Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

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

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Secret Speaker (Open Thread)

Secret Speaker (Open Thread)

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WaPo has a fascinating article about the various scenarios that could play out over the next 48 hours as House GOP clowns punch each other in the face repeatedly. Here’s a gift link. I found this part intriguing:

If Gaetz succeeds in ousting McCarthy, the House will enter uncharted territory.

When McCarthy was elected speaker, House rules required him to give a secret list of “speakers-in-waiting” — people who would succeed him temporarily if he ever vacated the speakership.

“There’s a little disagreement amongst Hill procedural experts about how much power that temporary Speaker would actually wield,” Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who’s well versed in congressional procedure, wrote in an email to The Post. “Is their power limited to conducting a new speaker election? What if the election deadlocks without electing a new speaker? Is the House really frozen and unable to do business?”

House Democratic leadership thinks a temporary speaker would only have the power to oversee the election of a new speaker and that no other business could take place in the meantime, according to a Democratic leadership aide.

It’s Marge, isn’t it?

Open thread.

ETA: I think it was Napoleon Bonaparte who said, “When your enemies are kicking each other in the junk, do not interrupt them.” (Or something like that.) Good to see that House Democrats are following that good advice!

Reader Interactions

462Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    How regal.

    I can’t recall, who presided during the many votes it took for McCarthy to be elected the first time. I seem to recall a black lady.

  3. 3.

    RaflW

    Seems like a question for the House Parliamentarian. Is he the same Republican Jason Smith who represents part of the politically crazed state of Missouri? Cause that doesn’t bode well, does it.

  5. 5.

    Jeffro

    So many exciting new frontiers in governing with these clowns, from “alternate electors” to “speakers in waiting” to billionaire-owned judges and more!

    (almost forgot: endless recounts if the Republican loses!  that’s a new one, too)

    Who says we aren’t a fresh, constantly innovating democracy?   =)

    (Narrator: everyone.  Basically everyone says that.)

  6. 6.

    Shalimar

    Jeffries is apparently saying Democrats are unified in voting against McCarthy.  That is the position you have to take if you want to force him to negotiate, and I don’t know that this is a done deal yet.  But they are right that nothing McCarthy says can be trusted so you might as well roll the dice with his replacement, whoever that turns out to be.  I just hate to give a victory to Gaetz.

  9. 9.

    Nukular Biskits

    [Posting mobile]

    @BettyC:

    Unfortunately I did not make it to the Columbia last night. I’m flying back home today.

    :>(

    But it is on my bucket list for the next time I go to Tampa.

  10. 10.

    Cameron

    Just perfect.  Nothing can move in the House without a Speaker; will take a million votes to get one; and by the time one is finally agreed upon – the continuing resolution will have expired and the government will shut down.  Swell.  Great. Fucking terrific.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    @Shalimar: Dozens of House Repubs also hate to hand a victory to Gaetz, so maybe this will go on for weeks. It almost qualifies as an in-kind DNC contribution!

  16. 16.

    Shalimar

    @Baud:

    Leigh Ann Caldwell

    @LACaldwellDC

    NEWS: Democrats will NOT vote present and will NOT vote to table. Sources say the caucus is unified. McCarthy’s actions on Jan 6, his trip to Mar a Lago, his attempt to discredit the Jan 6 Cmte, his reneging on debt limit deal and his actions this weekend are all the reasons

    10:21 AM · Oct 3, 2023
    ·

    636.4K
    Views

  17. 17.

    la caterina

    Watching C-Span.  McCarthy just ordered the House to adjourn.  I wonder if the means the vote will be delayed? I haz a sad.

  18. 18.

    smith

    @MattF: I looked it up yesterday — that’s what happens at the start of a new Congressional term until the incoming Speaker is chosen and seated. I don’t think it applies in this case. It’s certainly possible to have a temporary Speaker, but if the Rs can’t agree on a Speaker, I’m not optimistic they’d be able choose a temporary Speaker either.

  22. 22.

    Cameron

    @MattF: Never can tell.  Might be a surprise candidate.  “When Lauren Boe-boe-boebert comes boe-boe-boebin’ along…..”

  23. 23.

    bbleh

    @Cameron: yeah this is what I saw as the motivation for Dems to help McQarthy, cuz a shutdown could mean a recession, for which Biden inevitably would be blamed.  But apparently McQarthy’s back-of-the-hand to the Dems has closed that off.  Seeing reports now that even the Dems in the “Problem Solvers Caucus” have said nuh-uh.

  24. 24.

    B1naryS3rf

    I’m waiting to hear how our brahmins in the wise media will tell us the Democrats might have forced the Doo Doo Head Caucus©®™ into this unfortunate series of events for not inviting them to tea, or something. Anyone have a bet which pundit will chime in with this first?

  25. 25.

    Baud

    OT more good news

    It was bound to happen eventually: a company has filed a lawsuit in federal court against Elon Musk’s X Corp. over its renaming of Twitter (via Reuters). The company in question is X Social Media LLC, an ad agency from Florida that alleges X Corp. is guilty of violating Florida common law because of “unfair competition and trademark and service mark infringement,” as well as the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act

  27. 27.

    RaflW

    @Baud: He dissed the Dems, blaming them for the shutdown cliff, on whatever Sunday show. And I’d add that this morning when he tweeted a backhand at the Dems shows incredibly poor strategery.

    We’ll know soon if he has managed to whip just enough votes to deny the vacating.

  28. 28.

    Fester Addams

    Time to start leaking alleged copies of the secret speaker-in-waiting list. They don’t even have to be house reps, the potential for hilarity is unbounded.

  29. 29.

    Ken

    Nothing says “U. S. Congress” like making a rule requiring a secret Speaker, but not bothering to define what that person can and cannot do.

    However I will hold out hope that McCarthy misunderstood the rule as asking for his likely successor, and has listed Jeffries.

  32. 32.

    Shalimar

    @Baud: The part that pissed Republicans off was pulling a parliamentary maneuver to force the 45-day extension vote without giving Gaetz a chance to block it.  I am guessing the parts that pissed Democrats off was both the constant lying to people on all sides plus leaving Ukrainian aid out of the final bill they voted on.

    edit: I totally forgot about the Democrat-blaming on Sunday.  He always does that.

  33. 33.

    RaflW

    @B1naryS3rf: Already done. Brendan Buck is an MSNCB ‘analyst’. And a jagoff.

    @BrendanBuck
    Question of the day is how many Democrats can see past their hatred of McCarthy to recognize how bad a precedent this would be – and how things get no better for them under the next person.

  35. 35.

    JoyceH

    Are there enough “moderate” Republicans to cross the aisle and give the gavel to Jeffries? I think they would have to actually switch parties to turn control of the committees over, but it’s really the only way things are going to get done.

  39. 39.

    B1naryS3rf

    @RaflW: ROTFLMAO.

    But our NORMS! OUR PRECIOUS NORMZ! We don’t know anything about this uncharted territory but we get that thrill up our leg when the Republicans ravish us. (Did we say that out loud? Oopsie.)

  42. 42.

    RaflW

    @Baud: He’s also an idiot.

    In 2021, every single Republican voted against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. OK, that wasn’t a motion to vacate, but WTF ‘precedent’ is today’s vote setting?

    That an opposition party votes to oppose the speakership by another party? Why is that even remotely abnormal??

    Jebus H LeChrist. So damn dumb. From an analyst.

  43. 43.

    Shalimar

    @RaflW: Brendan Buck was a Paul Ryan aide.  He has worked on budget proposals every bit as extreme as what Gaetz is asking for.  He’s a “contributor”, not a neutral journalist.

  45. 45.

    Leto

    As an alternative to the GOP shitshow (bold is mine):

    Gov. Katie Hobbs Shuts Down Corrupt GOP Deal With Saudi Arabia For AZ Water

    Democratic Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs is pulling the plug on water leases held by Saudi Arabian companies in that state in a massive win for local water rights in the southwest.

    Hobbs announced on Monday the termination of the lease for Fondomonte Arizona, a Saudi-based company that operates an alfalfa farming operation in La Paz County in western Arizona in the Colorado River Basin.

    Saudi companies lease huge swaths of land along the Colorado River border between Arizona and California where they use ground water to grow alfalfa to make hay for cattle ranches in Saudi Arabia.

    Fondomonte’s lease under Hobbs’ predecessor Republican Governor Doug Ducey allowed them to take as much ground water as they wanted to grow alfalfa without any payment to the state.

    “Today, I canceled one of Fondomonte’s Butler Valley leases and announced the State will not renew three other leases in February 2024,” Gov. Hobbs said in a post on X Monday.

    She continued, “I’m taking action where my predecessor wouldn’t and holding Fondomonte accountable. It’s unacceptable that they have continued to pump unchecked amounts of groundwater out of our state while in clear default on their lease.”

  48. 48.

    Shalimar

    Byron Donalds is on MSNBC now saying he is not going to vote to expel McCarthy.  So now that Democrats are committed against him, Republicans have to weigh being the deciding vote against and are chickening out.

  52. 52.

    JoyceH

    @bbleh: There are sixteen GOP reps sitting in seats that Biden won. If they switch parties and the House spends the next year doing actually useful things, I’d think they might be able to get re-elected as Democrats. I think the Dem caucus would have to hold off on stuff like abortion and gun control until they could increase their majority, but there’s a lot that needs doing that moderate Republicans could agree with, like funding Ukraine. I think it could be a nice 2024 set-up, showing that the Dems can hold both houses and the White House without catastrophic consequences.

  53. 53.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Qevin’s “sekrit list” is a GOP Doomsday Device, to burn down the House if Qevin is ousted.

