.@RadioFreeTom to @SykesCharlie: "The fact that you and I are living in a world where it is at least notionally possible that Jim Jordan would become the speaker … is so utterly fantastic not because Jim Jordan is some transdimensional warlock, but because he’s an idiot."
— Jack Pitney ???????? (@jpitney) October 14, 2023
As the old saying goes, There’s nothing like being popular with your colleagues, and Gym Jordan is nothing like popular…
One Republican told me Jordan can use the weekend to win over votes.
Then I turned off my recorder, and asked again about Jordan's chances.
No, he can't win – was the quick answer.
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) October 13, 2023
lol he got 124 votes when he was essentially running uncontested. now he wants some kind of weird “what if”/mulligan ballot for what reason it’s not entirely clear. And there’s a Greek chorus off to the side chanting: THEYRE JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU. https://t.co/bKhchD90KX
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 13, 2023
CNN, Saturday morning — “Jordan faces grim prospects in speaker’s fight after whirlwind week for House GOP”:
After a series of setbacks, Republicans ended the week no closer to electing a new speaker as deep internal divisions have left the conference struggling to govern and the House in a state of paralysis.
The chaos within House GOP ranks intensified dramatically over the past several days as the conference has tried and so far failed to find a viable successor to Kevin McCarthy following his unprecedented ouster at the hands of a small faction of hardline conservatives.
Rep. Jim Jordan is the new GOP speaker nominee following Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s exit from the race. But the Ohio Republican faces the same kind of grim vote math that doomed Scalise’s speaker bid as Jordan lacks the 217 votes needed to win the gavel in a full House floor vote.
Jordan has the weekend to continue to make his case and attempt to flip holdouts, but he faces a steep uphill battle…
Republicans have grown increasingly frustrated that the conference has not been able to coalesce around a candidate. Some are openly questioning whether anyone can reach 217 votes.
On Friday, Jordan won the speaker nomination against GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia – who made a surprise last-minute bid – in a 124 to 81 vote, leaving him far short of 217.
Jordan then called a second vote Friday afternoon asking members if they would support him on the floor. That vote, which was cast by secret ballot, was 152 to 55, laying bare the major challenge Jordan faces in his bid for the gavel.
Jordan or any other Republican speaker candidate can only afford to lose four GOP votes when the full House votes for speaker if all members are voting…
Before a House Speaker is elected, will Americans discover exactly what Jim Jordan might have done to abet the January 6 insurrection, starting with what was said in his private conversations with Trump before and during that notorious day?
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) October 14, 2023
Jim Jordan should never be the Speaker of the House.
pic.twitter.com/B2D82Qqdhz— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 13, 2023
Jim Jordan was involved in Trump's conspiracy to steal the election and seize power; he urged that Pence refuse to count lawful electoral votes. If Rs nominate Jordan to be Speaker, they will be abandoning the Constitution. They’ll lose the House majority and they’ll deserve to.
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) October 13, 2023
This isn't a "Wow." This is a fact. https://t.co/0jsiinDtq3
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 14, 2023
It was on television, Lisa.
— juliusgoat.bsky.social (@JuliusGoat) October 14, 2023
Politico — “Will Jim Jordan bully his way to the speakership?”:
… While Jordan won the GOP nomination for speaker yesterday, the vote was far from the display of unity that he and his allies had predicted. An eye-popping 81 Republicans rejected Jordan in favor of a low-key backbencher, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who decided to run just hours before the vote.
“We were shocked at the number of people who did not vote for him,” Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) told Bloomberg. “There was nowhere else to go, and they still didn’t want to go there.”
The challenge Jordan is facing boils down to this: Despite becoming more aligned with leadership over the past three years, many of his colleagues still don’t trust him.
Lots of them worry he’ll embrace fiscal brinkmanship and steer the government into shutdowns. An even larger group is furious with how he treated Steve Scalise after the House majority leader won the nomination Wednesday, and they aren’t keen on seeing the second-place finisher end up with the gavel.
