Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Fight them, without becoming them!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

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

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

You cannot shame the shameless.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

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Ousted (Open Thread)

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I’m not watching the House clown show, but I read that His Kevin was ousted, so I figured y’all need a thread to talk about it. Here it is!

We’re watching the American League Wild Card game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers. Our Rays aren’t doing so well right now (0 – 4). So error prone — something like 4 in 5 innings. Rally cap time.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

387Comments

  5. 5.

    Gin & Tonic

    I didn’t follow it at all, having spent the afternoon at the beach. After the summer we had here in New England, you have to take every great day that comes up. Plus it may have been the last day of swimming season.

  7. 7.

    Alison Rose

    Aw, man, we were getting close to a TBogg unit in the last post. Would’ve been Kevin’s second!

    Christ, what a shitshow. How anyone in this country can proudly call themselves a Republican is just beyond me.

  8. 8.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I’m not watching the House clown show

    The best part was when they yanked McCarthy’s pants down around his ankles, hoisted him into the air with a wedgie, and carried him around the chamber with his feet dangling while the freedom caucus shrieked and threw peanuts.

  9. 9.

    Anonymous At Work

    I’m mostly curious who, besides Hakeem Jefferies, will throw their name into the mix at all.  Is there precedent for “HELL NO!” being elected Speaker of the House?  What about NOTA?

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    Here’s hoping Ds help low-info voters/our snooze media ‘connect the dots’:

    • Gingrich had to leave b/c the House GOP is insane and can’t govern
    • Boehner had to leave b/c the House GOP is insane and can’t govern
    • Ryan had to leave b/c the House GOP is insane and can’t govern
    • and now…McCarthy has to leave b/c the House GOP is insane and can’t govern

    Period, full stop.  These people are nuts and should not be in charge of a 7-11 (no offense to 7-11 operators everywhere)

  11. 11.

    CaseyL

    The House is now in recess.

    What happens next?

    I imagine they start to find a new Speaker.  I wonder how eager (or not) McHenry is to give up the gavel.

  13. 13.

    Alison Rose

    From NYT

    The two parties will now hold meetings to choose speaker nominees. The big question is whether Kevin McCarthy tries to win back his speakership, which seems unlikely given that eight hardline Republican members just voted against him. It only takes a simple majority in the Republican conference, however, to put forward a nominee for speaker.

    Honestly, it would be monumentally pathetic for McCarthy to try to win it back. Try to save one Planck-length molecule of dignity, Kev.

  16. 16.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Back to being a back bencher.

    He doesn’t even have a committee assignment.

    He has to vacate his office for some shit hole, no more chauffeur, no more security, no more gubmint jet, cut in salary.

     

    From my Kevin to bye Kevin.

  18. 18.

    Nukular Biskits

    Back home.

    Just in time to see my Republican congresscritter blame House Democrats for the motion to vacate:

    Rep. Mike Ezell Twitter

    For the non-Twitterers:

    When Republicans spend our time arguing about egos instead of fighting for conservative values, Joe Biden wins.  That’s why Democrats are unanimously supporting the motion to vacate.

    For the first time since the Clinton administration, the House is on track to fund the government through regular, constitutional order.  We cannot lose sight of that goal. I voted and will continue to vote to move past these distractions and get back to doing our jobs.

  19. 19.

    lafcolleen

    Speaker Pro Temp is Patrick McHenry. So he was the designated person on the secret list??

     

    Is that a McCarthy special or does everyone do that when Speaker?

     

    And he smacked that gavel down pretty hard when he called the recess – was it just the fun novelty of going bang? Or was he imaging it was Gaetz’s head?

  20. 20.

    Scout211

    Welp. My streak is still alive. Always wrong, all the time when trying to predict how these crazies will act in the House. LOL.

    I predicted that the GOP would find enough votes to table.  Oh well, maybe next time I can end that streak.

  21. 21.

    Ksmiami

    The GOP is a goddamn menace and an insane clown posse. And don’t get me started on their dumbfuck voters

  23. 23.

    jonas

    @Alison Rose: I don’t see how he has a path back to the speakership w/o Democratic votes and he’s SOL there. Had he not gone around stabbing Dems in the back at every opportunity, particularly not holding his caucus to the budget agreement reached earlier this year, maybe there’d be some wiggle room.

    Who knows? Maybe he’s quietly relieved not to have to deal with this shit anymore. On the other hand, who else does?

  26. 26.

    Maxim

    JWR, from late in the last thread, re Mike Garcia:

    I really hope the same person who twice ran and lost to him doesn’t try again.

    I’m still salty about Katie Hill. But yeah, Christy Smith has been pretty thoroughly smeared by the GOP, so she might not run again, even though she only lost last time by 333 votes. But the district has been redrawn since Hill won, which is why it’s gone from D+12 to R+6. So a candidate who appeals more to the district’s voters would be nice.

  27. 27.

    Leto

    @Alison Rose: he gave away the entire power of the office to have the title. If he has to give that Planck-length of dignity, I’m sure he’ll try. Take a f’ing hint, MuhKevin.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    And will he (or any R candidate, for that matter) be forced to make all kinds of wild promises to secure enough votes, the way our previous, former, ex-Kevin did in January?

  30. 30.

    jonas

    @Scout211: Yeah, I was surprised that Gaetz was able to count votes better than McCarthy, too. Well, he’ll be feeling his oats over this for a while.

  31. 31.

    Old School

    Did McCarthy have to give up his old office space in January?  Is he now office-less?

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Olivia Beavers @Olivia_Beavers
    There is a group of House Rs huddled and praying on the House floor Rep. Ann Wagner appears to be crying

    James Madison and John Quincy Adams also reported to be quietly weeping. Thomas Jefferson grimaces in distaste.

  37. 37.

    Elizabelle

    Do you think Kevin McCarthy will retire?  Why would you stay?

    (OK, maybe he’s not wild about actually living in the Bakersfield area.)  What will he do next?  I’m not that interested, but a tad curious.

  40. 40.

    CaseyL

    @SiubhanDuinne: ​

    Excellent question, and the answer is “Almost certainly.”

    The GOP is composed entirely of people who can’t be trusted for a nanosecond.

    I wonder what Elise Stefanik is up to right now…

  41. 41.

    eclare

    Holy shit!  I just got in from a yummy birthday lunch with some relatives so I haven’t been watching the news.

    Entering my 55th year circling the sun.

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    @Anonymous At Work:

    I just saw a mildly interesting opinion piece about this that suggested making the Speaker vote a secret ballot.  I suspect it would result in a very different election.  I don’t know if it would result in Hakeem Jeffries being elected Speaker, but it would probably keep from repeating the insanity that was the previous Speaker election.  The Gaetz’s of the world wouldn’t be as prone to throw a monkey wrench in the works if they were prevented from publicly preening about it.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SFBayAreaGal:

    I’m cheering for the Jays because they have my favorite ex SF Giants 1st baseman Brandon Belt.  Let’s Go Jays Brandon.

    If ever there were a time for this meme…!

  44. 44.

    PaulWartenberg

    It’s not that the House Republicans want a competent Speaker leading them.

    The House Republicans want chaos to ensure nothing gets done and government stays broken.

  45. 45.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Nukular Biskits:

    [Rep. Mike Ezell says:] For the first time since the Clinton administration, the House is on track to fund the government through regular, constitutional order.

    I don’t quite get why Ezell thinks that is the case.

  47. 47.

    Anoniminous

    The House is in Recess.

    I ain’t even going to comment on how appropriate the word “Recess” is for this House.

  49. 49.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Wait, I thought it wasn’t supposed to be in the Dems’ interests to have McCarthy ousted?