    So:

    #1: Trump (Speaker doesn’t have to be a member!)

    #2: ???

    #3: Hank, the Angry Drunken Dwarf

     

    And yes, a Doomsday Device doesn’t make any sense if you keep it secret, but Premier Putin luvvs surprises.

  58. 58.

    RaflW

    Jeffries out with a Dear Colleagues letter (sorry, it’s Xitter).

    @sahilkapur
    JEFFRIES: “It is now the responsibility of the GOP members to end the House Republican Civil War. Given their unwillingness to break from MAGA extremism in an authentic and comprehensive manner, [D leadership] will vote yes on the pending Republican Motion to Vacate the Chair.”

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    Never forget that Nancy Pelosi had the same margin that McCarthy does now.

    1. This never happened to Nancy Smash.
    2. If it ever did, do you think the MSM would purse their lips about how the ‘ Republicans need to help the Democrats save themselves’? Hell to the NO.
  64. 64.

    Chris

    ETA: I think it was Napoleon Bonaparte who said, “When your enemies are kicking each other in the junk, do not interrupt them.” (Or something like that.) Good to see that House Democrats are following that good advice!

    “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

    “Thanks for the tip!” – Czar Alexander I

  66. 66.

    jonas

    @JoyceH: Are there enough “moderate” Republicans to cross the aisle and give the gavel to Jeffries?

    No. Their careers would be over instantly. And they’re not moderates. They’re MAGAts who managed to get elected in districts that voted for Biden in 2020, so need to “play” moderates on TV while actually just voting more or less the same as MTG the rest of the time. There is no constituency in their districts who they could count on to support such a vote that would even come close to counterbalancing the apoplectic rage from the Trumpist base. Including probable death threats against them and their families.

  68. 68.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Ken: the Doomsday Can Opener.

    That’s the one the economist assumes in the desert island joke, right?

  69. 69.

    RaflW

    Nancy SMASH.

    @SpeakerPelosi
    The Speaker of the House is chosen by the Majority Party. In this Congress, it is the responsibility of House Republicans to choose a nominee & elect the Speaker on the Floor. At this time there is no justification for a departure from this tradition.

    The House will be in order.

  70. 70.

    lee

    @Shalimar:

    I just hate to give a victory to Gaetz.

     

    I know the feeling, but when his victory is to set fire to the Republican party, it helps take the sting out of it.

  73. 73.

    lee

    @jonas:

    And they’re not moderates.

    I think this is the part that a lot of low information voters do not realize. The entire GOP has been taken over by extremists.

  74. 74.

    cain

    Question of the day is how many Democrats can see past their hatred of McCarthy to recognize how bad a precedent this would be – and how things get no better for them under the next person.

    Otherwise known as “Please proceed, Governor”

  75. 75.

    BC in Illinois

    And on the other topic of the day . . . Frank Conniff on Trump’s legal strategy:

    In retrospect, the Trump legal team placing all their hopes for acquittal on Marisa Tomei’s knowledge of car engines was not all that great a strategy.

  76. 76.

    Shalimar

    @schrodingers_cat: There were chilling clips last night of Trump supporters saying matter-of-factly like no one could ever argue with the logic that Milley committed treason so of course he should be executed.  People are so willing to follow horrible things that it’s chilling.  I have no doubt you’re right about what would happen in another Trump presidency.

  78. 78.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Cameron:

    by the time one is finally agreed upon – the continuing resolution will have expired

    45 days is an absurdly long time for that process to drag out.  They will have given up and reelected McCarthy out of exhaustion by that point, if they can find no one else.  It could take weeks and a hundred votes, sure, but by the time the CR is up everyone but Gaetz will be tired of it and Gaetz will be the most hated man in congress.

  79. 79.

    Jackie

    @Ken:

    However I will hold out hope that McCarthy misunderstood the rule as asking for his likely successor, and has listed Jeffries.

    That’s a hard no go. Jeffries isn’t going to be Speaker with a majority of GQP’s. He wouldn’t get ANYTHING passed – as the majority Repugs would vote No each and every time.

    I’m more concerned the temporary CR will end without a budget getting passed – as nothing can happen with a Speaker-less House. No new funding for Ukraine. And, as per usual Biden will be blamed – even though he has NOTHING TO DO WITH the House.😡

  80. 80.

    Danielx

    I’d say confusion to our enemies, but it would be redundant.

    Also too, I’ll tell you something for free: two words you never want to hear after a fall – subarachnoid hemorrhage. I am one of the luckiest people currently walking the face of the planet, emphasis on walking.

  83. 83.

    MattF

    In case anyone imagined that McCarthy would keep a promise (Greg Sargent):

    House Speaker Kevin McCarthy couldn’t allow sanity to prevail in Congress for too long, so just after the House voted late Saturday to temporarily keep the government open, he leveled a new threat. The California Republican now says that if Democrats want a new package of aid to Ukraine — which was not included in that government funding bill — they must help pass the GOP “border security” agenda.

    But McCarthy’s proposal is about much more than “border security.” If passed, the GOP agenda would dramatically roll back certain types of legal migration to this country and otherwise transform our immigration system in numerous radical, cruel and reckless ways.

    That agenda is the Secure the Border Act, which the House passed in May. McCarthy told CBS News on Sunday that the measure should be included in any package that extends aid to Ukraine, noting: “I support being able to make sure Ukraine has the weapons that they need, but I firmly support the border first.” He suggested the Senate should accept the GOP bill.

  86. 86.

    Shalimar

    @lee: If McCarthy supporters get revenge on Gaetz by joining with Democrats to expel him from the House, I will be doubly happy.

  89. 89.

    dmsilev

    @Frankensteinbeck: It’s really unclear how things would play out if McCarthy gets booted. Does he try to run again? Slink away in disgrace and disgust and let someone else try to corral the now-emboldened monkeys? Who would that someone else be?

    I could imagine a “caretaker” Speaker, elected with the votes of Democrats plus a few Republicans who either don’t fear primary challenges or who have gotten sick and tired of being jerked around by Gaetz and company and just don’t care any more. That’d be a vaguely stable equilibrium until the next election, but it would need those “few Republicans” and right now their existence is purely theoretical.

  90. 90.

    RaflW

    @MattF: Any time I see these ‘curtailment of immigration’ bills from the GOP (ie: often), I reflect on how the business interests in the country have lost their power over the GOP.

    Sure, as was mentioned in an earlier thread today, people still (dammit) think Republicans are ‘good for business’, but the anti-immigrant fervor over there is to the point of really pushing up wages (fine with me) and starting to really pinch growth prospects, IMO.

  91. 91.

    Shalimar

    @MattF: So that would be what Democrats are pissed about from just this weekend.  No one can trust a word McCarthy says.  He makes Mitch McConnell look honorable, and Mitch would have committed ritual suicide hundreds of times by now if he was Japanese.

  92. 92.

    Scout211

    Rep. Alford is issuing strongly worded words, I tells ya!

    Strongly!  Worded! Link

    Republican Rep. Mark Alford slammed hardliners in his party for their attempt to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership position, saying that the “shenanigans” will slow down government funding bill negotiations.

    “We have 45 days to get this done for the American people. And this is gamesmanship that is going to slow us down and prevent us from doing the work that our voters sent us here to do. It’s unacceptable,” Alford told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

    Alford also said he’s concerned that the infighting would impact the 2024 election cycle and the Republicans’ ability to maintain their slim majority.

    “Americans are seeing that we need a marriage counselor, basically, in our conference and until we get this family settled and we get communication and trust back in the relationships, I’m—I’m afraid we might lose our majority. We were sent here to do our job, and without that majority we cannot get it done,” he said.

    Alford went on to express his support for McCarthy.

    “And with the slim majority that we’ve had so far Kevin McCarthy has been a miracle worker and able to push the ball forward. And I sure hope by the end of the day he is still our speaker.

    Marriage counselor?  Miracle worker? Uh, okay, yeah sure.

  93. 93.

    RaflW

    @Alison Rose: Hah! Being first runner up in that competition is the opposite of being “Miss Congeniality”. Is miscongeniality a thing?

    Certainly misanthropy is rife in the GOP.

  94. 94.

    Eolirin

    @jonas: This is not universally true. Marc Molinaro who’s in a neighboring NY district to me had previously won as county executive for my county with plenty of Democratic voter support and only slid into parroting extreme positions when trying to win a primary to run for a house seat. It ultimately cost him his special election but he was able to pick up the neighboring seat under the new house maps. He’s bucked his party on some issues. It’s not really obvious or visible when that’s happening because they can barely get anything to pass, and what they can is dead in the senate anyway.

    And NY may have new maps in 2024 so he may be toast either way. I’m sure there are a enough Rs in similar situations that you might be able to get them to cut deals with the Dem caucus. I don’t think you can get them to swap parties, but you could possibly get them to vote for Jeffries, and there’s support from enough Republicans that just being able to bring things like aid to Ukraine and appropriation bills that match what’s coming out of the senate to the house floor would let them easily pass.

    But this is a very high risk play.

  95. 95.

    Jackie

    @Shalimar: I read this earlier; I had forgotten Gaetz was under investigation! Puts another layer to the current grunge match between the two of them:

    …But McCarthy has long contended for Gaetz it’s “personal,” because the Speaker would not intervene to save Gaetz from a re-opened House Ethics Committee investigation into possible violations including sexual misconduct, unlawful drug use, and public corruption.

    https://www.rawstory.com/probably-so-mccarthy-says-his-speakership-likely-will-end-after-vote/

  96. 96.

