary Speaker only had the power to convene the House for the purpose of electing a new Speaker, and nothing more. Is that not true? This sounds like he’s assuming he can employ all of a regular Speaker’s powers.

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: Yes, I just watched it. Paraphrased:

    ” I always tried to do the job with a smile,” he said as he valiantly fought back tears…

  64. 64.

    OverTwistWillie

    I recommend reading Martin Longman’s thoughtful piece on the inevitability of this debacle, and the likely consequences.

    McCarthy is a fool and a knave.

  65. 65.

    scav

    @HumboldtBlue: Well, clearly, when shit needs to get done, there clearly are no other options than to call in the Democrats.  Both at the national and the internal levels, when things are broke, call in team woke.  Next thing, they’ll have to go in behind the scenes at the Genuinely Obstreperous Party convention and tidy things up, tally their votes and fix their boo-boos when their co-partyists are mean to them. Sneak legislation into their stockings and make sure their names are printed on their underwear so they know which office is theirs.

  68. 68.

    Anoniminous

    @MattF:

    According to Reuters

    “The acting speaker pro tempore’s duties are vague, according to a guide to the chamber’s rules and procedures: That person “may exercise such authorities of the office of speaker as may be necessary and appropriate pending the election of a speaker or speaker pro tempore.”

    I read that as meaning the job is what Henry makes of it.  Like telling Pelosi to vacate her hide-a-way office. The spiteful little shit.

  69. 69.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @WaterGirl: i hope Kevin resigns and George Santos makes a deal that includes resignation as well. If Gaetz gets in trouble with his cash Appling  minors issue the GOP is down three a d that’s not including the woman who’s on maternity leave and Scalise who’s getting chemo.i think the Dems are down one as well but the numbers are awfully close.

  70. 70.

    Ksmiami

    Republicans are vile. The entire party needs to be fucking annihilated along with the village courtiers.

  72. 72.

    Jackie

    @SpaceUnit: THEY WILL NOT NOMINATE TIFG!

    There is no one in hell that would take that nomination seriously – much less get the 218 votes needed.

    I have seen suggestions of bringing in a retired Repug congressman such as Charlie Dent or Flake (former Senator.) I don’t know if those options are feasible, either.

  75. 75.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I’d ask you but I’m pretty sure that your answer would be equal to my interest; zero. I’m enjoying the whole mess as it’s nothing but a performance for the believers to drive support for the next election and fill the coffers with stupid cash (that’s cash from stupid people). These people aren’t interested in governing, they’re there to collect the government dole and burn down the government while doing so.

    Political welfare cases…lol!

  76. 76.

    lamh36

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    right..that Beverly Leslie looking SOB (IYKYK),

    this is what he said earlier today and now he doing the petty shit with Pelosi’s office while she’s out of town in SF for Sen Feinstein’s memorial…smh. I’m glad the Dems didn’t save him or McCarthy’s azz…fuq ’em.

    Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a key ally of Speaker McCarthy, seems to criticize Democrats for not helping McCarthy: “I know you support the constitutional order except in a moment like this … You can’t be counted on in a moment like this with the state of the speakership.”

    https://x.com/therecount/status/1709295094233260528?s=20

  78. 78.

    smith

    @Anoniminous: I read that as meaning the job is what Henry makes of it.  Like telling Pelosi to vacate her hide-a-way office. The spiteful little shit.

    So, it’s like a gang initiation?

  81. 81.

    SpaceUnit

    @Jackie:

    They’d nominate him if he asked them to do it.

     

    And he’d be third in line from the presidency.  Sweet Jesus, I wish I hadn’t thought of that.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    I actually think Dems would jump at the chance to join with the House Republicans against the Freedom Caucus.  But it would have to be a true partnership, and that is unacceptable to Republicans.

  89. 89.

    Baud

    I wonder how many “Biden is old” stories the NYT is going to have to write to balance out today.