It should come as no surprise, though, that Jordan and his allies are ready to fight in a way that Scalise wasn’t. Their strategy is simple: Smoke out the holdouts in a public floor vote and put them in a political pressure cooker…
But getting to 217 will require a scorched-earth whipping effort that goes against the entire pitch Jordan made to his colleagues in recent days — that he’s a changed man who will represent all Republicans, not just base-pleasing conservatives.
And should he move to bulldoze his opposition on the floor, that would repudiate his position earlier this week — that the nominee needed to garner 217 votes inside the conference before waging a floor fight…
Imagine 519 days into defying a subpoena you are rewarded with being 2nd in line to the American presidency.
Imagine no longer. That person will be Speaker Jordan.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) October 13, 2023
It gets even worse for Jordan. Sources told us that Republican members of the Armed Services and Appropriations committees are forming an alliance of nearly 20 to block Jordan from becoming speaker. If that holds, there’s no chance Jordan can get the gavel.
— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) October 13, 2023
Pence: Jim Jordan would be an outstanding speaker
Collins: It's interesting to hear you say that given he was someone who sent a text to the chief of staff on January 5th that outlined for you to violate the constitution pic.twitter.com/tuDo3GuNsh
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 14, 2023
Karma does not play. Scalise supporters in the Republican caucus are reportedly furious that Jim Jordan refused to acknowledge the election results from Wednesday’s nomination vote that Scalise won.
Scalise spent months denying the 2020 election results.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) October 13, 2023
Still thinking about this- Jordan went into Scalise’s office after losing to him and made this awful ultimatum which he justified by saying “America wants me” and then 1/3 of his own colleagues voted for a nobody who said he didn’t want to be Speaker rather than let Jordan get it https://t.co/uXmLXHkcoE
— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) October 13, 2023
War for Ukraine Day 598: A Brief Saturday Night Update
Ruckus
Rethuglicans have turned conservatism into a moron lecture.
How to be completely worse than fucking useless.
They used to be just useless.
It was obvious, just not so damn obvious.
Odie Hugh Manatee
Gym forgot to finish his sentence. It’s “America wants me arrested and charged for my part in leading the insurrection.”
lgerard
Olivia Beavers has the best tag line
Leak it to Beavers
The humiliation of each successive Speaker candidate has gotten progressively more satisfying, but it will be hard to top Jordon’s upcoming flaming death
Brachiator
All the choices are crap, but ultimately the GOP will remember that they don’t care about the country, and just want to block the Democrats and make life miserable for Joe Biden with the phony impeachment hearings. Any selection will suffice.
What difference would it make? Republicans have already discounted GOP responsibility for January 6 and are still eager to make Trump their presidential candidate.
Betty Cracker
Mildly surprised Kaitlan Collins asked Pence such a pointed question. Good for her.
According to NBC News, Pence’s campaign is broke and circling the drain. Gotta admit I’m enjoying that pompous, droning fool’s endless parade of humiliations. He sold his soul to the devil for power and spent four-plus years shamelessly kissing Trump’s gross orange ass, only to have the deranged MAGA chuds turn on him because he did his job that one time. Pence is dumber than a bag of toenail clippings, but when he’s eventually forced to drop out, I hope he has the wit to comprehend the scale of his mortification and appreciate the bitter ironies of his political fate.
mrmoshpotato
No. He will ignore sexual assault his way to the speakership.
Cameron
@Betty Cracker: I’m afraid that America’s Mike Pence has all the wit of hard stool.
RaflW
NYT certainly making it sound like it’s intra-party war. I’m sure going on offense against your own caucus people will go great.
prostratedragon
Piper Laurie, as Catherine Martell, calls for help, doesn’t get an answer.
Geminid
I happened to catch Larry Kudlow’s radio show yesterday, and they were giddy about the prospect of a Jordan Speakership. Kudlow::
His guest was was not to be outdone:
Ascap_scab
Like to think of myself as a “problem solver”. I have the perfect nominee. A person who checks all the boxes.
A person almost all Republicans can get behind.