    Citizen Alan

    @jonas:  There are no moderate Republicans. But there might be a few who are just feckless weathervanes willing to do whatever they need to in order to get reelected. Which might conceivably mean switching to the Dem Party in what are clearly blue districts and then adopting voting patterns basically identical to a standard Blue Dog Dem. Not many, probably because feckless. But five would end the GOP majority.

  97. 97.

    RaflW

    Extremely minor note on Leader Jeffries letter to his caucus today. In it, he says extremist Republicans in the House have been “hurdling us towards this chaotic moment.”

    I think he meant to say hurtling. But perhaps he really does mean the sport of racing over hurdles. It is like the Gaetz + Freedumb Caucus just keep tossing up barriers for Kevin to trip over.

  100. 100.

    JPL

    McCarthy made it easy to put in a motion to vacate act.   Will the next republican speaker have to agree to the same terms?

  101. 101.

    RaflW

    @JPL: Not certain, but I believe the ‘anyone can do it’ provision is in the Rules package the GOP voted to adopt that I then presume is applicable for the entire biennium.

    Another reason (not that we need one) for Jeffries to steadfastly refuse to stand for Speaker unless — somehow — maybe 8 of the fake-moderate Rs formally switch parties.

  105. 105.

    Captain C

    @rikyrah:

    If it ever did, do you think the MSM would purse their lips about how the ‘ Republicans need to help the Democrats save themselves’? Hell to the NO

    The MSM would be demanding that either 1) Democrats cave in to the most extreme things Republicans want (except for things which would materially hurt the higher castes of the MSM), or 2) that all right-thinking Democrats switch parties, and then do 1)

    ETA:  And they would do so in the smarmiest, fakest both-sides manner possible.

  106. 106.

    JWR

    @rikyrah:

    Never forget that Nancy Pelosi had the same margin that McCarthy does now.

    Well yeah, but all that meant was that she ruled with an iron fist! (Actual Repug argument heard last week.)

  108. 108.

    Eolirin

    @JWR: Someone should ask them if they’re okay with their leaders being weaker than a woman in her 80s.

    (That’s not really what went into Pelosi being able to pull off what she did, but if they’re going to assume dictatorial effectiveness, no reason not to lean into it)

  109. 109.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Jackie: I had forgotten Gaetz was under investigation! Puts another layer to the current grunge match between the two of them

     I love it when Autocorrect inserts a word that is both not what was meant, and also deliriously, wonderfully appropriate. :-)

    New version of GOP acronym: Grungy Odious Prevaricators?

  110. 110.

    Jackie

    Why would Liz call Goldberg? But, this IS interesting! Obviously she’s still pissed about “MyKevin’s” assist in ousting her from Congress:

    Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) told colleagues he received a call from former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) urging him to “get rid of” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), ABC News reports.

  111. 111.

    JWR

    Just heard on a TV news update that T***p confirmed this morning that he will be taking the stand in his own defense.

  113. 113.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Shalimar:

    There were chilling clips last night of Trump supporters saying matter-of-factly like no one could ever argue with the logic that Milley committed treason so of course he should be executed.  People are so willing to follow horrible things that it’s chilling.  I have no doubt you’re right about what would happen in another Trump presidency.

    Speaking of traitors: Given that Gen. Milley refused to support Trump’s coup with the military, I think Milley might have done something about Trump if his coup had come closer to success, which is to say Milley might have done something to Trump, ifyouknowwhatimean.

  115. 115.

    Brachiator

    When McCarthy was elected speaker, House rules required him to give a secret list of “speakers-in-waiting” — people who would succeed him temporarily if he ever vacated the speakership.

    I heard Matt Gaetz in an interview pitching Steve Scalise as his favorite candidate to become Speaker. I wonder if his name is on the list.

  118. 118.

    Shalimar

    @JWR: Trump already gave a deposition in this case.  How much worse could he fuck up his criminal cases than he already has?

  121. 121.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @JWR:

    Just heard on a TV news update that T***p confirmed this morning that he will be taking the stand in his own defense.

    Dare we hope for a Captain Queeg/strawberries moment on the witness stand?

  122. 122.

    JoyceH

    @Baud: ​
     

    I think Scalise is finished with his treatment.

    And on a related matter, I’m glad that Jamie Raskin got his hair back, but does anyone else miss that pirate vibe he was rocking there for a while?

  123. 123.

    Shalimar

    @Brachiator: And Andy Biggs was pitching House Whip Tom Emmers last week.  Nothing says radical extremists like pushing the current 2nd and 3rd members of leadership to take over.

  124. 124.

    wjca

    @Shalimar: they are right that nothing McCarthy says can be trusted so you might as well roll the dice with his replacement, whoever that turns out to be.

    The only apparent option: insist that McCarthy bring a full budget bill (or an 18 month CR) to the floor before voting for him to keep the job he is so desperate to have.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    @JWR

    If anyone believes that, i got a bridge to sell ’em. Inveterate liar gonna lie; same thing he said in the E. Jean Carroll case.

  127. 127.

    MattF

    From TPM:

    The latest news suggests that Kevin McCarthy simply does not have the votes to survive today’s challenge from Matt Gaetz. In other words, he’ll lose both the first procedural vote (pretty much foregone conclusion) and the big vote that actually removes him as Speaker. So it looks highly likely that McCarthy will be out as Speaker today. But as we’ve said, that doesn’t end the story. They still have to elect a new Speaker.

    That leaves us back in the situation we were in last January – with one exception. Back then it reverted to the House Clerk who just kept holding votes until a Speaker was elected. It’s something like that. After 9/11 a new continuity of government rule was implemented to preserve the continuity of government. A new Speaker submits a secret list of members who can become Speaker pro-tem if they’re not available. The point of this rule was to deal with a catastrophic terrorist attack. But it seems to apply here as well.

  128. 128.

    Eolirin

    @Cameron: In the past when he was in these sorts of situations he would just claim not to recall anything, but I think he may have devolved enough in his functioning that he won’t do that this time. I can’t believe his lawyers are happy about this.

  129. 129.

    Scout211

    @JWR: Just heard on a TV news update that T***p confirmed this morning that he will be taking the stand in his own defense.

    This is what NBC live updates reported:

    The former president told reporters during the break that he’ll take the witness stand in the case “at the appropriate time.”

    So when is the “appropriate time” for Trump to testify? My guess is never.  But his usual “braggadocio” continues unchecked.

  132. 132.

    Lyrebird

    @JoyceH:

    I’m glad that Jamie Raskin got his hair back, but does anyone else miss that pirate vibe he was rocking there for a while?

    Steve Van Zandt was what I was thinking

  134. 134.

    H.E.Wolf

    Open-thread-ly: Today’s mail delivery included my recent orders of postcards and stamps, just in time for tonight’s Postcard & Music thread!

  135. 135.

    RaflW

    @MattF: “The point of this rule was to deal with a catastrophic terrorist attack. But it seems to apply here as well.”

    TBF, I’d call today moderately inconvenient terrorist attack.

  137. 137.

    Ken

    @Shalimar: How much worse could he fuck up his criminal cases than he already has?

    This is Trump, so he’ll find some new way that the rest of us could never even have imagined.

    @Eolirin: I can’t believe his lawyers are happy about this.

    “No, your Honor, my client will not be testifying today. We were going over his testimony in my office last night when my fountain pen accidentally embedded itself in his throat four times. He will be unable to speak for at least a month, but in the interests of justice has retracted his earlier demand to testify and requested the trial continue without his presence. At least, that’s how I interpreted his hand gestures.”

  139. 139.

    Bill Arnold

    @RaflW:
    May be (I hope!) a different guy:
    https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/22891/Jason_A_Smith.html

    Full Name: Jason A. Smith Gender: Male Male
    Employment History
    House Parliamentarian (Sept. 2020-) “Parliamentarian”
    House Parliamentarian (Sept. 2018-Sept. 2020) “Deputy Parliamentarian”
    House Parliamentarian (Dec. 2008-Aug. 2018) “Assistant Parliamentarian”
    House Office of the General Counsel (Sept. 2008-Nov. 2008) “Assistant Counsel”
    House Office of the General Counsel (May 2006-May 2007) “Law Clerk

    ”
    I get Representative Jason Smith’s emails (a legacy gmail address attracts misaddresses), and he is indeed both partisan-nuts and very dishonest.

  143. 143.

    wjca

    @JPL: McCarthy made it easy to put in a motion to vacate act.   Will the next republican speaker have to agree to the same terms?

    I’d guess that, by that point, Gaetz would be pretty much the only Republican willing to set themselves up for a reprise.

  144. 144.

    Alison Rose

    LOL the title on the CSPAN feed reads “Table/Kill Motion to Remove Rep Kevin McCarthy as Speaker” and it honestly reads at first like they’re voting on whether to take him out back and shove him into the woodchipper.

  148. 148.

    Bill Arnold

    @Shalimar:

    I just hate to give a victory to Gaetz.

    Would this actually be a victory for M. Gaetz, though?
    A lot of people hate those who play dominance games.

  150. 150.

    Geminid

    @bbleh: You are right about most of the Republicans, but Valedeo (CA) and Newhouse (WA) are probably exceptions. They already survived their votes to impeach Trump (probably because they are in jungle primary states). I don’t think a Speaker vote will hurt them as badly, and might even help them next year.

    That’s only two, but Representatives planning on retirement are another pool of potential defectors.

  152. 152.

    MattF

    Motion to table is officially failing. So far, no Ds voting for it.

    Motion to table has failed.

  153. 153.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Per twitter the current mini-drama, or sub-plot?, is Nancy Pelosi is on her way back to the Hill from the airport

    Update II:

    Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu12 21m
    Pelosi spox Aaron Bennett says she will remain in SF for Feinstein memorial services

     

    Cori Bush is skipping  the votes, maybe because of Covid, even though she was apparently on the Hill in a meeting this morning update: “a medically necessary procedure“

  154. 154.