  90. 90.

    lamh36

     

    @PatrickMcHenry

    hey Mr Acting Speaker, remember when I was your lobbyist from
    @realtors
    ? You banned me from your office because I was gay. I’ve never forgotten. Ever. Now that you’re the Acting Speaker, you should answer for what you did to me aka blatant homophobia. 1/

    @Jimmyspolitics

    I’d be happy to speak with the House Ethics Committee abt this and give them the names of my supervisors who told me I was banned and why. 2/2
    https://x.com/Jimmyspolitics/status/1709365660352938421?s=20</BLOCK&gt;

    Yeah, he been a POS.

  94. 94.

    Percysowner

    @Jackie: ​
     Maybe Jeb! I don’t know. Since the Republican “problem solvers” have decided to have a hissy fit, this could go on for a long time and we could have a shut down just because there is no way to move things through the House. Basically McCarthy screwed us all by making it only a shutdown extension, instead of just passing the damned budget for the year.

    Maybe he was hoping to leverage that for Democratic support? You know “If you don’t vote for me, the government will shut down. If you do vote for me, MAYBE I’ll get the budget through, or just keep passing Continuing Resolutions until 2024”

  96. 96.

    CaseyL

    I hear McCarthy is giving an absolutely unhinged press conference right now, concocting a conspiracy by the WH and House Democrats to get rid of him or something…? (Or so I read on social media; even if I had streaming news I wouldn’t bother watching.)

    Anyway.  McHenry will apparently have as much power as the GOP allows him to exert, which doesn’t bode well.

  97. 97.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Yeah, this was all the Democrats’ fault

    epublican Accountability @AccountableGOP 1h

    Kevin McCarthy: “Do I regret the Democrats playing games with Jan. 6? Yes. They played so many politics. What they did to this institution, what they did to this building, was so wrong.”

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud:

    I actually think Dems would jump at the chance to join with the House Republicans against the Freedom Caucus.  But it would have to be a true partnership,

    Yeah, somebody like Gottheimer, maybe even Slotkin, would have been all over it. MGP, Jared Golden….

  104. 104.

    Jackie

    @JMG:

    …as McHenry damn well knows. She ought to kick him in the balls with a stiletto heel when she gets back

    Or his bow tie – which may be a larger target to aim for…

  106. 106.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @schrodingers_cat: Cool, I expect you know they are worth it. Whenever somebody brags about the container they come in… Yeah, you get my drift.

    I am used to finding jewels on Craigslist, auctions, and flea markets. Most times their ain’t nothing there, but every now and again…

    A long time ago I had my finish tool box stolen out of my truck at a Home Depot. I figured I lost several thousand dollars that day. I wasn’t able to replace all of it, but a couple of flea market trips recouped most of it for about $1500. Some of the planes I have yet to replace and that was 30+ years ago.

    Sad to say, I expect the shoulder plane I lost that day is little more than a door stop now. Maybe it sits in a tool collectors cabinet. I very much doubt it has cut any wood since last I used it. Which to me is particularly sad.

  107. 107.

    hueyplong

    We probably shouldn’t be surprised that Gaetz cutting McCarty’s throat and bragging about it would result in conspiracy theories about Democrats.

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie:

    after you were speaker, and all that mattered to you was the prestige at the office. 

    My main point was the part in bold.  Nancy Pelosi cared about leading, and a leader is critical whether you are in the majority or the minority.

    Kevin wanted to be speaker – he moved into that office before he was even elected.  he didn’t care about leading, he cared about being speaker.

  111. 111.

    Jackie

    @SpaceUnit: If I remember correctly, during the 15 rounds of slowly voting Kevin into the Speakership, TIFG was nominated one or two times, and only got one vote – from the nominee. Kinda embarrassing – for TIFG!

  114. 114.

    Geminid

    So now it’s up to Republicans to pull off a trick that took 15 votes to execute just 10 months ago. One problem here is a lack of comity between members with many different interests. There are members in R+40 districts and members in D+3 districts. There are members who desperately need a Farm Bill, and ones who don’t care about a Farm Bill that doesn’t starve SNAP beneciaries.

    There’s freshman Jen Kiggans with a Virginia district full of active military, retired military, federal civil servants and defense contractors, and there’s Matt Rosendale with a Montana district full of gun nuts and Q-Anon loons. You’ve got the Chamber of Commerce tugging members in one direction and the Club for Growth tugging in another.