  50. 50.

    hueyplong

    @Roger Moore: A couple of weeks of fruitless voting on the speakership is a couple more weeks of Republicans testing the floor for public disdain before turning once again to Hunter Biden.

  54. 54.

    Doug

    Anybody quick with song lyrics? Seems like “Busted” that Johnny Cash sang could be transformed into “Ousted.”

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    @RedDirtGirl: The Speaker doesn’t have to be a current member. Maybe Jeff Flake will want the job. Our Ambassador to Turkiye has probably been having a wonderful hanging out with the jolly President Erdogan, but you can have too much of a good thing!

  60. 60.

    Martin

    I mean, the easy solution here is for 10-ish safe republicans to decide that shared governance is needed, and to get behind a candidate that will get the Dem caucus on board. Funding the government is pretty easy if everyone just sticks to the agreement that was already reached a few months ago. But that means that the impeachment effort dies without a vote. That means Dems get a vote on rules, and more of a say in committees. I don’t see any alternative – it’s just a matter of how long does it take for a handful of republicans to figure that out. I’m not holding my breath.

  63. 63.

    Suzanne

    @Alison Rose:

    Honestly, it would be monumentally pathetic for McCarthy to try to win it back. Try to save one Planck-length molecule of dignity, Kev. 

    My Kevin has no such thing.
    Remember Boehner whistling ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH to announce his resignation?! That actually made me feel the tiiiiiiniest bit more warmly toward that guy.
    Kevin. Bruh. Take the L, quit, and go cash in elsewhere.

  71. 71.

    smith

    Since way back in 2016, many of us predicted that TFG and his Goober army would eventually fracture the GQP. I guess this is what it looks like. Too bad so much of the party is by now locked down into gerrymandered positions, as well as being either terrified to cross the Goobers, or true believers in the godship of the Orange One. I really don’t think this country needs or wants two extreme right wing parties, so this battle is likely to continue to play out for a while.

  73. 73.

    Martin

    @Matt McIrvin: Because of what I said above – I think the only way the house can stabilize is through shared governance, which is a return to regular order.

    Basically, instead of the speaker only allowing things to go to a vote if they can get is passed just out of their party, you throw everything on the floor for a vote – so you actually get bipartisan legislation. Once you agree to that – everyone can trivially ignore Bobert and Gaetz because they lose their veto power.

  78. 78.

    Craig

    So, not as well versed in House procedure as I used to be, if Kevin puts his name in again are we still under the same rules where any one crackpot can make a motion to vacate? Is that rule in place for anyone crazy enough to stand for Speaker, until the next Congress?

  81. 81.

    Central Planning

    This is one of the updates at WaPo from when they were debating the speaker’s removal:

    Were you wondering why Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and those voting to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are speaking from the Democratic side of the aisle? Well, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, Republicans would not allow him to speak from their side. The vitriol within the GOP conference against Gaetz is palpable, and we are all seeing it based on this small move.

    That makes me lol. It’s a great day to be a Democrat. Who am I kidding, it’s always a great day to be a Democrat!

  82. 82.

    Shalimar

    @Scout211: I was sure Dems would all vote present and let Republicans fight it out rather than risk getting someone worse.  But apparently McCarthy’s lying to everyone is so bad that it’s hard to imagine anyone being worse.

  86. 86.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Wait, I thought it wasn’t supposed to be in the Dems’ interests to have McCarthy ousted?

    It’s not the Democrats’ responsibility to support McCarthy. It was supposed to be the Republicans responsibility to unite behind their own Speaker, and they can’t even do that.

  88. 88.

    Roger Moore

    @hueyplong:

    With a secret ballot, the Speaker might not need to make insane concessions to the Klown Kar Kaucus to get elected and thus be able to shut down nonsense like Hunter Biden hearings and impeachment proceedings.

  90. 90.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Ksmiami:

    this is where extreme gerrymandering have gotten us: A party that’s honestly in the minority holding legislative power to do nothing but pander to their own self-interests because that gerrymandering removes any accountability they would suffer from voters back home.

  91. 91.

    hueyplong

    @Shalimar: Right.  You just can’t let it go when someone cuts a high-pressure deal with you and then instantly reneges.

    Kinda like they shoulda stopped Hitler at Munich.  They were just asking for trouble..

  92. 92.

    Ron

    This is both funny and scary. The clown show is going to put some real lunatic in place and the govt is going to shut down in Nov. Maybe for a long time. And Ukraine isn’t going to get what they need.

  93. 93.

    MisterDancer

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):”we” aren’t playing it. We’re laughing here, but it’s thru pain. No one on this site is 100% happy at the circumstances, just trying to make the best of a shitty situation.

    Voting someone who has shown bad faith in every way back in doesn’t solve a thing. McCarthy has shown now in multiple efforts that he’ll backstab the Democratic Party in a heartbeat; his word is worthless! It’s only the fact that rich people, too, would be harmed over the debt ceiling and shutdown issues that he’s been at all someone who we could deal with. Absent those? He’s useless.

    Voting McCarthy back in at this point, even if he promised us the moon verbally, would be useless. We know he’s a liar! So we’ll need to deal with Someone Else, and the House Democrats will have to see how that pans out, and if there are deals (likely as actual House rules, this time) to be cut to gain “our” votes.

    Otherwise, we are, yes, reduced to mocking and laughing. Sometimes it’s like that, and it sucks.

  94. 94.

    Mathguy

    What a bunch of fuckwits. I guess they’re trying to emulate the antebellum Congress. All they need is an assault using a cudgel.

  97. 97.

    JerrytheMacGuy

    Trump’s “My Kevin“ is now his “Bye Kevin”.

    When will Republicans learn that, with Trump, loyalty only flows one way?

  98. 98.

    RaflW

    BTW, of all the curious things for a GOP Rep to do, Nancy Mace told reporters she’s mad that Kevin never helped advance a bill to increase access to birth control. “If you promise women you’re going to help them, you damn better well do it,” NMace says. Wow, mad enough to bounce him

    Another bind the GOP finds itself when the whole right flank is virulently opposed to people enjoying sex. Good luck with the next Speaker, Nancy. You’ll need it.

  99. 99.

    PaulWartenberg

    Just a reminder, the Democratic Party under Nancy Pelosi held a slim majority, and yet she was able to wield full control of the Speaker’s office without fear of getting ousted by her progressive / socialist extremists because at the end of the day every Democratic elected official knew they needed to work together to get shit done.

  105. 105.

    Shalimar

    @Captain C: The abuse allegations against Hastert came to light after he retired.  Republicans lost control of the House in the 2006 election and he resigned from Congress rather than running for Minority Leader.

  106. 106.

    Dan B

    @eclare: Happy Memphis Birthday to you!

    My partner’s kitty got back from the vet – two kinds of crystals plus stones – was there overnight so is verrrry happy to be home.  Hope you’re as happy as Wobbles kitty.

  108. 108.

    RaflW

    @PaulWartenberg: Gaetz is purported to have admired The Squad. But he obviously didn’t pay any attention to the ways that they found common ground with Madam Speaker and got shit done.

  110. 110.

    SiubhanDuinne

    A hundred comments in half an hour. At this pace, we’ll hit TBogg levels on this thread by 7:20pm.

  112. 112.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Mathguy:

    What a bunch of fuckwits. I guess they’re trying to emulate the antebellum Congress. All they need is an assault using a cudgel.

    This is not a joke. Considering the physical assault on Pelosi’s husband.

  115. 115.