    Old School

    Donald Trump and his presidential campaign lashed out Tuesday at a New York judge and his top law clerk during the second day of his $250 million business fraud trial.

    Trump has frequently attacked Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron and Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the civil fraud lawsuit against the ex-president, his family members and his company.

    On Tuesday, Trump targeted Engoron’s principal law clerk by sharing a social media post that included her full name and a photo of her posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as they both smiled.

    Trump in his repost called the clerk “Schumer’s girlfriend” and accused her of “running this case against me.”

    “How disgraceful!” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post. “This case should be dismissed immediately!!”

    Trump mentioned Schumer and the clerk again during another break later Tuesday, as he claimed that the trial was “rigged” and “fraudulent.”

    The clerk is seated almost directly across from Trump in court.

  157. 157.

    wjca

    @MattF:  After 9/11 a new continuity of government rule was implemented to preserve the continuity of government. A new Speaker submits a secret list of members who can become Speaker pro-tem if they’re not available. The point of this rule was to deal with a catastrophic terrorist attack. But it seems to apply here as well.

    One question which arises is, can the Speaker revise his secret list? Or is it locked for the whole 2 years?

    Because if he can revise it, no surprise if he’s doing so right this minute.

  158. 158.

    bbleh

    Motion to table looks like it’s goin’ down.  11 Republicans against.

    I remain gobsmacked.  I have no idea what — if anything — is going on in Qevin’s head.  Nancy Smash! must be helpless with giggles.

  160. 160.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Jackie: ​
    @H.E.Wolf: 🤦🏼‍♀️ I HATE autocorrect! But, I’m happy to have tickled your funny-bone 🤷🏼‍♀️

     It definitely did!

    I’d read enough of your comments in the past to recognize that autocorrect had been meddling this time. :)

  161. 161.

    geg6

    @WaterGirl: ​
     
    It’s been broken since it’s inception. It’s just pieces of garbage floating around in the digital flotsam at this point.
    So glad I never signed up for it and never spent a second on it. It is apparently addictive and I don’t need another one of those.

  163. 163.

    Bill Arnold

    Democrats might have forced the Doo Doo Head Caucus©®™ into this unfortunate series of events for not inviting them to tea, or something.

    I’d be OK with this sort of “inviting them for tea”. With the Russian sort lurking in the background.
    “Drinking Tea with the State Security Police” (Yaxue Cao, March 1, 2012)

    It’s been a while since “he cha” (drink tea, 喝茶) came to mean, in certain contexts, “summoned and interrogated by the state security police.” A cup of tea may or may not, be present, but either way, it is “having tea” in the parlance of the Chinese netizens.

  165. 165.

    Shalimar

    @bbleh: McCarthy’s head is unfathomable.  He is so bad at strategy.  Going on Sunday and blaming Democrats for wanting to shut the government down was the stupidest thing he could have possibly done.  All he had to do was say nothing.  You don’t have to blame Gaetz.  Just don’t talk.  And he fucked that up.

  166. 166.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: Alas Newhouse beat his Dem challenger – our congressional district is one of the reddest in WA, if not THE reddest ☹️

  167. 167.

    H.E.Wolf

    Ooooh my. The motion to table the Motion To Vacate failed. Now they’re gonna debate it.

    Yea votes to table it: 208, all GOP. (Grunge Odious Prevaricators, h/t Jackie’s autocorrect)

    Nay votes (gotta debate it): 11 GOP, aka the wild-eyed fringy-est of the fringe + 207 Dems

    Not voting: 2 GOP, 5 Dems

  172. 172.

    karen marie

    @Leto: Apparently this became a bigger scandal when people found out the state retirement fund was an investor.

  173. 173.

    CaseyL

    @Betty Cracker: ​

    I’m not watching, but the Guardian (which is doing live updates) says Bob Good is up first to speak in favor of giving Qevin the boot. So it might be him.

  175. 175.

    Leto

    @rikyrah: Nancy SMASH is a stone cold killer. Also she can do basic fucking math. Just got back from PT and I’m listening to Rep Bob Good (R-Dipshitastan) whine about how McCarthy wouldn’t bow to the extreme far right and help them blow up the US/world. Fuck all of them.

  176. 176.

    eversor

    These fuckers are going to shove their cocks into an electric pencil sharpener and scream they like it.

  177. 177.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Betty Cracker: ​Who is this braying ass?

     At the mic, in the House? Bob Good (R-VA-05), a lunatic.
    “A former wrestling champion, coach, and businessman” – hometown Lynchburg. Seems appropriate.

  179. 179.

    Shalimar

    @Betty Cracker: If you mean Bob Good, he’s the Liberty University graduate who took Denver Riggleman’s seat.  One of those “I would drink Trump’s bathwater” assholes.

  180. 180.

    karen marie

    @JoyceH: When was reality ever a factor?

    The media reporting would assert this is proof Republicans are the real grownups.

  181. 181.

    Leto

    @karen marie: it’s not bad enough that the Western states don’t have enough water to maintain their own populations, but to have the Saudi’s do that shit? I remember hear about this at least two years ago. This is on top of Nestle basically doing the same f’ing thing.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    Isn’t he undergoing cancer treatment?

    Gaetz was asked about that. He claimed that Salise was doing well and was adamant about his preference here.

  183. 183.

    Jackie

    @Old School: I really don’t believe this BS AT ALL, and I hope that law clerk sues that Asshole for slander and/or defamation! He should have learned “something” after Carroll’s civil suit win!

  185. 185.

    Captain C

    @JWR: Planning an irrational outburst or three on cross and then hoping for the insanity defense to work in the damages phase of a bench trial?  That’s…certainly a strategy.  If so, I guess the paid-off lawyer has some ironclad language in the contract about how TFG is responsible for any bad defense decisions (I suspect the other lawyer is not included in this, if so).

  188. 188.

    Elizabelle

    We live in exciting times.  That Chinese saying:  “May you live in exciting times” — is thought to actually be a bit of a curse.

    Rooting that Gaetz does a lot of damage to the GOP with his grandstanding.  We have elections in Virginia next month — entire legislature is up — and Virginia feds, military, government contractors, and all their affiliates and support systems, are watching this with extreme interest.

    Also, amused that the word “injuries” has not appeared in this thread yet (at least on a quick search).   As in, rooting for.

  189. 189.

    H.E.Wolf

    Now up: Tom Cole, R-OK-04. Member of the Chickasaw Nation. Hard Right; refers to “the Democrat [sic] side”; seems to be defending McCarthy: “I’m proud of this Speaker.”

  190. 190.

    sdhays

    @MattF: And that’s why Democrats are going to vote YES on the Motion to Vacate. Democrats don’t want this drama. Keeping his word on passing a clean Ukraine bill would have convinced enough Democrats that he’s better than the alternative – whatever that is.

    But instead, our Qevin just breaks his own promises right away, again. Better to just get on with this nonsense than continue to let it fester.

  193. 193.

    lowtechcyclist

    @RaflW:

    @BrendanBuck
    Question of the day is how many Democrats can see past their hatred of McCarthy to recognize how bad a precedent this would be – and how things get no better for them under the next person.

    “Only Democrats have agency”

  194. 194.

    Ken

    @karen marie: Apparently this became a bigger scandal when people found out the state retirement fund was an investor.

    Not that I have any of the qualifications of the investment professionals who manage that fund, but “grow hay in one desert to ship halfway around the world to a different desert” does not strike me as a high-return prospectus.

  196. 196.

    Alison Rose

    OMFG

    Representative Tom Cole, Republican of Oklahoma, makes a pitch to Democrats: “I recognize that my friends have a very complex partisan personal and political calculations to make. I wouldn’t presume to give them any advice about that,” he said. But he warns them: “Think long and hard until you plunge us into chaos.”

    The fucking cajones on this man. THE CHAOS WOULDN’T EXIST IF NOT FOR YOUR PARTY, YOU MENDACIOUS TRASHFERRET

  200. 200.

    Leto

    And Rep Butthead (R-Daddy Issues) now up. Waiting to see if they really take him down via “ethics”. For those of us who invested in popcorn futures… HA!

  201. 201.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Leto: ​[re: Bob Good] So a constituent of Gym Jordan? Good to know.
     Nope, Good’s from OK, Jordan’s from OH, so not a constituent.

    Fellow traveler, perhaps. :-/

  202. 202.

    catclub

    @Shalimar: McCarthy’s head is unfathomable. He is so bad at strategy.

    Trump’s strategy at his fraud trial appears to be:  “Continue to enrage the Judge so that Judge makes a ruling too far that gets overturned on appeal.”  It is an ethos, I guess. In latest example, going after Judge’s Clerk, by name on social media. Sure to endear him to the judge.

  204. 204.

    sdhays

    Re: Trump’s business woes – Considering how heavily leveraged Trump is, is it possible that liquidating the Trump Org and having to pay $250m in fines basically clean him out?

    I hope everyone who did business with him loses their shirts.

  205. 205.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jackie: just read this

    Ben Siegel @bensiegel 1h\
    In the Dem meeting, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-NY, told colleagues he received a call from former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney after a recent TV hit.
    Cheney said they should “get rid of” McCarthy, per two sources who heard Goldman describe the call.

    I’m under no illusions about who Liz Cheney is, I don’t to see her even named to one of those vague oversight or advisory boards you read about old pols washing up on from time to time, but I do enjoy watching her know how to hate, since she’s hating in the right direction, for now

  206. 206.