    And Donald Trump will likely stick his stubby little fingers in the pie. So far Trump has failed to destroy the Nation, but he’s been doing a damn good job destroying the Republican Party and he’s not done yet.

    Someone might look at this mess and say, “It still shouldnt be that hard to solve this problem with 3 or 4 votes.” Just like someone might look at a Rubik’s Cube and say, “Well, it should take just take 3 or 4 moves to get a side all one color.” Just try it though!

    This Republican caucus is like Rubik’s Cube where they have to get 218 members on the same side. They’re gonna get blisters on their hands trying.

  116. 116.

    lamh36

    Nancy Pelosi’s full statement is here: https://x.com/nicholaswu12/status/1709357598154076295?s=20

    Don’t nobody curr bout ur little petty boots napoleonic self. The size of the office or the location of said office don’t change the fact that she’s going to be considered the greatest Speaker of the House in history, and ole Kev can’t even keep his parking spot no mo…

    Hopefully the karma for his comes as swift as a kick in the pants…

    p.o.s.

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    Man, you go away for a couple hours to a nice dinner and come back and Kevin’s really ousted(!) and there are four new threads on BJ(!!) and…

    …ah…

    …let us savor!   =)

    Btw I loooooooooove Hakeem Jeffries’ nearly willing “Republican Civil War” into the discourse all by his lonesome self.  But he shouldn’t have to do it alone!  Let’s help him out in the weeks and months to come, shall we peeps???  =)

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    @unctuous: I don’t know.  If someone told him he could be speaker and then they could bump off the POTUS and VP, I think he’d do it in a heartbeat, and hire the people to do it.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yes tools should be used. I have some priceless fountain pens from my father’s collection and I use them to write and draw

    These drawing pencils are great for landscapes, botanicals and portraits. Its so much fun finding these treasures.

  120. 120.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Brant Lamb: I was lucky in the getting of mine. I went to an auction of the estate of an old country boy who knew tools and how to use them. They had advertised planes in the pamphlets they posted up all over town but not the particulars. I went in the hopes of replacing my old jointer plane and they had one for sale, but it wasn’t long before the bidding went over my limits. Then the compass plane came up. I bid. Somebody counterbid. I bid again. Nobody else did. I got it for $40. I couldn’t believe it as there were at least a dozen tool collectors there.

    They were stupid and I was lucky.

  121. 121.

    moonbat

    I find it fascinating how GOPers are always reacting to the fantasy Dems they make up in their heads.

    You know, those wusses who fold under pressure or do what the bullies want them to do? Those weak, woke people?

    So after reneging on the deal with Biden, giving Ukraine the shaft, and basically lying his way through his tenure as speaker, it sounds like McCarthy thought he was playing some sort of 11-dimensional chess game. Instead, the Dems called his bluff and now he’s been kicked to the curb. So who else can he blame but the Mommy Party that was supposed to save him and his stupid caucus from their lowest impulses? It is to laugh at how deluded these fuckers are.

  122. 122.

    Jeffro

    @scav: when things are broke, call in team woke.

    bumper sticker GOLD

    Have you copyrighted that yet?  I’m serious!  You should.

  123. 123.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @moonbat:

    it sounds like McCarthy thought he was playing some sort of 11-dimensional chess game.

    …I think you’re right.  It would explain why he gave the finger to Gaetz a week or two back.  In classic abuser fashion, dumbass McCarthy assumed the Democrats would meekly save him from himself and he could be as big an asshole as he wanted.

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    @lamh36: yes…it’s Democrats who can’t be counted on, Rep McHenry…

    there aren’t enough eyerolls in the world for these people.

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    @Geminid:This Republican caucus is like Rubik’s Cube where they have to get 218 members on the same side. They’re gonna get blisters on their hands trying.

    You forgot the part where the Rubik’s cube is in a bucket full of rabid crabs and hydrochloric acid but other than that, spot-on.  ;)

  126. 126.

    Cameron

    Is it true that George Santos is pushing for the Speaker’s job by claiming that he’s actually Nancy Pelosi?

  127. 127.

    Geminid

    @unctuous: Trump couldn’t get 218 votes out of this caucus if he wanted the job. Even his supporters know he’s too lazy and fickle to be Speaker.