    Alison Rose

    LOL someone already updated his Wikipedia page

    Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 55thspeaker of the United States House of Representatives from January to October 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he currently represents California’s 20th congressional district.[2][3][4] Following a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker on October 3, 2023, he was ousted from his position,[5] making his tenure the third shortest speaker tenure in U.S. history, and the first speaker in history to be removed from the role during a legislative term.

    But also, this is confusing. From NYT:

    Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told CNN that McCarthy had mocked his Christian faith. Burchett, when asked by Jake Tapper, would not clarify what McCarthy had said. But, he said: “That’s what sealed it right there for me. I said, this is not the quality or the character of person that I want as speaker.”

    McCarthy is a Baptist. Why would he be mocking someone for being a Christian???

  117. 117.

    Craig

     

    @SFBayAreaGal: my lawyer loves him. She decided in 2012 that he had a nice butt and spent years at the bar watching games chanting Big Butt Belt, Big Butt Belt …..

  120. 120.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Alison Rose: ​
     Just came back from my errands and saw your hilarious “feed him to the spoonbills” comment in the previous thread. Nice one! :)

  121. 121.

    Roger Moore

    @PaulWartenberg:

    The basic difference is that the most extreme Democrats are unhappy because they want the government to do more, while the most extreme Republicans are unhappy because they want the government to do less.  There are some leftists who think the path to power is to let everything collapse and sweep in to pick up the pieces, but they’re rarely elected to office.  That means the leftiest members of Congress will probably vote for most stuff the party wants because they’re happier getting half a loaf than nothing at all.  In contrast, the rightiest members of Congress are very happy voting to throw sand in the gears, because that’s the best way of ensuring nothing gets done.  It’s one more way the parties are not mirror images of each other.

  123. 123.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Go Jays, because one of my favorite ex SF Giants player Brandon Belt is on the team.

    Go Rangers because of an ex SF Giants 3x World Series coach Bruce Bochy is coaching the team

    Go Astros because Dusty Baker was a ex SF Giants player, coach and manager.

    Also anyone that beats the Dodgers.

  124. 124.

    Alison Rose

    JFC

    Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, told reporters she voted to oust McCarthy because of broken promises he made. “As a fiscal conservative, I’m angry. As a woman, I’m deeply frustrated,” she said, saying McCarthy had promised, among other things, to help women gain greater access to birth control after Roe v. Wade was overturned, but had failed to do so.

    Hey, guess what, Nancy. There IS a party who wants to help people have access to birth control!!!!! You could always switch, or you can keep allying yourself with a party that views you as a second-class citizen.

  125. 125.

    Shalimar

    @Ron: The Republican caucus is split 210-8 among those who voted, so the extremists don’t control them yet.  Let’s see who they agree on and what that person has to concede before we assume the worst.

  126. 126.

    bbleh

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): @MisterDancer: I still think for the Dems the risks of this situation are greater than the rewards, but evidently MisterDancer has it right: Qevin so thoroughly burned his bridges to the Dems that supporting him, even indirectly by abstaining, became untenable.

    Nancy Smash! said he was a moron, but it still surprises me that a legislator at that level evidently was unable to cut a deal even to save his own skin (not to mention that, with a razor-thin margin, he so thoroughly and systematically alienated the entire Dem caucus).

    Maybe it’s for the best.  Whoever is elected can’t be any dumber.  And in the (imo unlikely, but evidently I’m no seer) event that he’s re-elected … oy.

  129. 129.

    Righteous Hazard

    Kevin McCarthy earned tf outta this. I could name many reasons why, but one stands out:

    His trip to MAL to kiss the ring, while the Capital was still recovering from the traitorous attack on 1/6.

    He thought he was buying the speakership by stabbing America in the back. His fellow shitstains stabbing him in the back is just him learning what he really bought.

  132. 132.

    RaflW

    @Craig: As I understand it, yes. The Rules package is passed right away and regulates that biennium. Can it be revised? Dunno.

  134. 134.

    Shalimar

    @Alison Rose: Do we really want Mace?  I know she’s supposed to be a moderate in that party, but she has said some really insane shit the last few months.

  135. 135.

    eclare

    @Alison Rose:

    That is weird.  A few days ago Burchett said although he disagreed with Pelosi about everything, (paraphrasing) she got shit done.

    Sounds like there was no love lost between those two.

  136. 136.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @eversor:

    This is some of the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen.

    I usually keep you in the pie safe because, well, we all know why, but I have to agree with every word of this comment.

  137. 137.

    Marcopolo

    Sure someone has written this already but no time to read all the comments…

    Remember, it’s the D’s fault for not saving McCarthy’s dumb @ss!

    Well, I suspect there will be at least a few R congresscritters & incompetent both sides reporters saying that.  With a straight face.  Lmao 🤣

    Slightly worried how anything now gets accomplished in Congress but happy to see the R caucus disintegrate into finger pointing & good riddance to bad rubbish McCarthy!

  140. 140.

    Roger Moore

    @Alison Rose:

    McCarthy is a Baptist. Why would he be mocking someone for being a Christian???

    Because the charge is bullshit.  Whoever said it is either exaggerating, repeating someone else’s lie, or flat out lying themselves.  If a Republican Representative tells you the sky is blue, you’d better check it yourself to make sure it isn’t pink.

  142. 142.

    RaflW

    @bbleh: It was likely a Hobson’s Choice (edit) Sophie’s Choice, but if nothing else, I really respect that Jeffries and his team got unity and it held and I think some old-time Republicans still lingering in their caucus may finally get that the Dems won’t be knuckling or buckling. And I hope that shifts the math on a few things … once the dumbasses in their own caucus figure out how to have a speaker again.

  143. 143.

    MisterDancer

    @hueyplong: Don’t be too quick to assume that Burchett isn’t simply lying.

    Honestly, in this case, and given all the other dumb-assed things to come out of McCarthy’s mouth? Makes a ton of sense to me that McCathy said something foolish about prayer, and Burchett final-strawed himself thru that.

  144. 144.

    lowtechcyclist

    @eclare:

    Holy shit!  I just got in from a yummy birthday lunch with some relatives so I haven’t been watching the news.

    Entering my 55th year circling the sun.

    Happy birthday, youngster!

  147. 147.

    Jackie

    @Suzanne: Poor Kevin will no longer be TIFG’s MyKevin. I wonder if that realization has hit Kevin yet?

    I’m curious; what will TIFG’s first social media re Loser Kevin be?🤔

  148. 148.

    Ken

    @Captain C: And Dennis Hastert, the only one you didn’t list here, ultimately got busted for raping kids.

    Actually, he got busted for structuring of bank withdrawals and lying to the FBI, which he did to conceal his hush-money payments to one of his abuse victims. The sexual abuse was revealed during the trial, but could not be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.

    I know all of this because I live in an area that was busily renaming a lot of “Dennis Hastert Boulevards” and “Dennis Hastert High Schools” about a decade ago.

  149. 149.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Gaetz knows what he is doing. He’s shutting down the House so that nothing else can get done, both to protect his own ass from the Ethics investigation that is now on hold until a new Speaker is chosen, and to force a shutdown in 43 days if he and his wingnut allies block any new Speaker from getting chosen by then.

    The alternative is to have Republicans cross the aisle to put a Democratic Speaker in office, but that would expose those Republicans to attacks as traitorous RINOs, so none of them will.

    This circus did not end well back in January, merely delayed until today. and Gods help us, it will keep going.

  150. 150.

    Roger Moore

    @Shalimar:

    I’d be willing to accept Mace for two reasons:

    1. Every D vote brings us that much closer to Speaker Jeffries.
    2. She is most likely saying a lot of that dumb shit to win over the Republican base.  If she’s trying to win over the Democratic base instead, she’ll say something different.  It’s amazing how quickly people who abandon the Republican party stop talking nonsense.
  151. 151.