    Elizabelle

    I hope the normies hear that the GOP finds it anathema to work with Democrats. That is what Gaetz is marauding about.

    Maybe the Hastert Rule will come as a shock to some normies, who blithely assume “a pox on both their houses” and think it’s all posturing, anyway.  Maybe some of these normies are the same Mensa candidates who think (or at least say) the GOP is better for the economy.  Cynics and the low information types gotta wake up.

    Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall in Nancy Pelosi’s office?  Ice cream time.

  207. 207.

    CaseyL

    @Shalimar: 

    A bit O/T but: I subscribe to many, many YT channels. (Not “YouTube TV,” but the individual., independent creators.) One of them is, or I should say was, a couple from Arizona who spend most of the year RVing around the country, doing a lot of very cool stuff. (They got a vintage Bluebird motorhome and drove it along all of Route 66, all the way to Santa Monica, before donating the rig to an RV museum, for instance).

    I never thought much about their politics, just figured they were “moderates” whatever else they were. But then they sent their youngest son off to college, and he went to… Liberty University.

    WTF sends their kid to Liberty University, unless they’re fundie nut jobs who don’t want the kid to get anything like a real education?

    I was beyond shocked. I was stunned. They never seemed like the kind of people who would even think about Liberty University in the context of college-for-my-son.

    Anyway, I unsubscribed as fast as I could pick my jaw up from the ground.

    Sigh. You never know, do you?

  209. 209.

    H.E.Wolf

    Now up: Tom Emmer, MN, Majority Whip: supporting McCarthy “[who] promises to rein in Democrats’ reckless spending” … which is pretty rich, of course, coming from the party of tax cuts for the wealthy.

    Has now stomped back to his seat, and Gaetz is blathering on again. I’ve got this whole thing on mute, thank you C-SPAN for closed captions!

  213. 213.

    Martin

    @Leto: Wow, that’s a big deal. I didn’t know the governor had the power to do that. We’ll see how that shapes up in court – I don’t see this court ruling against property rights, though.

  214. 214.

    H.E.Wolf

    That disgrace to Congress and Ohio, Jim Jordan, is now at the mic. He’s on a decompensatory rant of some sort, not related to the topic of the debate.

    He’s wearing a tie and a suit jacket, rather than engaging in his shirtsleeves shtick.

  217. 217.

    smith

    @Jackie: Recent update is that the judge held TFG and his lawyers back from the lunch break to hold a private little woodshed moment with them, after which TFG took the post down.

  218. 218.

    catclub

    @Martin: ​
     

    It’s unacceptable that they have continued to pump unchecked amounts of groundwater out of our state while in clear default on their lease.”

    I think she can end their free-riding if this is true. I suspect the lease is for State lands.

  220. 220.

    Leto

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I always imagine her ala Bane, where you can sub in “hate” for “darkness”, considering who her daddy is:

    “Oh, you think hate is your ally. But you merely adopted the hate; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the love until I was already a woman. And by then, it was nothing to me but a weapon.”

  222. 222.

    CaseyL

    News Alert: Gaetz says something factually true. (from The Guardian’s live coverage):

    “The one thing that the White House, House Democrats and many of us on the conservative side of the Republican caucus would argue is that the thing we have in common [is]: Kevin McCarthy said something to all of us at one point or another that he didn’t really mean and never intended to live up to.”​

  223. 223.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @smith:

    erica orden @eorden 8m
    Judge Engoron has issued a gag order in the Trump civil fraud trial after Trump posted about the judge’s clerk. Engoron: “Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff.”

  224. 224.

    karen marie

    @Leto: I think state employees finding out their retirement fund was involved upped the pressure to do something. There was a bit of reporting on that over the summer. Of course it could be coincidence.

  225. 225.

    David Anderson

    figure if we think of the House as if it was a Parliament (let’s not talk about the Rules Committee for a moment) the fundamental problem is that McCarthy et al are a minority government with different coalitions for supply/appropriations (200+ Dems and 130-150 GOPers) and confidence (2018-ish GOPers)… and the GOPers who are not in the supply coalition but are in the confidence coalition aren’t happy

  226. 226.

    Leto

    To sum up every Republican: you promised that you’d let us drive the country off the cliff. WHY DIDN’T YOU LET US??? *rolls around on the ground, kicking/screaming

  228. 228.

    H.E.Wolf

    Up now: Andy Biggs, R-AZ-05. Driveling on about border issues and scary people of color! and drugs!! and terrorists!!! “They come across our border to the tune of hundreds of thousands….” aka Racism 101.

    Says the House is “entrenched in a suboptimal path”… oh, okay, finally gets around to his anti-McCarthy position. “Time to make a change – I’m not the only one”.

    Now he’s complaining about the IRS.

  232. 232.

    Martin

    We need a betting pool on whether or not there will be ‘0 acts of physical violence in the last 45 days’ in the chamber of the House 45 days from now. I’ll take the over on that.

  233. 233.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: I don’t think the conservative Republican challenger pressed Newhouse that hard in the jungle primary. Over in the 5th Washington CD though, Impeacher Jaime Herrera Butler came in 3rd to a more conservative Republican and Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Then Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez won in November.

    The 5th CD is right across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, and is becoming a suburban/exurban district. With her home in the woods and her repair shop in Portland, the new, 33 year-old Congresswoman exemplifies this trend.

  234. 234.

    japa21

    I am actually starting to believe that Kevin is, deep inside his pea sized heart, feeling relief at this and hopes to be unseated. Nah, he’s just an extreme masochistic narcissist (there are those people).

  235. 235.

    JWR

    And my new U.S. Senator is sworn in! Three strong, Black women standing together. Oh wait, I’m a White person. I think I’m supposed to be miffed by such displays, right?!

  236. 236.

    Captain C

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Andy Biggs, R-AZ-05….

    Now he’s complaining about the IRS.

    If he’s not already being investigated, what are the odds he’s got some massive tax fraud going?

  237. 237.

    H.E.Wolf

    UP now: Rep Westerman, AR.
    Talking about some Old Testament shibboleth [S-E-L-C-H??] that I don’t recognize, and there were a lot of Sunday School teachers among my forebears. Something about pausing to think before acting?

    “Voting yes is, at the least, a disruptive overreaction”. Lots of applause from other Rs.

  240. 240.

    Michael Bersin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    …I’m under no illusions about who Liz Cheney is, I don’t to see her even named to one of those vague oversight or advisory boards you read about old pols washing up on from time to time, but I do enjoy watching her know how to hate…

    It’s the family business. They know it well.

  241. 241.

    Bill Arnold

    @dmsilev:

    I could imagine a “caretaker” Speaker, elected with the votes of Democrats plus a few Republicans who either don’t fear primary challenges or who have gotten sick and tired of being jerked around by Gaetz and company and just don’t care any more.

    That might be the most sensible approach in the current political context.
    It would greatly shrink the space of possibilities of additional chaos if the GOP majority shrinks at all, e.g. George Santos troubles.

  243. 243.

    CliosFanBoy

    @CaseyL:

    Apparently, there is a small College Democrats chapter at Liberty. From the news stories I saw about it*, they appear to be either African-American Protestant evangelicals or whites from the small liberal evangelical wing.

    But yeah, it puzzles me too.

     

    the “university” administration was not as accepting of them as they were the College republicans fascists.

  245. 245.

    Alison Rose

    Representative Bruce Westerman, a McCarthy ally, says that the rebels should “stand before this body and the American people and articulate your plan,” adding “not your grievances or your wishes, but your plan.” They must convince the McCarthy backers they have a better path. If they can’t do that, Westerman said, their efforts amount to nothing more than an “overreaction” that is “selfish, bad for conservative policy, and bad for America.”

    My dude, that is the modern GOP’s motto.

  246. 246.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I had to turn off the braying, but I am amused how Florida Fivehead keeps making viral moments for Dem PACs and strategists

    Acyn @Acyn 9m
    Jordan lists off “accomplishments”
    Gaetz responds: The problem with my friend from Ohio’s argument, many of the bills he references as passed are not law. It’s hard to make the argument that oversight is the reason to continue when it looks like failure theater.

    Failure Theatre.

  247. 247.

    Old School

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Engoron: “Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff.”

    Curious how far this extends.  If I posted something would I get in trouble?  What if Steve Bannon did it?

    My guess is it only applies to the Trumps and their lawyers.

  248. 248.

    trollhattan

    @Leto: That is a big fucking deal. Last I checked Arizona brags of 300,000 acres dedicated to alfalfa–one of the most water-thirsty crops imaginable. In the desert. In a place where water is squeezed out by the gallon. In a state relying on an over-subscribed Colorado river. Whee!

  250. 250.

    H.E.Wolf

    Now up: Tom McClintock, R-CA-05: the public will be rightfully repulsed by GOP dysfunction. Racist border stuff as a throwaway line. We are at the precipice. I’m guessing pro-McCarthy.

  253. 253.

    Alison Rose

    @trollhattan: On the Last Week Tonight episode about water usage in the southwest, he noted that in order to retain their water rights, farmers HAVE to use up what they’re allocated, so many of them intentionally plant alfalfa just to keep their water rights. It’s fucking bonkers.

  254. 254.

    H.E.Wolf

    Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-FL-28. Angry raisin face. Speaking of his immigrant credentials. McCarthy fought for people like Gimenez.

  256. 256.

    Scout211

    @H.E.Wolf: Ewwwwww! McClintock is my rep.  I call him the odious Tom McClintock. Ugh.

    You are correct, he will support McCarthy.  He only ever does what the current GOP leader tells him to do. He is not very bright.  He has no ideas of his own, ever.

  257. 257.