Kitara Ravashe.
You’re welcome.
JPL
@Ascap_scab: That would be a NO
JPL
@Geminid: Jordan would be Americans biggest nightmare, because he could end democracy as we know it.
Geminid
@JPL: Jordan might try if he were Speaker, but I don’t think he could succeed. Anyway, I don’t think he can get to 217 votes next week.
And when the new Congress meets in January of 2025, Republicans will be lucky to have 200 votes for a Speaker.
piratedan
while its nice to know that for some GOP reps that even the possibility of a Speaker Jordan is a bridge too far, its still pretty telling that the GOP has been continually running this con game regarding the 2020 election without any arrests of staffers or Representatives themselves. The Omerta is pretty impressive or else the DOJ is ponderous or both. Perhaps the GOP has perfected the recruitment of henchmen into an art form.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Geminid: Glad to hear that. Cocaine Larry kudlow has always been wrong.
brantl
@Cameron: I’m not sure it’s even hard.
gVOR10
They’ll do it. They’ll make Jordan Speaker. There’s huge pressure to name a Speaker. The Freedom (sic) Caucus won’t back down. Eventually the “moderates” will.
Mai Naem mobile
@Betty Cracker: did you catch the heckler who insisted Pence finally use Friday to come out and admit he’s his lover? The clip is hilarious. The young female either aide or reporter standing near Pence is trying hard not to burst out laughing. Almost like a scene from Veep. I was kind of surprised TFG didn’t do something with it but I guess he’s too narcissistic to notice something like that.
Geminid
Hah! I looked up stories about Missy Cotter Smasol, the Democrat running for Congress in the 2nd Virginia CD, and I ran across yesterday morning’s Balloon Juice post titled, “*Rivited* We Are.”
The 2nd CD is the Virginia Beach-based seat flipped by Elaine Luria in 2018 and reclaimed by Republican Jen Kiggans last year. Luria, Kiggans and Smasol are all retired Navy officers.
lowtechcyclist
The Dems should demand a vote of the full House on the Speakership. Just to remind everyone that there are 212 solid votes for Jeffries. And to give some wavering Rethugs the opportunity to find an excuse to be elsewhere during the vote.
MattF
I agree that one of Santo’s various identities is the logical next candidate. Maybe the volleyball champion. Which demonstrates that ‘logic’ is not what’s going on here. QED.
SFAW
@Geminid:
If Jordan becomes Speaker, certainly possible, just not in the way he/she meant.
mrmoshpotato
@MattF:
I vote for the volleyball champion, drag queen astronaut.
Did you know Santos was the first queen to land on the Moon?
Marleedog
@Geminid:
Is there any chance that she can defeat Kiggens?
Daoud bin Daoud
@gVOR10: worst Tom Petty cover EVER.
waspuppet
CNN, where the fact that nobody wants to vote for a Republican is a “math” problem.
It’s still worth remembering Josh Marshall’s analysis: This is essentially an internal Republican Jan. 6. We’re talking about a faction of people who just don’t think an election should matter if they lose. There wasn’t any voter fraud in the Scalise-Jordan vote; they just lost*. And they don’t care. And because “Republican moderate” is a LOL concept, they’ll eventually win.
*(I’d say it was proof that Jan. 6 wasn’t even motivated by sincere if misguided concerns about voter fraud, but the only people who still think it was are [checks notes] people who make six and seven figures covering national politics [eyeroll][throws notebook over shoulder])
Ceci n est pas mon nym
“Listen, leopards, we have to take five minutes to do some of the actual business of a political party, the part that isn’t eating faces. Then we can get back to eating faces.”
(Puzzled looks) “There’s a part that isn’t eating faces?”
catclub
For the Democrats.
mrmoshpotato
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: Nice.
Cameron
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: If it’s Republicans, I think you mean “eating feces.”
bbleh
Alas for Jimmy J, he has TIFG’s glaring assholery, utter shamelessness, reflexive lying and tendency to bully, but unlike TIFG he’s angry; he doesn’t seem happy being a shameless lying bullying asshole. That turns a lot of MAGAts off: they want a happy Führer.