    Geminid

    @Alison Rose: Maybe McCarthy and Burchett fought over Calvinism. Baptists can get really worked up about Calvinism. It’s probably their biggest doctrinal wedge issue.

    Just sayin’.

  153. 153.

    Shalimar

    @Alison Rose: McCarthy says he’s a Baptist.  There are a lot of politicians who would be athiests if it was socially acceptable.  It’s not, so they still claim the religion they were raised in.  Not saying that necessarily applies to Kevin.  But it wouldn’t surprise me.

  155. 155.

    hueyplong

    @MisterDancer: I’m willing to bet a small amount of money that objective people would deem a stretch whatever constituted the “insult to his faith.”

  158. 158.

    Fair Economist

    @Alison Rose: I think Nancy Mace is trying to work on her “moderate” credentials for the 2024 general.

    With a side of wishful thinking that she might become a compromise Speaker with a deal with the Dems.

  159. 159.

    artem1s

    @Shalimar: sounds to me like Jeffers may have already identified a ringer they can get behind. can’t imagine who that would be but I have a hard time believing the GOP can muster up enough votes for anyone that will please the Chaos Caucus.

  162. 162.

    Kathleen

    @Jeffro: I’m wondering if any of our prestigious national papers of record have bothered to provide (cough) “context” and history of Rethugs trying to burn the House and the country down.  That would be illuminating. Oh wait….that’s not their job.

  164. 164.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Martin: I wouldn’t either. I would not be surprised if it took a shut down for them to figure it out.

  167. 167.

    lowtechcyclist

    @PaulWartenberg:

    Remember when Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy were the future of the GOP?

    Call ’em the Cantor Set.  They’ve been stupid in uncountably many ways, and have measure zero.

  168. 168.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Shalimar:

    Do we really want Mace?  I know she’s supposed to be a moderate in that party, but she has said some really insane shit the last few months.

    There are NO moderates in the Republican Party. Not anymore. Not since the Culture War took away all sensibilities.

    Today, the factions in the GOP are between the Rational and the Irrational. And even the Rational members are hard-core conservatives. They just do a better job of playing well with others.

  170. 170.

    Anoniminous

    @PaulWartenberg: ​
     

    This circus did not end well back in January, merely delayed until today.

    As I recall there was a consensus back then McCarthy wouldn’t last the full term.

  171. 171.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Trying to remember who Patrick McHenry reminds me of. I’m going with Les Nesman’s younger brother

    Howard Mortman @HowardMortman
    The Rep. Patrick McHenry gavel slam ….

    Nicolle Wallace has dragged Tweety Matthews down from the attic for some reason. He’s still a babbling idiot. See if he can get through this segment without trying to flirt creepily and wheezily at her

  173. 173.

    Ken

    @PaulWartenberg: Remember when Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy were the future of the GOP?

    That assessment was mostly right, just not in the way that the writer or any of those three thought at the time.

  175. 175.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): “Wait, I thought it wasn’t supposed to be in the Dems’ interests to have McCarthy ousted?”​

    @MisterDancer:””we” aren’t playing it. We’re laughing here, but it’s thru pain. No one on this site is 100% happy at the circumstances, just trying to make the best of a shitty situation.
    [good stuff deleted for brevity]
    Otherwise, we are, yes, reduced to mocking and laughing…. ” ​
     

    …and writing postcards to GOTV for the Democrats. Tuesday and Saturday nights on this excellent blog.

    (Goku, are you getting back in the game for postcards? Hope so!)

  177. 177.

    Geminid

    @Fair Economist: Since redistricting, Mace’s seat is more safely Republican.* I think the deal with Mace is that Lindsey Graham’s Senate seat will likely open up in 2026, and she wants it.

    * A lawsuit under the VRA could change that, though.

  178. 178.

    Jinchi

    @Michael Bersin: Is the speakership actually vacant?  What about the “secret list” of successors McCarthy supposedly wrote up?

    Of course, I suppose he might never have bothered to tell anyone who was on it.

  179. 179.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    Maybe McCarthy and Burchett fought over Calvinism. Baptists can get really worked up about Calvinism. It’s probably their biggest doctrinal wedge issue.

    Well, they do act like a bunch of 6 year olds who are dumber than a stuffed tiger.

  184. 184.

    Brachiator

    @Marcopolo:

    & good riddance to bad rubbish McCarthy!

    He may be back.

    Also, too, the GOP has got a lot more rubbish teed up and ready to go.

    Strange days, indeed.

  185. 185.

    Jackie

    Today’s news just keeps on getting better!

    ”Poor” Donald….🤭

    Donald Trump is no longer rich enough for the country’s most exclusive club. With an estimated $2.6 billion fortune, he is $300 million shy of the cutoff for The Forbes 400 ranking of America’s richest people, the annual measurement that Trump has obsessed over for decades, relentlessly lying to reporters to try to vault himself higher on the list.

    His net worth is down more than $600 million from a year ago. The biggest reason: Truth Social, his social-media business. Trump once envisioned a significant percentage of the country logging onto the platform. But that never happened. Roughly 6.5 million have signed up so far, about 1% of the total on X (né Twitter). Trump’s 90% stake in Truth Social’s parent company has plummeted in value from an estimated $730 million to less than $100 million.

    Also in trouble: his office buildings, which are down by an estimated $170 million…

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2023/10/03/donald-trump-drops-off-the-forbes-400-for-second-time-in-3-years/

  189. 189.

    Anonymous At Work

    @Roger Moore: Nope. most that would happen is Kev-kev would be back in Speaker for a hot second, before being bounced again.  Also, I would very much think that secret ballots are unconstitutional.  Accountability is meaningless if your votes aren’t public.

  190. 190.

    Elizabelle

    @Geminid:  Laughing.

    I kept seeing that Young Guns book in bins at the Dollar Store in the Richmond area (Eric CantorLand).  Always amused; never bought it.  No one else ever would, either.

  192. 192.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Marcopolo: Remember, it’s the D’s fault for not saving McCarthy’s dumb @ss!

    We should really have a pool over the first pundit that does it. lol

  194. 194.

    Roger Moore

    @eversor:

    Who fucks with a judge?

    Interestingly, it wasn’t fucking with the judge that really got Trump in trouble; it was fucking with his staff.  The judge may figure he can take it and would rather tough it out than risk seeming partial.  He’s not going to let Trump attack the people who work for him and who don’t have his resources to defend themselves.

  195. 195.

    hueyplong

    @eversor: Better still, a judge deciding his case in the absence of a jury.

    And still better still, the thing he did was a threat to the safety of an employee of the judge.

    There is no 11 dimension chess here.  Trump, under pressure in a situation he can’t control, melts down like Mike Lindell at the mere mention of “lumpy pillows” by opposing counsel.

  196. 196.

    RSA

    We’re watching the American League Wild Card game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers.

    Living in Baltimore again, I’m an Orioles fan again. Life is good.

  198. 198.

    Tony Jay

    @Jinchi:

    I suggested in the dead thread that Kevin is going to disappear under his desk, emerge wearing a false moustache, and hold up a signed super-secret document introducing him as ‘Representative Mark Cenvicthy’, duly appointed secret interim Speaker until such a time as a replacement is elected but you wouldn’t know him because he’s from a new district on the Canadian border.

    Or he decided to spit in the eye of his traitorous caucus by defining the post of interim Speaker as only open to serving Representatives who have served as elected Speaker already. Now who would qualify on those terms?

  200. 200.

    Roger Moore

    @Anonymous At Work:

    Also, I would very much think that secret ballots are unconstitutional.