    Michael Bersin

    It’s surreal listening to extreme far right wingnut republicans arguing on the House floor with far extreme right wingnut republicans. There’s no such thing as a “moderate” republican.

  258. 258.

    Jeffro

    @Shalimar:McCarthy’s actions on Jan 6, his trip to Mar a Lago, his attempt to discredit the Jan 6 Cmte, his reneging on debt limit deal and his actions this weekend are all the reasons

    INDEED!

    ALL the reasons.

  259. 259.

    Geminid

    @H.E.Wolf: Bob Good’s no businessman. At, least, he was empoyed by Liberty University as an Athletic Department fundraiser up until when he ran for Congress. The District Convention where Good beat Denver Riggleman in 2020 was staged at Liberty.

  260. 260.

    H.E.Wolf

    Mrs. [sic] Ashley Hinson, R-IA-02. BORDER CRISIS!! (Yeah, tell us what border Iowa has with another country, why dontcha.)

    Pro-McCarthy. “This is the choice, be a chaos agent or get back to work”.

  262. 262.

    CaseyL

    @CliosFanBoy: ​

    They’re white and fairly affluent, and have never said or done anything to so much as hint at being evangelical, liberal or otherwise. IOW, I can’t think of any reason to go to Liberty U unless you’re looking to get into the RW grift-welfare system.

  264. 264.

    H.E.Wolf

    Ilhan Omar is seated behind the mic, deadpan while Gaetz rants about brown people coming over the border.

  265. 265.

    Shalimar

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I want to be there when someone explains to Gaetz that you have to pass bills that Biden will sign before they can become laws.  That isn’t on McCarthy, and his replacement isn’t going to do better with Gaetz helping write the bills.

  268. 268.

    Lyrebird

    @CaseyL: ​
     

    I knew some very nice and not-fundie folks, rural PA, parents never went to college, sent their son to Liberty because he got a great scholarship, and they really didn’t see the scary side of it. I was shocked, too, but I wished the kid well.

    FSM bless those Liberty Democrats!

  269. 269.

    Jackie

    @smith: The judge put a gag order on him!!!

    “The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial on Tuesday issued a gag order after the former president attacked his clerk by name and shared her image on social media,” The Messengerreports.

    Said Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron: “Personal attacks on members on my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I won’t tolerate it.”

    👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

  270. 270.

    RaflW

    Watching some of the more experienced GOP House members freak out in real time (ie: Rep. McClintock (R-CaA) says doing [it] would lead to more turbulence: The Democrats will revel in Republican dysfunction and the American people will be repulsed), I can’t help but think the only thing that might, maybe break the current fever is the GOP losing like 35-38 House seats in Nov. ’24.

  271. 271.

    CaseyL

    @Leto: ​

    And that’s probably the least of it. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the whole thing, and so unsubscribed to their channel.

  272. 272.

    Shalimar

    @Geminid: I looked at Good’s biography.  He ran a whole string of businesses in different fields.  It doesn’t look like any of them were successful.

  273. 273.

    H.E.Wolf

    Up now: Steve Scalise, R-LA, Majority Leader [sic; Motion To Vacate-related?]. Pro-McCarthy. Scalise likes the procedural changes McC has instituted.

    More border stuff. Racism is the new lapel flag pin for the GOP.

  275. 275.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: Apparently he said there will be significant sanctions if Trump persists. Hopefully it is big dollar fines. Payable on the instant or via bond. Because money is DJTs pain point. And throwing him in the cooler is, while fun to contemplate for how he’d be personally immiserated, would give him a martyr status he absolutely does not deserve.

  276. 276.

    JWR

    @Alison Rose:

    f you happen to find a video of it, send it along!

    So far I can only find video of the actual swearing in, and not the one done with/for family and friends.

  277. 277.

    smith

    @H.E.Wolf: (Yeah, tell us what border Iowa has with another country, why dontcha.)

    Well, they do have that border with Illinois. Can’t have those people coming over from Chicago.

  278. 278.

    H.E.Wolf

    Gaetz rebutting Scalise. This whole GOP intramural debate reminds me of a shoving match at the tether-ball pitch in middle school.

  280. 280.

    Citizen Alan

    @Leto: I don’t know enough about California farming to know if this is true or not, but I have read (here, I think) that California would be perfectly fine regarding water if only they banned the growing of alfafa and almonds, both of which require ridiculous amounts of irrigation. More knowledgeable people, please feel free to correct me.

  281. 281.

    H.E.Wolf

    Current dude Mike Garcia R-CA-27 starts with the de rigueur racist comments about people “penetrating our borders” … which is pretty damn Freudian IMO.

    Moved on to “a few Reublicans are running with scissors”. I’m guessing pro-McCarthy.

  283. 283.

    lowtechcyclist

    @…now I try to be amused:

    Dare we hope for a Captain Queeg/strawberries moment on the witness stand?

    IANAL, but as I understand it that means the prosecuting attorney can cross-examine him.  He’ll blow up or fall apart, or both.

    Gonna have to stock up on popcorn.

  284. 284.

    H.E.Wolf

    Rep. McHenry, a piece of work from NC. Bow tie is his brand; makes him look like a bargain-basement Truman Capote. Pro-McCarthy. Some sort of slam at “liberals” which I didn’t catch.

  286. 286.

    Cameron

    @Citizen Alan: I don’t know about the alfalfa, but I remember reading that the state was trying to encourage pistachio production over almonds because of water issues.

  287. 287.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: [re: Garcia] @H.E.Wolf: Isn’t he one of the ’22 freshman in a district Biden won?​
     Might could be. I’d love it if you’d look that up and report in! I’m busy liveblogging and correcting my typos on the fly. :)

  288. 288.

    ARoomWithAMoose

    @Bill Arnold: Before we start imagining “grand bargain”, what are the parlimentary rules regarding the MTV procedures that were selected on for this session of congress?  Do they get to vote on new rules for this session if the Speaker gets replaced or does the angry toddler caucus get to file MTV’s whenever they can get the floor?

  290. 290.

    H.E.Wolf

    Rep Stephanie Bice, R-OK-05. based on her opening comments: pro-fossil fuel, pro-abusive parents. Supports McCarthy.

  292. 292.

    StringOnAStick

    @CaseyL: Some friends who are new to town suggested we get a group together to go to a large corn maze.  I had to let her know that in 2020, that ranch’s corn maze was covered on one end with pro-tRump signs, and if someone is going to make politics part of their business strategy, then it is also my right to avoid them if I don’t agree.  She fully agreed and the idea was dropped.

  293. 293.

    Anoniminous

    Shouldn’t they STFU and start voting Real Soon Now?

    Thread of newness? Too? (also ditto)

  294. 294.

    H.E.Wolf

    Ms Elise Stefanik, power-hungry apparatchik. “This Republican majority has exceeded all expectations.” Pro-McCarthy.

  297. 297.

    scav

    @smith: Shit, at this time, who would want Iowans?  Whole state is now the bottom tier. Even Missouri’s IQ would go down now if the border budged.

  298. 298.

    Geminid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, Biden carried Mike Garcia’s 27th California CD. He’s the guy who won the special election to succeed Rep. Katie Hill. Garcia barely squeaked by in 2020. He won in the midterms by a few points and he’s a prime Democratic target for next year.

  300. 300.

    trollhattan

    @Citizen Alan:

    Ag is by a yuge margin the largest water consumer in the state. California was the last state to manage our groundwater basins, and over-drafting ag concerns have until sometime in the 2030s to bring their practices into conformance with no further overdrafting of the aquifers.

    State Water Project contractors are mostly municipal, partly ag. They all pay the actual cost to deliver the water, so market rate for everybody. (The farther down the system, the higher the charge.)

    CVP federal water contractors are primarily ag and all pay subsidized rates, rates that are not easy to obtain by the curious public.

    If CVP contractors were forced to pay market rates the overuse issue would go away. Because winged monkeys will fly from my butt before the feds force market rates on the likes of Westlands Water District, the subsidies will continue and crazy things like millions of almond acres continue. Fact is they can also resell the water to, say, San Diego and pocket the difference.

    That’s a lot of words to say California has enough freshwater for our municipal needs. Should their Colorado River allocation  be cut back, Southern California will have problems  because SWP and CVP can’t supply enough by themselves–LA and their subcontractors use quite a lot.

    We’re considering switching over to Brawndo.

  301. 301.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    Is twitter broken for everyone?  Or is it just me?

    Anybody who’s still tweeting over there, do you get likes from bots claiming to be looking for romance?

    ETA: Woohoo, #300!

  303. 303.

    Old School

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Might could be. I’d love it if you’d look that up and report in! I’m busy liveblogging and correcting my typos on the fly. :)

    According to Axios, CA-27 was D +12.4 in 2020 and R +6.6 in 2022.

  308. 308.

    H.E.Wolf

    Garret Graves, R-LA-06. Well-groomed. A well-preserved 50-ish. Pro-McCarthy on whatever grounds a well-dressed weasel would choose. Family and military blah de blah blah.

  310. 310.

    H.E.Wolf

    Gaetz has that “aggrieved entitlement” rage-face which I remember so well from Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.

  311. 311.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Citizen Alan:

     I don’t know enough about California farming to know if this is true or not, but I have read (here, I think) that California would be perfectly fine regarding water if only they banned the growing of alfafa and almonds, both of which require ridiculous amounts of irrigation.

    I feel a bit guilty because I love almonds. I could live without them, though.

  312. 312.

    H.E.Wolf

    Mr. Kelly Armstrong, R-ND-at large. Pro-McCarthy, or at any rate anti-Gaetz. His hands are trembling with agitation or nerves.

  316. 316.