  128. 128.

    Jackie

    @Percysowner: McCarthy screwed up by reneging his promise to Biden when the debt default was everted. Had he kept his word, the budget would have been passed and all would be good. Except Kevin would have lost his Speakership.

    Oh wait….!!!🤔

  130. 130.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @schrodingers_cat: ​I have some priceless fountain pens from my father’s collection and I use them to write and draw.

    Good for you. I have a few tools from my old man and an uncle (including a smoothing plane my grandfather once used) and I treasure them all. As my Pop settled/fell into Alzheimers he started giving me his tools. I already had them all but just his passing them on to me made me feel like… family.

    Hard to explain, he and I had a difficult relationship, but I have kept a number of them.

  131. 131.

    Citizen Alan

    @unctuous: He probably won’t do it, but I certainly think Shitgibbon will at least consider the idea of becoming speaker and then sending out a lot of tweets saying that he sure hopes that nothing bad happens to Biden and.  Harris at the same time while he’s 3rd in line for the presidency. Wink, wink.

  132. 132.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @SpaceUnit: They’d nominate him if he asked them to do it. And he’d be third in line from the presidency. Sweet Jesus, I wish I hadn’t thought of that.

    How confident are you that POTUS has managed to comb all the goosestepping MAGAts out of the Secret Service? Or, if the bastards decide they need a figleaf of deniability, the mechanics who do the maintenance on Air Force 1/2 and Marine 1/2?

    Perilous times…

  133. 133.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Citizen Alan:

    No, I think Trump’s style is more like ‘I’m third in line for the job that IS MINE ANYWAY’ or maybe just ‘BIDEN AND HARRIS SHOULD DIE SO THAT I AM MADE PRESIDENT’.  I mean, that last one isn’t giving any orders, right?

  135. 135.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Uncle Cosmo: If I were Biden I’d make sure that one of either him or Harris is always outside of the bounds of the District of Columbia, where any crimes could arguably be fully pardoned by a hypothetical new President.

  137. 137.

    JML

    Heh. Of COURSE the GOP is blaming this on Democrats. That’s all they ever do. And our corpulent and moronic media in DC has happily gone along with it for years and years, sagely nodding and expressing concern about both parties while always making sure to never hold the responsible party to account. Can’t ever blame the GOP and only the GOP! That might displease the masters.

    McCarthy can go fry. He’s a bad guy, a feckless thug who deserves no sympathy for anything. The whole caucus is filled with lunatics and morons who can’t govern because they have no interest in governing and never have.

    Who the hell are they going to get as Speaker now? They couldn’t organize a one-car parade. I just hope they get the scorn and shame they deserve in the media…but I’m not holding my breath.

  140. 140.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie:

    McCarthy screwed up by reneging his promise to Biden when the debt default was everted. Had he kept his word, the budget would have been passed and all would be good.

    I totally agree.  Once McCarthy reneged on his agreement with Biden, and then pulled the bait and switch with Ukraine this week, McCarthy set the whole thing in motion.  Because of those two things I don’t see how the Dems had any other choice.

    The media story would have been that Dems kept McCarthy in office, Dems would have been seen as weak and feckless.

    This was a ballsy move today, which I think is good, though not without risk.  But McCarthy really left the Dems very little choice.

    Good for Dems for sticking together.  No freelancing.

  142. 142.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: I think Jeff Flake was suggested as a joke. It would be fun to see historians call the next 15 months “the Flake Congress” though.

    As for Tom Reed or Charlie Dent as a caretaker Speaker, that scenario would only be possible if Republicans become hopelessly deadlocked, I think.

  143. 143.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @unctuous:

    He wouldn’t ever consider it because he will see it as a huge step down from president. And the optics that it is an admission he lost the presidency.

    On the other hand, holding office made Trump immune to prosecution in a way that merely running for office did not. That might be an attraction for a desperate man.

  144. 144.

    WaterGirl

    @moonbat: I’m actually kind of surprised that McCarthy announced that he is not running for Speaker again.  I really think that in McCarthy’s mind, he’s the only real choice and they will beg him to come back.

    That’s the only explanation.