    Secret ballots for Speaker were apparently the norm in the first half century or so the office existed.  If the people who wrote the Constitution thought it was fine to elect the Speaker by secret ballot, it seems hard to argue it would be unconstitutional.

  201. 201.

    RaflW

    I feel like a high school miscreant. I want to shout “Fight! Fight! Fight”:

    Chip Roy a few mins ago to/about Gaetz: “You want to come at me and call me a RINO you can kiss my ass! You go around talking your big game and thumping your chest on Twitter. Come in my office and have a debate mother —-!”

  202. 202.

    VFX Lurker

    @Maxim: I’m still salty about Katie Hill. But yeah, Christy Smith has been pretty thoroughly smeared by the GOP, so she might not run again, even though she only lost last time by 333 votes. But the district has been redrawn since Hill won, which is why it’s gone from D+12 to R+6. So a candidate who appeals more to the district’s voters would be nice.

    For what it’s worth, Christy Smith has already endorsed George Whitesides for CA-27.

  204. 204.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: The Wobs says thank you.  My little grey kitty is freaked out because the Wobs must smell like the animal hospital.  My Mike guy had several tough days when Wobs was squatting every ten minutes.

  206. 206.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: Have you ever checked out the Wartburg Watch blog? You might appreciate it. Wartburg Watch is put out by two evangelical women critical of most evangelical leadership. They don’t spend a lot of time on doctrinal controversies, but they are very anti-patriarchy and do not pull their punches.

  209. 209.

    JWR

    @Righteous Hazard:

    His trip to MAL to kiss the ring, while the Capital was still recovering from the traitorous attack on 1/6.

    And just this past Sunday, when he blamed Dems for failing to stop the shutdown nonsense. But why he thought kissing up to the worst element of his party was the smart thing to do, we may never know. (Of course, Nancy SMASH telling us he’s a moron might fill that bill.)

  210. 210.

    p.a.

    Breaking News!  In a show of party unity the Republican caucus has elected the rotting corpse of Ronald Reagan as the 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

    Mr. Reagan is unavailable for comment at the present time.

  211. 211.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @hueyplong: Indeed, a TRUE centralist pundit would have had the article blaming McCarthy getting booted as Speaker of the House on the Democrats written last December.

  212. 212.

    Alison Rose

    hahahahahaha

    On the question of a successor, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia and a McCarthy ally, says she is unsure who, if anyone, could gain the approval of enough House Republicans to win the gavel. “No one has the support in the conference like Kevin McCarthy does,” Greene told reporters.

    Marge out here just openly saying “we all suck and hate each other”

  213. 213.

    eclare

    @Tony Jay:

    Thanks!  I would only take a Cryin’ Kevin doll if I could stick pins in it like a voodoo doll.  I wonder if Elise Stefanik has one…

    Instead I am having a cocktail, and I just ordered my ticket to Beyonce’s Renaissance tour movie.  Happy birthday to me!

  214. 214.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Alison Rose:

    Hey, guess what, Nancy. There IS a party who wants to help people have access to birth control!!!!! You could always switch, or you can keep allying yourself with a party that views you as a second-class citizen.

    She doesn’t even have to commit to being a Democrat. She can just declare herself an Independent, and caucus with us sometimes. What ever she does, she should leave the GOP. Its the only way to keep a modicum of self-respect.

  215. 215.

    Pennsylvanian

    @Ron: Maybe not. The Wall Street paymasters and the big donors will order them back when it suits them, especially if it it might interfere with them renewing their passports for the holiday trip to Fiji.

  218. 218.

    Marcopolo

    @Brachiator: So, most human beings after being humiliated like what just happened to McCarthy would slink away & fuck if I know what next.  And it would be absolutely insane to run for the speakership again knowing the anarchical inclinations of the HFC.  But it is true that McCarthy might just be feckless enough to do it.  And he is certainly dumb & vain enough.

    We’ll just have to see how it plays out.  The best most sane option would be 10 or so of the 18 R reps in Biden districts joining w/ the D’s to elect Jeffries and have a bi-partisan governing majority but I’m pretty sure that is why that won’t happen.

  221. 221.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: Wobs is on several meds including antibiotics and for the stones they gave him lots of fluid so he could pass them.

    He’s exploring the garden with a definite vibe of making sure it’s all there.

  224. 224.

    satby

    @Dan B: Oh, glad Wobbles is better. My Simba has to have urinary tract food, and he likes Iams. Would barely touch the just as expensive Proplan or Science Diet. If you need to change foods. Chewy has the biggest bag for a reasonable price, and since now all my cats eat it, it lasts an entire month.

  225. 225.

    artem1s

    Can’t wait for TIFG to weigh in on loser McCarthy. he’s under no gag order when it comes to belittling the GOP.  He’s going to be itching to spew over something. Kevin’s failed TFIG, failed the Krazy Klown Kaucus and will probably fail to keep the government from shutting down and the market from falling. So he’s also failed the big money donors who backed him in January. So he’s not going to have a giant war chest to throw around the next election. I’m wondering if this might be at least part of the reason the Dems were fine with him losing the Speaker’s seat – upset the flow of money. Would love to him just up and resign his seat altogether, grab a paycheck from some lobbying firm, and go drinking with Boehner – that would really be awesome.

  228. 228.

    Geminid

    I caught the beginning of Mark Levin’s radio show, and he had Rep. Thomas Massie on.

    Levin: “Thomas Massie, what the hell just happened?”

    Massie: [rueful chuckle] “We just shot ourselves in the foot, that’s what happened.”

    I had to switch to the oldies station before Levin started yapping at Matt Gaetz like a psychotic terrier.

  231. 231.

    RaflW

    @Mathguy: I’d guess that at least a third of the GOP caucus feels shame after “getting their needs met.”
    I really do think they’re that sex-negative, some of ’em. Deeply warped. I’d feel bad for them, but I know there’s help out there for this problem and they have some of the best damn health insurance in the world (and it includes mental health parity cover, of course!).

  236. 236.

    Ken

    @Kirk: I’m thinking he admitted being part of the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.

    That’s the one where the punchline is “So I screamed ‘Heretic!’ and pushed him off the bridge,” right?

  237. 237.

    jonas

    @Roger Moore: I think that was Jonah Goldberg at the LA Times the other day. He also pointed out the idiocy of the so-called Hastert Rule, observing that what the Freedumb Caucus was holding McCarthy to was even more extreme — that any bill advanced to a vote had to have not just majority, but near unanimous one-party support. They can’t keep running things like this. But they will. Because they’re toddlers with oppositional defiant disorder.

  238. 238.

    Elizabelle

    How sad.  21 dead in a bus crash in Venice (the mainland; Mestre district), Italy.  Crashed through the guardrails on an overpass and overturned.

  239. 239.

    eversor

    @Alison Rose:

    Her religion, from Jesus on down, states she is second class.  For her to change she’d have to give that up.  Nobody with a cross or bible is going to.  And those on “our side” are fucking liars and fakes.

  242. 242.

    RaflW

    @Marcopolo: Assistant Democratic Leader Clyburn has confirmed that whenever there is a floor vote for Speaker, the Dems will again nominate Jeffries. Which follows the normal tradition.

    But I don’t really see any way he wins. And if that tiny possibility of Rs stepping over comes true, then what? He’d be incredibly constrained in what bills he could advance, I think, before the GOP radicals would just throw another MTV bomb.

  244. 244.

    zhena gogolia

    People just gave me this heartwarming story:

    A grandfather was arrested after he accidentally shot his 12-year-old grandson in the shoulder while officiating a wedding, according to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

    Michael Gardner, 62, of Odessa, Texas, was set to preside over the nuptials at Hillside Events in Denton, Nebraska, on Saturday evening, when he fired a blank round from his revolver into the air, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said during a press conference on Monday.