    Alison Rose

    Delicious:

    The “live” roll call vote puts a little extra pressure on members, since the spotlight will be on. They cannot use a vote card to electronically record their position or wait until the last minute when the outcome is already decided. It adds to the seriousness of the event.

    Although “seriousness” is not the word I would use here.

    ETA LOLOL

    Democrats guffaw as Graves calls McCarthy “the greatest speaker in modern history.” Nancy Pelosi and a few others would like a word.

  317. 317.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @RaflW: ​

    money is DJTs pain point.

    I’m not sure. DJT is very willing to spend other people’s money, and so far has been doing that to deal with stuff like fines. On the other hand, his PACs have spent so much on legal fees that he can see the bottom of the barrel, and the existence of his business empire is in doubt. He might be panicking.

  318. 318.

    H.E.Wolf

    Gaetz is now making his closing remarks. Those of his colleagues seated behind him (GOP, I think) are maintaining poker faces.

  319. 319.

    Anoniminous

    NBC news reporting McCarthy’s office is “reaching out to moderate Democrats” to vote to keep him as Speaker. Which must mean he has done the counting and know he is a goner​
     

    PRAISE JEEBUS!!!!!!!!!!! They are finally voting

  321. 321.

    lowtechcyclist

    @CliosFanBoy:

    Apparently, there is a small College Democrats chapter at Liberty. From the news stories I saw about it*, they appear to be either African-American Protestant evangelicals or whites from the small liberal evangelical wing.

    But yeah, it puzzles me too.

     

    the “university” administration was not as accepting of them as they were the College republicans fascists.

    Can’t say I’m surprised. There’s a lot of “how can you possibly be a Christian and a Democrat?” bullshit amongst evangelicals.

  326. 326.

    smith

    @H.E.Wolf: I’d just like to say, thank you for your sacrifice in watching and, worse, listening to these meatheads so the rest of us can follow along.

  327. 327.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Geminid: ​@H.E.Wolf: The Republican majority hasn’t exceeded my expectations and they real f***ing low, too.
     Heh. Depends on what one expects. :)

    Heard the NM water-rights news earlier today and thought of (a) you and (b) Xochitl Torres-Small!

  330. 330.

    Jackie

    Gaetz is figuratively blasting his AR at everyone. He’s not going to have any friends to save his ass if the Ethics Committee convicts him:

    NBC News reporter Garrett Haake tweeted: “Gaetz really burning down the House GOP around him. Responds to Jordan by saying oversight efforts – including their crown jewel Hunter Biden investigation – look like ‘failure theater.'”

  331. 331.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think Rep. Goldman was counsel for the 1st Impeachment effort. I’m not sure he had a role with the J6 Committee. Former U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy was counsel for Bennie Thompson’s committee.

  332. 332.

    Barry

    @Shalimar: “Trump already gave a deposition in this case.  How much worse could he fuck up his criminal cases than he already has?”

    Many, many, many hours on the witness stand pleading the Fifth for hundreds of questions.

  335. 335.

    tobie

    @JWR: Gosh, Butler’s swearing in is such a mood-lifter and palate-cleanser after the shit show in the House. Thank you for the link.

  337. 337.

    CarolPW

    @…now I try to be amused: Almonds as nuts are not the big problem (there is not a huge demand), it’s almonds as almond milk. You have to grow a lot of almonds to get a gallon of almond milk, using about 920 gallons of water to get there.

  343. 343.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Wait, what do you mean “bots”?

    They have handles like @Katelyn2540965 and are looking for love.  I get a ‘like’ from one of them with a different handle every time I tweet.

  347. 347.

    JWR

    @Geminid:

    He [Mike Garcia] won in the midterms by a few points and he’s a prime Democratic target for next year.

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

  350. 350.

    CarolPW

    @trollhattan: ​
     Grown for cattle, goats and sheep too (and alpacas, vicunas, camels and all the rest). It’s a significant portion of what herbivores eat in winter in much of the country.

  351. 351.

    tobie

    Will Ukraine be able to get any aid? That’s the one looming question for me. Otherwise the Republicans can continue with their war of attrition against each other as far as I’m concerned.

  353. 353.

    jonas

    @Eolirin: Molinaro wants a shot at running for senator or governor again, so I think is trying to walk a fine line between not getting primaried and not saying/doing anything that would sink him politically at the state level. A different case is Brandon Williams over here in NY-22 who is in a (iirc) Biden +6 district (centered on Syracuse), but really hasn’t tried to put any daylight between himself and McCarthy. He made some noises early on about wanting George Santos to go away, but other than that, he’s been indistinguishable from any other MAGAt Congressman.

  354. 354.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Anoniminous: Ken Buck, a far right loon who has recently been presented as a moderate on TV*, voted to boot His Kevin

    *near as I can tell because he said he won’t vote for trump if he’s convicted of a felony, the piles of evidence and the civil liability for rape not being quite enough without that conviction

  355. 355.

    eversor

    @Elizabelle:

    Two nieces first chance to vote as well.  They both broke off from the family and Christianity so they are voting Democratic.  This is not allowed in the Filipino extended family because Jesus.

    One of them has quasi moved in.  She got into GW University and we came up with some bullshit excuse that as we lived closer she can just crash her if she wants.   She was also sexually abused by that horrible religion and while I haven’t told her what I went through I’ve hinted at it.  In the “you aren’t alone in this, it gets better and it gets worse, but if you want to talk I’m here and trust me I get it” manner.

    We have a bunch of computers here that clear 10k per so she loves it for her studies.

    The problem with her was getting over the boys issue.  I just sort of cleared the air and was blunt about it.  Me and your aunt were your age once so you aren’t fooling anyone.  We have dozens of friends in the area.  So if you want us to just not be here we can go to a friends and crash there.  Just be honest.  We don’t care.

    Amazingly that worked well enough we’ve met all the boyfriends she’s shopping about with.

  356. 356.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    did Jared Golden, “problem solver” of Maine, just vote with the Rs again?

  359. 359.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @tobie: ​

    Will Ukraine be able to get any aid?

    I don’t see why it wouldn’t. This will shake itself long before that becomes an issue, even considering the absolutely absurd levels of dysfunction that are likely in picking a new Speaker. Getting aid for Ukraine hasn’t been difficult so far, because it has strong bipartisan support. That’s why Democrats gave it up on the CR. There was no need to fight over something they can get as a solo package when the tantrum winds down from sheer exhaustion.

  365. 365.

    Geminid

    @trollhattan: Plenty of hungry camels. Racing camel trainers probably swear by alfalfa from Arizona.

    I read that afalfa means “best fodder” in Arabic. I’m glad not many people knew that after the 9/11 attacks. If it they had,, we might be talking about “Freedom Fodder!”

  366. 366.

    bbleh

    @Shalimar: aren’t some Reps absent too?  I think there are 427 total present.  And I think with Mace there are 7 Rep yeses.  (Any dem noes yet?)

  368. 368.

    Old School

    @Bill Arnold:

    The original now-deleted post has already been copied elsewhere in RW social media space, so mission accomplished it Trump was intending death threats.

    That’s what I was wondering.  The judge issued a gag order, but is there any consequence to social media or Newsmax commentators continuing to name the clerk through the duration of the trial?

  370. 370.

    MisterForkbeard

    @RaflW: Mace voted to vacate? She’s supposed to be “moderate”, though she constantly tonguebathes Trump.

    I am surprised.

  371. 371.

    tobie

    @RaflW: i think Mace wants to be VP. That’s the only thing that can explain her transformation into a fire-breathing MAGAt in her 3 years in DC.

  374. 374.

    Elizabelle

    Tee hee. WaPost:

    Photo of that absurd book from several years back:  Young Guns.  (They were Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy.)

    Headline:  The Future of the GOP is Now Its Past.

  377. 377.

    C Stars

    @CarolPW: It surprises me that almond milk is such a big business, as it’s a poor substitute for dairy compared to some of the other legume/grain “milks” that are on the market now.

  378. 378.

    Geminid

    @JWR: Actually, that Democrat ran against Garcia three times, counting the special election. She lost the 2020 election by less than 400 votes, so I can’t blame her for running again, or blame district Democrats for favoring her in the primary either. But they are unlikely to pick her again even if she runs.

  379. 379.

    Shalimar

    @bbleh: You have the total number right.  There are 2 seats open.  I don’t know the breakdown of the other 4 missing members.

    Looks like it won’t matter if there are already 7 Republican Yays though.

  380. 380.

    CaseyL

    @C Stars: 

    And oat milk is better all round. I think almond got to market first as a big dairy replacement, though, and there are tons of processed goods, non-gluten foods, and low carb foods that rely on almond flour.

  381. 381.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Marie Gluesencamp Perez votes to vacate

    Mary Peltola didn’t vote? I guess she’s not back yet after her husband’s death

    I thought I heard Jared Golden vote with the Rs, but no one’s on twitter calling for his head, so I’m guessing I mis-heard

  387. 387.

    Anoniminous

    @RaflW: ​
     
    If the Dems hold together – that’s it. McCarthy is not only history he’s in the history books.

  388. 388.

    CaseyL

    If this vote does remove McCarthy from the Speaker’s chair, it will be ever so fitting.

    He wanted nothing more in life than to be Speaker, and sold whatever was left of his soul (not that there was much) to get it. Note I don’t say whatever was left of his integrity, because I can’t remember “integrity” and “Kevin McCarthy” ever being said in the same breath.

    And now he may be the first Speaker of the House in US history to get booted from the position.

    So very fitting.

  389. 389.

    bbleh

    @Shalimar: I just read 4 Dems out, which suggests 2 Reps, leaving 219 Reps and 208 Dems, which would make 6 reps the magic number, assuming no Dems vote nay.  And I think there’s 8 now.