Ken
I suppose Austin Scott is in one of those safe gerrymandered seats? Meaning I’ll have to hope he’s defeated in the primary. My reason, by the way, is that I figure we won’t get his tell-all book while he’s still in office, and I really want to hear who persuaded him to run for Speaker, and why.
New Deal democrat
@waspuppet: Josh Marshall has changed his mind:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/maybe-this-is-really-going-to-happen
Sent from my iPad
Matt McIrvin
@MattF: El Santo? Hell yeah, that guy could do anything. He was like if John Cena was James Bond and also a vampire hunter.
Geminid
@Geminid: After Elaine Luria won the 2nd District seat in 2018, I researched the new Congresswoman. Her biography is quite interesting. Ms. Luria was born 1975 in Birmingham, Alabama. She went to high school in Texas and entered the U.S. Naval Academy at age 17.
At one point in her Navy career, Ms. Luria was in charge of an aircraft carrier’s nuclear reactors. Luria retired with the rank of Lt. Commander in 2017, after commanding Amphibious Boat Unit 2 stationed at Little Creek, Virginia.
Both of Elaine Luria’s grandfathers served in the Navy. In the early 1900s, her great-grandfather founded a Reformed Jewish synagogue in Jasper, Alabama. Luria carried on the family’s tradition of religious service by conducting Passover seders while at sea.
Elaine Luria married fellow officer Robert Blondin, and had a daughter in 2009. The couple made their home in Norfolk, Virginia.
In 2011, one of Blondin’s two other daughters was visiting, and the three adults came up with what turned out to be a brilliant small business idea. The daughter was entranced by Norfolk’s many mermaid statues, but was disappointed when she could not find a mermaid souvenir. So they bought a block of clay and after several tries at the kitchen table, the three created a suitable mermaid for Ms. Blondin to take home with her to Nashville.
Some months later, Mr. Blondin (who was retired) and Ms. Luria opened up The Mermaid Factory in the trendy Ghent district of Norfolk. They sold pre-decorated mermaids, but the real attractions were the tables where customers could decorate their own mermaids with acrylic paint, fabric, glitter and small seashells provided by the store. Then they got an ABC license so customers could sip wine together as they decorated their mermaids.
Pretty soon, the couple opened a second Mermaid Factory in Virginia Beach. It became very popular because after a couple of days at the beach, parents were desperate for an inside activity their sunburned kids could enjoy, and pleased to buy a nice souveneir
Luria and her husband sold the business after she became Congresswoman.
Elaine Luria had a funny story about the Mermaid Factory’s beginnings. Blondin and Luria were consulting Dr. Erika Marsillac about their idea. Marsillac was Assistant Professor of Decision Science at Old Dominion University. As Ms. Luria recounted, Professor Marsillac expressed sceptism as to whether there would be sufficient demand for the mermaids. “But then she asked, ‘Can I order seven?’ ”
🧜♀️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♀️ 🧜♀️
Ken
@Matt McIrvin: George Santos is too young to be the original El Santo. He must be the grandson, and the title — and the training — get passed through the generations like The Phantom.
Trivia Man
Since we have clearly passed “sane republican caucus “ long ago, here is a wild twist for the script writers…
In Jim’s campaign floor speech for SOH he lays out everything he did to abet Jan 6. Names, dates, contents of his Trump calls, all he did, and all he was privy to.
He finishes big with, “Speech and debate clause, bitches. Vote for me.”
CliosFanBoy
@Cameron:
Well, his nickname, starting in college, was Mike Dense.
Trivia Man
Pence spent 5 years glorifying orange head, then 3 months trying to put some distance and take bows for his statesman like courage in the face of insurrection… then back to sycophant behavior.
”A fine speaker” for someone you claim tried to overthrow the government.