    Gardner was trying to “gain everybody’s attention” after the wedding got to a late start because “somebody forgot the rings,” the deputy explained, noting that the firearm was a Pietta 1860 snub nose revolver and the blank round contained black powder inside the casing with glue.

    “When he decided to cock back the hammer of this revolver, it slipped and it shot his grandson in the left shoulder, causing an injury,” Houchin said, adding that the boy was in close proximity to Gardner at the time — both of whom were outside.

  248. 248.

    Bill Arnold

    @PaulWartenberg:

    The House Republicans want chaos to ensure nothing gets done and government stays broken.

    Chaos is not stable.
    The Democratic Party leadership understands that they have a good chance of forging something reasonable out of this mess.
    Interesting times!

  249. 249.

    RaflW

    @jonas: Meanwhile the useless Problem Solver Caucus is making grinding and sputtering sounds. The GOPers are big mad because the Dems didn’t rescue their shit-ass speaker.

    As if these infantile fake-centrist Rs woulda lifted a finger for Ms. Smash (not that she needed it!).

  250. 250.

    Brachiator

    @Marcopolo:

    We’ll just have to see how it plays out.  The best most sane option would be 10 or so of the 18 R reps in Biden districts joining w/ the D’s to elect Jeffries and have a bi-partisan governing majority but I’m pretty sure that is why that won’t happen.

    Right now, I cannot see the Republicans giving up any power.  That’s a bridge too far for them.

    However, the fun is just beginning. Maybe there are some sane Republicans willing to work with the Democrats.

    We shall see.

  252. 252.

    Righteous Hazard

    Watching network coverage for the first time in a while. These guys just suck. On CBS, the anchor “felt chills” when the vote finalized. Then they went over to the Gaetz press gaggle for extended coverage.

    Switched to ABC in time for some dumb talking head to say he thought this stupidshit vote would be an “inflection point” for House GOP members to become “more serious about governing”.

    jfc

  255. 255.

    JWR

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Trying to remember who Patrick McHenry reminds me of. I’m going with Les Nesman’s younger brother

    Some commentator said on the NBC live feed that McHenry is in the running because he’s considered within his party to be one of those Elder Statesman types who everyone trusts. Buncha hooey, as far as I’m concerned.

  256. 256.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “shotgun wedding.”

    Anyhow, who gets guests’ attention by firing a fucking pistol in the air? Whatever happened to just, I dunno, tapping a spoon on your water glass, or saying “Excuse me, folks, if I could just have your attention…”?

  257. 257.

    leeleeFL

    @Righteous Hazard: I have never thought of the MAL trip as anything other than a B-job for the orange shit-stain.  McCarthy completely debased himself and democracy for this position he just had torn from him.

    I hope they all rot in hell.

  259. 259.

    Redshift

    @RedDirtGirl:

    Who the hell is going to want that job?

    Ever since Boehner, the main qualification to run for Speaker as a Republicans is being dumb enough not to realize it will be a miserable job.

    (Hard to believe there have only been two of them since Boehner quit.)

  263. 263.

    Dan B

    @Miki: Thanks for the great article.  I worked with progressive religious leaders for several years and was clear that I was not a believer but respected their integrity.  I even worked with some evangelical leaders.

  266. 266.

    Elizabelle

    @RaflW:

    He’d be incredibly constrained in what bills he could advance, I think, before the GOP radicals would just throw another MTV bomb.

    Ah, but I cannot see Hakeem Jeffries, or anyone sane, agreeing to the one member threshhold for a Motion to Vacate.  Which Kevs did once the votes were into double digits, I would guess.

  268. 268.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: In the last Congress, Democratic members of the Problem Solvers caucus supported Speaker Pelosi consistently. And in November, 2021 when she and President Biden got in a bind over advancing the Infrastructure bill without the BBB bill, Problem Solvers Democrats did good work lining up the votes to pass the Infrastructure bill.

  269. 269.

    gene108

    @Roger Moore:

    The basic difference is that the most extreme Democrats are unhappy because they want the government to do more, while the most extreme Republicans are unhappy because they want the government to do less. There are some leftists who think the path to power is to let everything collapse and sweep in to pick up the pieces, but they’re rarely elected to office. That means the leftiest members of Congress will probably vote for most stuff the party wants because they’re happier getting half a loaf than nothing at all. In contrast, the rightiest members of Congress are very happy voting to throw sand in the gears, because that’s the best way of ensuring nothing gets done. It’s one more way the parties are not mirror images of each other.

    It’s not even as deep as Republicans want less government.

    They’re just greedy self centered and self righteous assholes, who want to impose their will on everyone else. The idea of cooperation and sharing and creating win-win solutions is the sort of woke social emotional learning that they are now trying to smash.

  272. 272.

    Matt McIrvin

    @schrodingers_cat: Of course it is.

    I’m sure what most of the wingnut caucus is imagining is electing Trump Speaker of the House, then… somehow… eliminating Biden and Harris to make him Acting President (I’m sure if you ask, they’ll say it will be simultaneous impeachment and conviction, which is about as likely as me becoming King of Tonga).

  274. 274.

    Tony Jay

    *** Exclusive – From the Jackal News Breaking News Desk of Jackal News ***

     

    Marc Theissen

    Et Tu Hakeem? The Democrats Have Burnt Down The House. Now What?

    …whereas disagreements on the Republican side of the aisle, evoking though they did all the fire and fury of a good old family row, are mostly the legacy of ideological disputes as old as this great nation and as much a part of America’s inalienable DNA as Baseball cards and suburban white fences, the Democrats have no such excuse. Their smug, smirking gamesmanship in the face of the country’s need for Kevin McCarthy’s quietly effective leadership should blow away the last tattered wisps of credulity blinding our Liberal Media to the dangerous radicalism bubbling at the core of this once statesmanlike Party…

    *** Jackal News – We Distort, You Deride

  275. 275.

    Origuy

    Why I haven’t given up yet on Xitter. This stuff is free.

    GOP learns the hard way: Turning the base up too high blows out your Speaker
    — Lee Drutman ⚙️🏛 (@leedrutman) October 3, 2023

    Then you’re left with nothing but your tweeters
    — Rich Parr (@richparr79) October 3, 2023

  278. 278.

    Elizabelle

    Meanwhile, Austrians continue to learn from their history.

    WaPost:

    Austria has started work to turn the yellow-brick house where Adolf Hitler was born into a police station, in a long-running attempt to prevent the building from becoming a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis.

    After decades of back and forth on the ownership and fate of the dictator’s birthplace in Braunau am Inn, near Austria’s border with Germany, the Austrian government expropriated the building in 2017. The Ministry of the Interior then announced plans to turn it into a law enforcement hub, including a human rights training center for police officers.

    … The memorial stone outside the property is expected to remain, with the inscription: “For freedom, democracy and liberty. Never again fascism. Millions of dead are a warning.

     

    The top-rated  WaPost reader comment:

    With the same sort of thinking Mar-a-Lago should become a penitentiary.

    And then:

    turn it in to a library. Yahoos will avoid that place like the plague.

    Refugee resettlement center, drive them double-crazy.

  279. 279.

    MomSense

    I can’t believe there isn’t more of an outcry about how ridiculously incompetent the Republicans are.

    They cannot govern. They cannot even get along with each other. They have zero serious policy proposals that will help ordinary people. They support autocracy. They are fucking liars.  They want to deny bodily autonomy to women. They deny science, modern medicine, and climate change. They support autocracy.  I could go on.

  280. 280.