  146. 146.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @WaterGirl:

    I really think that in McCarthy’s mind, he’s the only real choice and they will beg him to come back.

    I think we’ve established by now that McCarthy’s grasp of what the House will vote for is seriously faulty.  That’s an argument that you’re right, not an argument that you’re wrong.  He could believe any god damn thing.  He’s Dunning-Kruger Napoleon, a strategic genius in his own mind and nowhere else.

  147. 147.

    moonbat

    @WaterGirl: It’s true that he has shown a surprising willingness to debase himself for “power” or at least an office with a shiny nameplate, but literally no one on either side of aisle will trust him now. What’s he going to do with a speakership should they beg him to take the job back?

  150. 150.

    Tony G

    @Roger Moore: Listening to NPR this evening, I was very mature in not smashing the radio with a hammer.  They were interviewing some Republican “consultant” who was pontificating about how McCarthy’s demise was due to “the current dysfunctional divisions in American politics”.  Of course, the guy got no pushback from the interviewer.  It’s the REPUBLICAN PARTY not “American politics” that is dysfunctional.

  151. 151.

    Frankensteinbeck

    My guess is that the shot at Nancy’s office is a sign of the upcoming GOP House strategy:  “Speaker vote?  What Speaker vote?  McHenry is in charge.  Maybe we’ll vote for a new Speaker eventually.”  Motivated not by liking him, but by wanting to hold onto majority power that would be lost if they accept they have to have a Speaker vote before doing anything else.

  152. 152.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: I’m curious how the RWNJ media is spinning all of this, but not insane enough to put myself through watching them. There’s gotta be a lot of hoops and loops going on trying to make the MAGAts look pure and innocent.

  154. 154.

    Tony G

    @Ksmiami: I’m old enough to remember when there were a handful of moderately liberal Republicans.  But that was a long, long time ago — before the “Reagan Revolution” of 1980.

  156. 156.

    unctuous

    @Geminid: If there’s anything TFG is desiring and feeling envious about the job right now is the attention who ever is currently pretending they are Speaker is getting.

  158. 158.

    Suzanne

    Trying to decide on the best nickname for My Kevin.

    Eight-month Kevin?

    Shady Kevin?

    Low-vote Kevin?

    House Majority Whipped?

  161. 161.

    cain

    @WaterGirl: ​
     
    I think he knows if he threw his hat in the ring it would only lead to even worse abuse. Right now, he’s a joke. Running again would make him even more of a joke – and he’s likely going to get primaried.

  163. 163.

    cain

    @moonbat: ​
     
    He’s thinking this is the old Democratic party who really really wants to be bi-partisan. Yeah, that ship has passed. This is an all new Democratic party who isn’t going to cave to anybody.

  165. 165.

    Shalimar

    @Frankensteinbeck: They can try to keep McHenry without a vote if they want to, but isn’t the rule now that any single member of the House can bring a motion to vacate?  That would include Democrats.

  167. 167.

    Bill Arnold

    @Shalimar:

    the rule now that any single member of the House can bring a motion to vacate

    That was my recollection, and the reporting at the time confirms:
    Under the new House rules passed Monday, only one member of Congress — Democrat or Republican — is needed to bring a “motion to vacate,” which forces a vote on removing the speaker. That would need only a simple majority of the House to pass to oust McCarthy. (Jan 10, 2023)
    Interesting times, indeed. I can now imagine some GOPers Rules Lawyering, saying that since he is not actually Speaker, a motion to vacate can’t be used, but that he nonetheless has all the powers of the Speaker – that pro tempore speaker is a Super Speaker, actually.

  169. 169.

    sdhays

    It’s pretty bizarre that the Speaker can be taken down and his handpicked replacement gets various unenumerated powers.

  171. 171.

    piratedan

    @lamh36: it’s kind of ironic isn’t it…. McCarthy got just as many votes for Speaker this time, as he did last time he was up for election from Democratic colleagues…. zero.

    Yet somehow this is the Dems’ fault.

  173. 173.

    sdhays

    I’m not shocked by the result, but I was surprised at how quickly the vote happened. I thought Qevin had a couple days to try to convince some people. I guess he went out like he came in – completely incapable of counting.