Brit in Chicago
@bbleh: “unlike TIFG he’s angry”
I watch as little of TIFG as I can, but in the brief clips that I do not manage to avoid anger seems to be his chief emotion. Perhaps in the list of emotions he’s trying to whip up in his followers it is second after fear, but I think he himself is a very angry person, who feels (against all facts) that life has been unfair to him.
Trivia Man
@piratedan: I am frankly shocked that not one Hill staffer was caught in the building melee Jan 6. Were they told to stay away? Already in the building with a front row seat so they didn’t have to join the crowd?
If a junior staffer had addressed the crowd, inside or out, with “I’m from Congressman X office and we are ALL behind you!” it would have fired up the crowd more and been the ego adrenaline rush of a lifetime. Not one wanna-be Caesar 100% convinced of success and thus 100% of adoration not prosecution?
Suzanne
@New Deal democrat:
I could be snarky and suggest Hakeem (bae), or Clint Eastwood, or the dedicated, rotted corpse of Antonin Scalia.
Really, though, I wonder….. maybe they just don’t? And they just bump along with McHenry until the election? It’s not like most of these fuckers are in electoral danger.
sdhays
@New Deal democrat: I think the nihilists finally overplayed their hand. Jordan and his allies reportedly didn’t think they had anything to worry about because it would require the “moderates to grow spines”, and “they always cave”.
But the ouster of McQarthy seems to finally have been a bridge too far, and Jordan and friends seem to have overestimated how much they can bully their colleagues over this.
I’ve been wondering for quite some time when some faction gets so tired of a few assholes ignoring the rest of the caucus that they give them a taste of their own medicine. I think we’re getting there.
bbleh
@Brit in Chicago: yeah I guess I shoulda said, he makes sounds like he’s happy. His little sing-song repetitions, the casual, almost lighthearted way he refers to objects of his hatred and scorn and his inexcusable actions. It’s no big deal, right folks? No big deal, you put animals in cages, right? Animals in cages. Tra-la. Jordan, by contrast, seems to snarl almost every word. He’s actively malevolent where Trump is casual.
As to Trump himself, I agree he’s angry and sees himself as a victim (the world’s greatest victim, never been a victim like him, never, believe me), but I put that down to his pathology, and at the root of narcissism is a howling lack of self-confidence, which is more fear than anger.
Another Scott
@waspuppet:
Yes, but more than that. TIFG, and the fascists before him, taught a bunch of them (and their voters) that rules are for suckers. If I want to break the rules and the norms and the laws, it’s up to you to stop me. If I get away with it, then it just shows that I deserved to win and that you’re a loooooser.
Yes, I’ll demand creation of votes and throwing out of opposition votes. Yes, I’ll be President for 3 terms. Yes, I’ll make my daughter VP. Yes, I’ll call out the army to “fight crime”. Yes, I’ll put unqualified sycophants on the courts. Yes, I’ll do all that and more. I’ll even tell you that I’m going to do it. And you’re too weak and scared to stop me, aren’t you??
And the oh-so-serious press will treat it like it’s completely normal.
Now watch this drive.
Grr…,
Scott.
Geminid
@Marleedog: I would say that Ms. Smasol has a decent chznce to win the seat. Jen Kiggens beat Rep. Luria by 10,219 votes out of 296,000 votes cast, a 3.2% margin. A Presidential year electorate could prove more favorable to the Democrat. Kiggans will have to weather some unpopular votes, including one during May’s Debt Ceiling standoff that prescribed a 22% budget cut for the Veterans Administration. The 2nd is full of active duty and retired miltary, and Democratic ads were pounding Kiggans for this vote within 24 hrs.
I don’t expect Luria to run. Smasol was endorsed by 20 former and current elected Democrats including well-known Senator L. Louise Lucas and Delegate Jay Jones, whose family is very prominent in the area’s Black community. I think Smasol will have an easy primary and be heavily backed by national Democrats. I will not be surprised to see Hakeem Jeffries and Catherine Clark campaign with her, and Rep. Spanberger will for sure. Senators Kaine and Warner will also, and they are popular in the Hampton Roads area.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@sdhays:
Also something to consider – the Bloated Orange Mediocrity has started to fade like the Cheshire Cat with the indictments, each new deranged statement, and he touched the third rail with that criticism of Netanyahu. The “moderates” may not be scared of what he can whip up against them anymore.