    Mousebumples

    @H.E.Wolf: writing postcards to GOTV for the Democrats. Tuesday and Saturday nights on this excellent blog.

    Yes! Coming up at 8pm blog time!

    I’m currently at the YMCA for my daughter’s gymnastics class. Then home for kiddo bedtimes, turn on the Milwaukee baseball game, and postcards!

  290. 290.

    schrodingers_cat

    Our morally decrepit news media, I am looking at you Peter Baker and Vichy Times have forgiven the R party an insurrection. This is small potatoes compared to that.

  291. 291.

    Ken B

    I think McCarthy has the same problem as a lobbyist as Sinema does.

    You can’t lobby effectively unless people are willing to pick up the phone or meet you face to face. Who’s going to do that for either of them?

  293. 293.

    Marcopolo

    @RaflW: well, assuming a Jeffries speakership came to pass, I’d also assume: 1) he wouldn’t give up power over holding the speakership in advance; and 2) he’d actually do the damned work to find out where the consensus of his supporters (D & R) fell so he’d only be bringing things to the floor that could pass.  Sidelining the HFC mutherfuggers would ease that I imagine.

  296. 296.

    Jackie

    @Dan B: If you’re a Costco member, their Kirkland Maintenance dry cat food is the generic Science Diet. I’ve used it for almost 25 years and my cats never had blockage or crystals eating that. I switched after my young male cat had back to back blockages – his urethra was too narrow – and had to have his plumbing modified. We had four cats, so what one ate, they all ate. They all lived into their late teens and beyond.

  297. 297.

    different-church-lady

    NYTs pitchbot-pitchbot: “Democrats wouldn’t save Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. Republicans now have no choice but to nominate Adolf Hitler in 2024.”

  300. 300.

    Righteous Hazard

    @leeleeFL: Heilemann on msnbc made a great point: “I will do anything for this job” is a position of weakness. Kissing the ring at MAL, endless concessions to Gaetz, including the ridiculously easy to trigger motion to vacate…McCarthy’s fatal flaw was that he was weak, both in character and politically.

    IMO it is important to note that this event is an opportunity to brand all republicans as weak. Because they are. They all liplocked to trumps taint in order to keep their positions,.

    I do not have a very high opinion of swing voters, but they must be convinced if we are to win a better world. Swing voters, in my experience, do not vote for weakness.

  301. 301.

    H.E.Wolf

    @zhena gogolia: ​[from the article] “…the blank round contained black powder inside the casing with glue….”

     Good grief. Do not, repeat do NOT, have any truck with black powder. It’s ultra dangerous.

    (Yes, I know the re-enactor communities use it. It gives me the heebie-jeebies, nonetheless.)

  303. 303.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    Have you ever checked out the Wartburg Watch blog? You might appreciate it. Wartburg Watch is put out by two evangelical women critical of most evangelical leadership. They don’t spend a lot of time on doctrinal controversies, but they are very anti-patriarchy and do not pull their punches.

    Never heard of it, tbh, but I’ll have to check it out.  My go-to these days is tellmewhytheworldisweird.blogspot.com, which is written by an ex-evangelical woman who is still firmly a Christian, and very anti-patriarchy and LGBTQIA+ affirming.

  305. 305.

    Tony Jay

    @eclare:

    I dunno. I should have worked in a dig at Nancy’s authoritarian tyranny and compared The Squad to French Revolutionary Knitters.

  308. 308.

    gene108

    @RaflW:

    But I don’t really see any way he wins. And if that tiny possibility of Rs stepping over comes true, then what? He’d be incredibly constrained in what bills he could advance, I think, before the GOP radicals would just throw another MTV bomb.

    In this hypothetical, if enough Republicans defect to support Jeffries as Speaker, all he has to do be able to do is strike a deal with the defectors that they stick to, to pass a proper budget and raise the debt ceiling.

    Just negate the chaos the Freedom Caucus causes on these issues, and let the 2024 election play out.

  312. 312.

    catclub

    @Alison Rose: ​
     

    Christ, what a shitshow. How anyone in this country can proudly call themselves a Republican is just beyond me.

    Vlad Putin will be pleased.

  313. 313.

    lowtechcyclist

    @eversor:

    And those on “our side” are fucking liars and fakes.

    As Terry Pratchett said, sin is treating people as things.

    And when you make statements like this about people you’ve never met, you are doing exactly that.

    Repent.

  316. 316.

    Craig

    @H.E.Wolf: when I was younger I worked on a couple of Survival Research Laboratories shows. I was working under a guy with a pyro license. I was building explosive shells. Combination of black powder and thermite for the charges. Extremely, extremely careful with that shit. Great fun in the show full of hand made jet engines, giant fire breathing robots fighting, and general mayhem. Heavy Duty Art.

  318. 318.

    Shalimar

    @RaflW: My understanding is that the rules agreed upon at the beginning of the term can’t be changed just because there is a new Speaker.  Which would mean Gaetz or Biggs or whoever could make a motion to vacate every day from now on if they want to.  I don’t think it would serve Democrats well to take control of this term.  Let Republicans crash and burn on their own.

  324. 324.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist: Those ladies picked an historically meaningful name for their blog. Wartburg Castle was the stronghold in Thuringia where an Elector stashed Martin Luther for a couple years, after he was summoned to the Diet of Worms.

  326. 326.

    Jackie

    Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) told CNN that he expects a resolution to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) from the GOP conference to come up.

    Meanwhile, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) added: “I’d love to have him out of the conference. He shouldn’t be in the Republican Party.”

    When it rains on the GQP, it COMES DOWN IN BUCKETS!

  328. 328.

    Maxim

    @VFX Lurker: Thanks. His resume is probably not a bad fit overall for the district; his NASA / business background might give him some cross-party appeal. His website mentions protecting choice, which should help with GOP women. Fingers crossed. I’ll be interested to see how his fundraising goes.

  330. 330.

    Geminid

    @Shalimar: The Rules would not automatically change with a new Speaker, but they can still be revised by a majority vote. Or at least I think they can.

    But it still might be better to bring a Republican like Tom Reed to be a caretaker Speaker. Once Jeffries was Speaker the blame for Congressional dysfunction might attach more to the Democrats. I think Jeffries will be Speaker soon enough anyway, with a solid majority after next year’s elections.

  331. 331.

    Maxim

    @Alison Rose: I’m generalizing here, but to most Baptists, Presbyterians are barely deserving of the label Christian. So it’s entirely possible McCarthy said something disparaging.

  333. 333.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Righteous Hazard: ​
     

    Switched to ABC in time for some dumb talking head to say he thought this stupidshit vote would be an “inflection point” for House GOP members to become “more serious about governing”.

    My predictometer’s been busted for most of a decade now, but my magic 8-ball’s saying, “are you fucking kidding me?!” There’s no way these 200+ clowns* are going to get more serious about governing. They don’t care about governing. All they want to do is make sound bites that get shown on Faux News.

    *No offense meant to A Thousand Clowns, which was a great movie.

  334. 334.

    cain

    @Tony Jay: ​
     

    I suggested in the dead thread that Kevin is going to disappear under his desk, emerge wearing a false moustache, and hold up a signed super-secret document introducing him as ‘Representative Mark Cenvicthy’, duly appointed secret interim Speaker until such a time as a replacement is elected but you wouldn’t know him because he’s from a new district on the Canadian border.

    Dude – that’s a robot chicken sketch! :D
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFihTRIxCkg

  336. 336.

    catclub

    @hueyplong: And still better still, the thing he did was a threat to the safety of an employee of the judge.

     

    I think the only plan here is to enrage the Judge into making an extreme ruling that will be overturned on appeal.

  337. 337.