    I really never thought it would come to this.  What a sh!tshow.

  391. 391.

    Splitting Image

    @Anoniminous:

    If the Dems hold together – that’s it. McCarthy is not only history he’s in the history books.

    Damn. I hate seeing bad things happen to good people.

    That’s why I’m enjoying this immensely.

  395. 395.

    CarolPW

    @C Stars: ​
     Used to be that Blue Diamond Almonds was considered to have made the almond industry profitable by developing flavored nuts (memory says about 1970ish?). Before then the market was pretty small. The increase almond acreage from then to now is pretty amazing. On the other hand, olive trees (for cured olives or oil) are pretty thrifty water users.

  397. 397.

    Elizabelle

    One of those sides of the aisle looks way different from the other.  A lot of Dem women in green today, it seemed.

  398. 398.

    Yarrow

    I’m just now getting to check on any of this. They’re voting now to oust McCarthy? We live in crazy times.

  402. 402.

    Geminid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The Blue Dogs voting with the Republican majority could be doing this on instructions from their leadership. This will come out in reporting after this vote is decided.

    I can just see Pete Aguilar signaling the last, deciding Democratic Representives which way to vote, tapping his right elbow and then his nose like a third base coach signaling a hit-and-run play.

  405. 405.

    Jeffro

    @RaflW:throwing [trump] in the cooler is [for violating the gag order], while fun to contemplate for how he’d be personally immiserated, would give him a martyr status he absolutely does not deserve.

    I hear you but he’s already the MAGA mob’s ultimate martyr.  Orange Jesus made flesh (and lots of it), here on Earth.

    Let’s try it and see how it shakes out.  =)

  406. 406.

    Elizabelle

    Luna.  Short for Lunatic.  (Florida, natch.). Not there; not voting.

    Pelosi, Peltola.  Not there.  Both for sad reasons. (Less so for Pelosi.  90 is a good run for DiFi.)

  408. 408.

    Ken

    @Shalimar: At least 2 Dems (Pelosi and Bush) are absent,

    Drama demands that the vote be apparently over and exactly tied, and at that moment Pelosi walks into the chamber and says, “Well, Kevin?”

  409. 409.

    Mike in NC

    Qevin McQuarthy should start drinking heavily tonight. They don’t even like him much in shitty Bakersfield.

  411. 411.

    JWR

    @Geminid: That she only lost by 400 votes might seem like a case for running again, but someone in this thread mentioned that CA-27 is solid Biden country, so I’d say nope to a third fourth try.

  416. 416.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Old School:

    Surprised she didn’t designate a proxy. She’s in SF for Dianne Feinstein’s funeral.

    ETA: Similarly with Peltola, who is still grieving her husband.

  418. 418.

    Elizabelle

    McCarthy is a lying schmuck who cannot be trusted.  But somehow, I feel a tiny bit sad for the guy.  What a public smackdown.  Gaetz claims his scalp.

    Patrick T. McHenry.  Lucky us.  Mr. Bowtie.

  420. 420.

    coin operated

    @RaflW:

    And throwing him in the cooler is, while fun to contemplate for how he’d be personally immiserated, would give him a martyr status he absolutely does not deserve.

    Like his martyr status isn’t high enough already? Screw that…I’d pay good money to see him remanded and his cell phone confiscated.  We could all use the peace and quiet about now

    @Jeffro…GMTA

  426. 426.

    zhena gogolia

    @CaseyL: How’s rice milk? That’s the one I use. I tried oat milk, but it went bad too quickly. They don’t seem to sell it in small containers.

  427. 427.

    BretH

    It is done. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!

    I would be surprised if Pelosi didn’t pretty much know the outcome, give or take a vote or 2, so didn’t need a proxy.

  435. 435.

    Geminid

    @Elizabelle: I might feel a little sad too if that schmuck hadn’t run Representative Omar off the Foreign Relations Committee. As they say, “What goes around, comes around.”

  437. 437.

    Ken

    @Geminid: I’m petty. I want to see the pictures of him carrying his boxes out of the Speaker’s office

    Also, my Google skills are failing me. I knew McCarthy wouldn’t have the shortest term in office — it would be hard to displace Theodore Pomeroy — but I’m unable to find a list of speakers by length of term.

  439. 439.

    JWR

    Okay, so if I’ve got this right, (and I doubt that), the Dems aren’t gonna give McCarthy his Speakership for now, but might crossover to support him if or when he runs again? Heh! Haile Jackson of NBC just said that the Dems are gonna let McCarthy sleep in the bed he himself made. Sweet dreams, MyKevin.

  441. 441.

    Elisabeth Albert

    @trollhattan:

    Horses don’t eat alfalfa, they eat timothy grass. Cows eat alfalfa, so if California doesn’t grow alfalfa, it will have a large impact on their dairy industry.

  442. 442.

    CarolPW

    @zhena gogolia: Rice takes stupid amounts of water to grow, but in the Central Valley of California is mostly grown in the flood plains. Unless there is a drought there are enough flooded areas to grow a reasonable rice crop, and in a reasonable rain year they get a good crop. It is generally (in central California) not irrigated but gets its water from surface runoff and diversion from the rivers as flood control. A lot of the rice-growing area is also in the flyway so it’s good for the waterbirds too.​

  443. 443.

    trollhattan

    Bored, so looked up more almond stuff.

    The USDA measures almonds by meat pounds, as in

    California’s 2023 almond production is forecast at 2.60 billion meat
    pounds, up 4% from May’s subjective forecast and 1% higher than last
    year’s crop of 2.57 billion meat pounds. The forecast is based on 1.38
    million bearing acres. Production for the Nonpareil variety is forecast at
    1.10 billion meat pounds, 10% above last year’s deliveries of 1.00 billion
    meat pounds. The Nonpareil variety represents 42% of California’s total
    almond production.

    How fun is that? US seems to produce about 2 million metric tons/year with Spain in second at 200k tons and Iran at 150k. I’ll convert to meat pounds another day.

    What catches my eye is while California almond acreage and  production are up, the crop value has dropped. i.e., the 2022 crop of 1.16 metric tons from 1.35 million acres earned $3.5 billion @ $1.40/ pound. The 2014 crop of 0.85 metric tons from 0.93 million acres earned $6.4 billion @ $4.00/pound. (1991 there were 405k acres of almonds.)

    FOMO is a huge factor in ag and it seems the rush to rip out old orchards or convert from row crops, to plant almonds has been vastly oversold and the promised profits have left the barn. I understand the labor to raise almonds is low, so that’s a factor, too.

    What’s the next fad? Kale?

  445. 445.

    Ealbert

    @trollhattan:

    Horses don’t eat alfalfa, they eat timothy grass. Cows eat alfalfa, so if California doesn’t grow alfalfa, it will have a large impact on their dairy industry.

  447. 447.

    Tony Jay

    Is Kevin going to disappear under his desk, emerge wearing a false moustache and holding a signed super-secret letter introducing him as ‘Mark Cenvicthy’, interim Speaker until such a time as a replacement is elected who you wouldn’t know because he’s from a new district on the Canadian border?

    Worth a shot.

  450. 450.

    RaflW

    I did not expect this:

    @maxpcohen
    “If you promise women you’re going to help them, you damn better well do it,” Nancy Mace says.
    Says she’s frustrated no votes were scheduled on increasing access to birth control

    Meanwhile, a virtually-secret society (with a purported membership of about 40) has threatened Mace’s participation in their little club of do-nothings:

    @AndrewSolender
    The center-right Republican Governance Group is already talking about kicking out Rep. Nancy Mace after she voted to remove McCarthy, per a member in the group.

  451. 451.

    Fair Economist

    @Ken:

    Nothing says “U. S. Congress” like making a rule requiring a secret Speaker, but not bothering to define what that person can and cannot do.

    Excuse me, nothing says *Republican controlled House* like making a rule requiring a secret Speaker, but not bothering to define what that person can and cannot do.

    Cause that kind of garbage would NEVER have happened under Pelosi (or Jeffries).

  452. 452.

    eversor

    @zhena gogolia:

    They all suck and are more problematic than milk in odd ways.  If you are going to give up milk, just give it up.  Don’t try fake around it.

  453. 453.

    Bill Arnold

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Racism is the new lapel flag pin for the GOP.

    They should just go all the way and wear double-lightning-bolt lapel pins. In tasteful red-white-and-blue, of course.

  455. 455.

    Tony Jay

    @Fair Economist:

    If he had any kind of wit about him Kevin would have drafted a Secret Speaker rule with only two clauses and leaked the news that they were –

    a) interim post to maintain all powers and privileges of elected Speaker until such a time as The House has voted to confirm a replacement.

    b) only current elected Representatives who have previously held the post of elected Speaker are qualified to serve as interim Speaker.

    That would have cut Gaetz off at the balls.

  458. 458.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @C Stars: The almond milk generally is supplemented with calcium and oat milk is generally not supplemented with calcium. I tend to buy nondairy milk based on calcium content and low sugar content so often the almond milk wins.

  461. 461.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Leto: the water ranch stuff has been going on in Arizona for decades but it used to be just the Metro Phoenix cities buying up land for water rights down the road. The Saudi thing has been going on for years. One of the big problems in AZ is that a lot of city/local/County elected positions are held by developer or developer adjacent business people who don’t care about the future of the state. They just want to make a quick buck. I heard the Saudi stuff years ago on NPR. I’ve never understood why AZ didn’t learn any lessons from California and California has made some awful mistakes in water management.  We only just started collecting rain water because in the desert it evaporates quickly and so its just wasted if it’s not collected. This should have been done years ago.

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