TS
@Betty Cracker:
Which he is still doing – talking about the wonder of Jim Jordan for speaker – is he angling to be trump’s VP again?
sdhays
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: It was pretty interesting that the Trump endorsement apparently had no effect.
Gvg
I thought this a couple of days ago, they can’t elect a republican because the 8? who unelected McCarthy would probably need to expect punishment for causing this mess. There was from that point no end point, no goal. That broke the conference. Also each failed candidate seems to be likely to become a spite no for each next possibility such as McCarthy sabotaging Scalise and they don’t have the numbers.
IMO they aren’t actually one party anymore, they just have not formally recognized it and I don’t know that out system deals with it. The big problem is their voters don’t recognize it. Voters don’t really think about the speaker or the party exactly. Most people identify with the party and assume other people voting for the party are mostly like them. For republicans that has tended to be true, but not so much now.
At least democrats know we are a coalition and most of us like that and expect our rep as to lookout for the parts that aren’t specifically like me. Otherwise there won’t be enough votes to protect me when they come for me….
I think they need to start selling their voters on compromise is NOT a dirty word in a democracy and no where in no government on earth do you ever get everything you want.
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: Given El Santo’s rock-solid commitment to honesty and fair play, such a descendant would surely be a disappointment.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott:
While holding the other side to a hyper-pedantic and hostile interpretation of the rules, because we’ve branded ourselves as the rule-following party. Democrats are the ones dejectedly looking through the book to find the rule that says you can’t have a mule as your place-kicker; Republicans get to cheat and wink at the camera, because they’re lovable scoundrels.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … BlueVirginia.US:
(Emphasis added.)
That’s a lot of mugs. That Dark Brandon guy knows what he’s doing.
Cheers,
Scott.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Gvg:
Problem is that they’ve spent 50 years in a perpetual reinforcing political-media-think tank environment selling their voters on the notion that any compromise is evil.
You don’t turn that on a dime.
Matt McIrvin
@Gvg: The Democrats’ superior party discipline in recent years is certainly welcome–I remember when it seemed like the opposite.
There’s still a yawning Hack Gap when it comes to advocates and pundits in the political media. Liberals have a deep need to be seen as playing fair and acknowledging their own side’s shortcomings, and it’s a handicap when it comes to drumming up support. It can feel like they spend half their time tearing down Democratic politicians.
But conservative hackery is brittle. When the party itself can’t all get pointed in the same direction, the pundits start malfunctioning like an evil computer on Star Trek when Captain Kirk traps it in a logical contradiction.
artem1s
Currently he’s doing whatever his Federalist Society overlords are telling him to do. He’s willing to suck up to anyone who will fulfill his evangelical fantasy that he’s been ‘chosen’ to lead an apocalyptic war for Jeebus. He’s so f*cking Dense that he will never realize the only thing he’s been ‘chosen’ for was to legitimize the Anti-Christ and put him into office so the true believers could start Armageddon rolling (they are probably salivating over what’s happening in Gaza right now and recalculating the days they have left until The Rapture). I’ve always assumed he certified the 2020 EC because he was ‘told’ by Jeebus it was all part of the plan. Why he didn’t go thru with 25th-ing TIFG ass when he had the chance is the real mystery.
bbleh
@Gvg: @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: and not just that “compromise” is evil but that Democrats and libruls are evil — from which it follows logically that you not only can’t do business with them but you should not because morals something something socialism something Jesus something — and even that government is evil — know-it-all bureaucrats, taxes, welfare, “government IS the problem” etc. — so no point in doing ANY kind of government business, just shut the whole thing down.
It’s simple and clear and black-and-white — which they like — and it lets them follow their Id — which they also like. Going from that to adults functioning in a world of ambiguity and uncertainty is … a BIG leap. More likely any Republican who said they should would be branded a heretic and cast into the void.