    Shalimar

    I really hope they vote for Trump as House Speaker.  No Speaker has ever been their party’s nominee for president.  The idea that Trump is going to run the House while running for office while also spending months as a defendant at various criminal trials is hilarious to me.  He barely has the stamina for tweet storms.

  338. 338.

    catclub

    @artem1s: ​
     

    Kevin’s failed TFIG, failed the Krazy Klown Kaucus and will probably fail to keep the government from shutting down and the market from falling.

    As long as the Biden impeachment panel continues, these are not drawbacks for Trump.

  340. 340.

    JPL

    Kevin is giving a speech starting out talking about his idols, Lincoln and Reagan.  My response was click.

  341. 341.

    Joseph Patrick Lurker

    @eclare:

    Entering my 55th year circling the sun.

    Enjoy your birthday present of Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as Speaker of the House.

  342. 342.

    Jackie

    @Baud: Absolutely! The only thing (for me, anyway) that could make today better is if the M’s were in the post season… they had their chances but didn’t capitalize on them. Such is baseball.

  343. 343.

    Tony Jay

    @cain:

    Shakes fist in the direction of Seth Green. Mouths various threats while gesturing crudely with free hand.

  344. 344.

    Central Planning

    @Ken:

    That’s the one where the punchline is “So I screamed ‘Heretic!’ and pushed him off the bridge,” right?

    No, that’s #148

  346. 346.

    cain

    @Jackie: lol – imagine if that fails. That’s gonna be fun. He’s going to be even more maniacal. Hell, he could get Trump in there to do some more bomb throwing – it’ll be open season GOP vs GOP. Fox News and OANN at odds. It will be glorious.

    In the end, I hope it turns into GOP voting lethargy – and people just stay home.

  348. 348.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: Trump backed a primary challenger after Don “Bring home the” Bacon voted for Biden’s Infrastructure bill. Bacon easily defeated him. Bacon may be planning on retiring. His last three elections have been close.

    Bacon has already retired once as an Air Force general, something like 12 years ago. The district is centered on Omaha, which I think is headquarters for the Strategic Air Command.

  349. 349.

    Righteous Hazard

    McCarthy just blamed the Democrats for his ouster. Which is dumbshit, but ok. But he also went out of his way to accuse Pelosi of going back on her word to support him in a motion to vacate. As if Nancy Pelosi would make a promise like that.

    Just a dumbshit and a damned liar.

  352. 352.

    OverTwistWillie

    @p.a.:

    -zombie Reagan’s nose falls off-

    There you go again…..

    -village stenographers laugh riotously-

  353. 353.

    Steeplejack

    @Alison Rose:

    [. . .] Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told CNN that McCarthy had mocked his Christian faith.

    Not clear to me from this whether Burchett meant that McCarthy mocked Burchett’s Christian faith or McCarthy did something to mock his own (McCarthy’s) faith (according to Burchett, of course).

  357. 357.

    JWR

    @Jackie:

    BREAKING NEWS — KEVIN MCCARTHY will not run for speaker again. He is about to make the announcement in closed GOP meeting.

    Wherein he spoke of his love for Fresno, before breaking into a loud chorus of “the Dems did this to me!”

  358. 358.

    catclub

    @Steeplejack: ​
      it seemed pretty clear to me that Patchett said he would be praying about the vote, and McCarthy probably said something along the lines of “if you need to pretend to pray to make up your mind, you are just a religious weasel.”

  360. 360.

    Jackie

    IT’S THE DEMOCRATS’ FAULT!!! IT’S THE DEMOCRATS’ FAULT!!! 😭😭😭😭

    Shortly after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) became the first Speaker of the House to be removed by a vote of Congress in U.S. history, some of the more bipartisan members of the GOP caucus turned their anger on Democrats for not giving him the votes to survive — and are threatening to mass resign from a key bipartisan working group in protest, reported CNN’s Melanie Zanona.

  363. 363.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geminid:

    Wartburg Castle was the stronghold in Thuringia where an Elector stashed Martin Luther for a couple years, after he was summoned to the Diet of Worms.

    Thanks, now I’ve got the sorts of sophomoric jokes you’d expect going through my head, now that you’ve mentioned the Diet of Worms. ;-)

  364. 364.

    Scout211

    @satby: Iams is what we now have for our cat.  They carry it at Walmart for as cheap as I have found it anywhere.  Not all Walmarts carry the specialty versions, though.

  365. 365.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jackie: ​
     

    Oh dear me, were we supposed to be the adults in the room and rescue them from their own temper tantrums?

    Nah, this time we figured there might be a better chance of their learning a valuable lesson if they had to rescue their own selves.

    Or (slightly more likely) maybe some voters will look at the House Republicans’ inability to organize a two-car funeral, and get a clue about how worthless they are.

  366. 366.

    Geminid

    @lowtechcyclist:

    Luther: “I’ve heard of paleo diets, but this is ridiculous!”

    Elector: [whispers] “I would agree, but I’m not supposed to know you’re here.” [more loudly] “Did somebody just say something?”

  367. 367.

    artem1s

    @JWR: PLZ FSM let him resign his seat as well. why stick around? he’s got nothing to gain – worse than a lame duck speaker.

  368. 368.

    wjca

    @Alison Rose:

    Also anyone that beats the Dodgers.

    And all of NorCal says: “Amen!”

    Not quite.  If it came down to the Dodgers vs the Astros or the Rangers, I’d hold my nose and root for the Dodgers.  It certainly wouldn’t be easy.  But it would be necessary.

    Think of it like being willing to vote AYE on dumping McCarthy today.  Even though it was Gaetz‘ motion.

  369. 369.

    Fair Economist

    @Jackie: Rasmussen polls haven’t had any contact with reality for about a decade. They say what they’re paid to say.

    This means some Republican, somewhere, has decided to make Republicans think Biden is getting popular. Your guess as to why is as good as mine.

  372. 372.

    wjca

    @Jackie:

    Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) told CNN that he expects a resolution to expel Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) from the GOP conference to come up.

    Making it look for all the world like revenge, rather than a response to his ethical shortcomings.  Maybe they see that as a plus…?

  374. 374.

    Jackie

    @wjca: Can’t it be both? 😉

    Just saw Kevin’s pitiful announcement re not seeking the Speakership again: “I always tried to do the job with a smile,” he said, while fighting back sobs of grief.

  377. 377.

    wjca

    @Jackie: Can’t it be both? 😉

    Sure, the actual reason could be both.  Plus just being utterly sick of him in general.  But we’re talking optics here.

  378. 378.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @eclare: Congratulations on making it this far. Sorry about the interesting times crap. 💐🥂🍾🎂

  383. 383.

    kalakal

    @Dan B: Glad to hear Wobbles is a happy kitty.

    Our Virgil had the same problem, we’ve been feeding him ( and the others) on Royal Canin urinary SO dry food for about 4 years. So far so good. First time in 45 years I’ve known a cat actually eat the fancy schmancy special diet food I’ve gotten for them. Normally the ‘patient’ turns up their nose at and the rest wolf it down

  384. 384.

    Ken

    @Righteous Hazard: But he also went out of his way to accuse Pelosi of going back on her word to support him in a motion to vacate.

    She’s supposed to skip Dianne Feinstein’s funeral because he can’t do his job and manage his caucus?

    Besides, she effectively abstained, and if he thought he was going to get more support than that, I can see why he couldn’t do his job.

  385. 385.

    Westyny

    @lowtechcyclist: I’ve had Tig since ‘58, before Bill Watterson was a gleam in his daddy’s bloodshot eye.

    ETA: just checked, Watterson had passed the gleam stage by ‘58. Just barely.

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