  174. 174.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sdhays: I heard someone say he could have delayed the vote [eta: 48 hours sticks in my mind, but I can’t remember the source], I think he thought he could win narrowly, get it over with and muzzle Gaetz, maybe he thought Dems like the “problem solvers’ would vote present to lower the margin he needed

  177. 177.

    Ksmiami

    @Tony G: would you hire someone to work for you who said he was totally against everything your organization stood for? That’s the current GOP vandal crew. They don’t believe in government at all, just as a means for earning spoils/grifting. And what we see today is the end stage of what Charles Pierce calls the Reagan prion disease…

  178. 178.

    sdhays

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s what I figure happened, but why would you do that without first talking to those “problem solvers”?

    It just amazes me how poor he and his team are at counting. It’s not calculus or even long division. He really is a moron.

  179. 179.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @moonbat: Yes, I was thinking the same thing, McCarthy and his a-hole bruhs just assumed the Dems would do as they were told and only found out the Dems hated McCarthy’s guts during the vote.

  181. 181.

    RaflW

    @Baud: Yep. Its similar (and even related to) their Roe problem. After decades of bellowing about murder and whathave you, they can’t really now say “Oh, but a 15 week compromise is okay.” (Not that I accept the 15 week frame, but they can’t even start to negotiate from there.)

    These selfsame arsonists have said over and over that the Democrats are tantamount to satanic devils. So bipartisanship is off the table.

    Oh. Well!

  182. 182.

    Ken

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: McCarthy and his a-hole bruhs just assumed the Dems would do as they were told

    But they didn’t bother to tell the Democrats to do anything, much less ask them to do something, or even ask what they intended to do. I’d say there was some magical thinking involved — “I want this to happen, therefore it will happen, and I don’t have to do anything for it to happen.”

  183. 183.

    The Lodger

    @lamh36: this lobbyist guy is accusing McHenry of doing homophobic shit and he thinks the Republicans would treat that as a potential ethics violation? Bwa ha ha ha ha…

  186. 186.

    Shalimar

    @RaflW: And their biggest Roe problem is that Roe was the compromise.  Blackmun was appointed by Nixon.  Roe was his attempt to provide an acceptable conservative legal framework.  And then Republicans spent 50 years organizing against it.

  187. 187.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Shalimar:

    If you vote for arsonists to run the fire department, you shouldn’t be surprised when your house burns down.

    Might be a tad too long, but – nominated for rotating tag!

  188. 188.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ksmiami: [T]he current GOP vandal crew … don’t believe in government at all, just as a means for earning spoils/grifting.

    IMO Beau of the Fifth Column puts it best: They don’t want to govern, they aim to rule – and we lesser folk had best do as we are told.

  190. 190.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ksmiami:

    ​@Uncle Cosmo: this country would explode if something happened to Biden and Harris. Torn asunder.

    And who would that benefit? The guys who’ve been bankrolling the Thugs, y’think mebbe? Like Vova, Tsar of All The Russias – and the worldwide oligarch-wannabes that stand behind him and think they can use him to their own ends?**

    Welcome to World War O, boychik.

    ** And who’s to say they’re wrong? Yeah, Vova is a whackjob of a qualitatively different sort – with nuclear missiles and international death squads – and you’d think they’d’ve learned from how badly that worked out back in the Germany of 1933. But did it really, for them? How many German industrialists, financiers and other bazillionaires were sent to the gallows for having put that böhmische Gefreite in the Chancellery and aided and abetted the ensuing tens of millions of deaths? Off the top of my head I can’t think of a single one. I wonder if the Oligarchy wouldn’t be quite willing to sacrifice a couple billion of us lesser types if it put them in control for the next few hundred years…

  191. 191.

    artem1s

    @smith:This sounds like he’s assuming he can employ all of a regular Speaker’s powers.

    The so called Secret Speaker thing was put in place after 9/11 so the House could conduct business in an emergency, without having to go thru an election, if the elected speaker couldn’t preside. Problem is it’s never been tested before. And no one has ever tried acting as speaker under these conditions. I would assume the GOP will behave as if this is a regular, between terms situation, and McHenry will probably comply and not do anything outside getting an election going. But you never know.

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