Matt McIrvin
@bbleh:
I don’t know. Trump takes joy in bullying but his campaign advertising and book covers have always leaned heavily on the Hitleresque dictator scowl. The message is “I’m pissed off at the same people who piss you off and I’m going to hurt them.” In Trump’s world, everyone is picking on him and has treated him unfairly–he’s got a perpetual line of whining. And then he extends that to those who associate with him: someone is laughing at you, someone is laughing at America, someone treated you unfairly or gave America a raw deal just like they did me, so you’d better get on my train.
Glidwrith
@sdhays: We have a handful that won’t vote for Jordan, no matter what, either because they want House paralysis or because of the Scalise treatment.
But we have 152 people that are just FINE with an amoral insurrectionist, someone that will aid and abet the genocide of Ukrainians and enact Federal law to enslave women.
We found the Nazis. They are literally inside the House.
smith
@Glidwrith: It’s depressing to realize that the 152 is 5 more than the 147 who voted not to certify the genuine electoral votes in 2020. Sure, relatively sane Rs like Cheney and Kinzinger are gone, replaced I presume by MAGAs, but still it’s distressing to see how little progress the party as a whole has made toward returning to the real world in the years since the insurrection.
Mr. Bemused Senior
They are caught in a trap of their own making. They want to stay in office and their only hope is to retain the support of Trump voters. Without those they have no chance.
trnc
Yes, although I hope someone will let her know the speaker is 2nd in line to the presidency, not third.
trnc
@Glidwrith:
Gonna see a lot more than that on the floor vote. Hopefully, it still won’t be anywhere near 217.
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
@Cameron:
I believe that you two are being too nice to his lowliness, little Mikey. He may not be all that good at, well, anything, but he still was and is on the side of our politics that thinks, such as it is, that we shouldn’t have/don’t need an actual working government for 330+ million humans and that as long as the rich get richer we don’t need all the rest of humanity unless they can help the rich get far richer, because democracy is absolutely not their goal, power and money are their goals, and not necessarily in that order.
Ruckus
@brantl:
I’m rather sure it’s a bag full of not even.
Ruckus
@Brit in Chicago:
Perhaps in the list of emotions he’s trying to whip up in his followers it is second after fear, but I think he himself is a very angry person, who feels (against all facts) that life has been unfair to him.
I’m pretty positive that SFB/TFG is an angry person who thinks life has been unfair to him. Forbes long ago did stories about his dad and him. His siblings seem to be rather normal but SFB is anything but. And his life has been one of under achievement in his mind. The person he’s most pissed about is him, because he thinks he is one of the most deserving humans on earth. He should be wealthy beyond all measurements, more popular than all the rock stars added together, able to leap tall buildings with just a thought. We can all see the reality, even him. And he got elected to the highest office in this country because he’s so great and wealthy. (I never said it made/makes any sense whatsoever, this is the shit in his head) His siblings seem to have led normal human lives but he is a really shitty copy of his scumbag father and has been for decades. He got privilege way beyond the norm and has the personality and brains to screw it all into the ground because he has always thought he deserved all of it. He’s been on this rock for almost 80 yrs and he’s still a spoiled 8 year old brat.
catclub
I would say the key difference is that he is not rich. Trump ain’t as rich as he claims, but he is still what the rubes look for in a rich man. Trump is the least sunny president we have ever had. Remember his convention and inaugural speeches?
Like Newt is the rubes idea of a thoughtful republican.
wjca
I confess that I am mystified why anyone would think that nobody could get 217 votes out of the Republican caucus. The solution is just so blindingly obvious: Vladimir Putin.
Problem solved.
Assures the much hyped 2024 election blowout, too.
catclub
A republican in a seat gerrymandered by republicans has a slight majority in his district. A democrat in a district gerrymandered by republicans has an 80% Democratic district. THAT is a safe seat. I am tired of no one appearing able to understand this.
Timill
@Ken: GA-8 runs about 65%R-35%D.
GA-8 from Wiki