Yes, yes, but don’t I deserve some entertainment for all my trouble?…
“They don't want to work with Democrats, but it might end up to be a point where that's the only way,” Rep. Vern Buchanan said of his GOP colleagues. “We’ve got to get the government open. People are very angry, upset.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 24, 2023
“They just can’t believe that we’re this bad.” https://t.co/oCpn2DkNFi
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 24, 2023
The Republican caucus will consider a clutch of speaker candidates who have, in some form or another, rejected the results of the 2020 election.
Let us dispense with the notion/delusion of the Republican moderate once and for all. https://t.co/gUSpzsz5aJ
— HawaiiDelilah™ #MauiStrong ???????????? (@HawaiiDelilah) October 23, 2023
For those who prefer analytics, here’s Phillip Bump at the Washington Post [unpaywalled gift link]:
… It’s been useful to present the speaker fight visually, as we’ve done regularly over the past few weeks. So we do so again, using measurements of the caucus’s ideology (using DW-NOMINATE scores from Voteview) and the way their districts voted in 2020 (using analysis from Daily Kos).
What you can see is that, while Jordan was one of the most ideologically extreme members of the caucus, most of the nine new contenders for the position sit closer to the middle of the caucus. (That “of the caucus” is critically important here, of course; the House Republican caucus is very conservative, so sitting closer to its middle is a bit like enjoying a balmy 85-degree day in a month of triple-digit temperatures.)
In fact, the average ideology and 2020 vote in the districts of those seeking the position sits fairly close to the average of the caucus overall. Speaker candidates are a bit more conservative on average and represent slightly less Donald-Trump-friendly districts, but only subtly on both points…
Much more at the (gift) link!
Open mic night going great. Bidding starts with how many admin officials you’re willing to impeach. https://t.co/XhZQOwfUlf
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 24, 2023
So, once again, we have promises they can’t keep. https://t.co/NiIiyonPtn
— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) October 24, 2023
That will help convict more of the Jan. 6 rioters https://t.co/20EqiqLhND
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) October 24, 2023
MIT graduate (no, srsly), who is biding his time:
GOP KY Rep Massie: There's a good chance that whoever gets nominated is not going to get to 217. So I'm done thinking about it really deeply until somebody has a plan to get to 217
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 24, 2023
A scene from The Shining, just in time for Halloween!
https://t.co/REmbJtn2SY pic.twitter.com/dtFom7bPgU
— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) October 24, 2023
Bergman represents Michigan’s Upper Pennisula (and the top slice of the Lower Pennisula), both of which are heavily influenced by the rural Scandinavian immigrants who arrived a century ago. I have a feeling this particular formulation *may* be an example of the renowned Midwestern Passive-Aggressive Voice, but maybe that’s just me…
Reporter: Do you have a path forward tomorrow?
Rep. Jack Bergman: Well I have a path at least to get up in the morning and get here. pic.twitter.com/hcj28Mrg4z
— Kyle Stewart (@KyleAlexStewart) October 24, 2023
rikyrah
Good Morning Everyone 😊😊😊
Scout211
The Trump team has floated a dossier trashing Emmer. It’s getting nasty in the GOP conference. Oppo research to trash a member your own party. I approve. LOL
Dorothy A. Winsor
They’re worried they might have to cut a deal with Democrats? And yet the MSM expects the Ds to step in and save them, which I guess means giving them anything they want for free. What is wrong with these people?
On a less serious note, my building’s monthly trivia game coughed up a Patsy Cline question last night. What was her most recent #1 hit before she died in a plane crash? Answer: I Fall to Pieces. No kidding. The universe has bad taste in humor.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning! 🙏
Kay
This is another mystery of the Right wing base for me. Do they notice none of the people their leaders say will be indicted/go to prison never do? Hillary Clinton is still having a fabulous life. Dr. Fauci just goes about his business. Garland hasn’t come anywhere near resigning, let alone being indicted.
Maybe this is why they’re so angry and bitter and resentful- they’re constantly being told people they hate are going to prison and then that never happens.
schrodingers_cat
Isn’t it obvious they love Republicans and are Republicans themselves.
Betty Cracker
The last time disarrayed House Repubs reached into the back benches to pick a savior, they chose pedophile Denny Hastert. Great job, everyone!
Ken
@Scout211: 216 pages of opposition research on Emmer? That seems quick, even allowing for a large fraction of “refuses to bend the knee to Trump” material. It bolsters those claims that Trump has access to a lot of political dirt. Either that, or Emmer is one of those politicians where everyone already knows about his baggage, they just don’t talk about it.
Also, I’m not sure what to think of Rep. Massie’s passive “someone else needs to solve it” attitude, though I do enjoy the suggestion that some Republicans are apathetic or even despairing,
Kay
SFAW
“For example, the Bowling Green Massacre, all those cities being BURNED TO THE GROUND by Antifa, Sleepy Joe Brandon’s MS-13 Secret Police smuggling drugs across the Mexico/Montana border.”
SFAW
@Kay:
I imagine it’s also partly that they’re hoping some psycho will provide a Second Amendment Solution. I wish I were completely kidding (instead of only semi- so).
Kay
Also, the GBI report on Coffee County includes information on a person who came from Michigan to Georgia to tamper with the vote tabulator/election results. The Michigan man told Republicans he had gained access to voting machines in MI on behalf of Trump. He’s an unindicted co conspirator in the Coffee County case but I hope the GBI report leads to an indictment in Michigan.
Jim Appleton
This post — especially the Ohman cartoon and the chart — might be my favorite BJ of all time.
Bravo, AL!
Soprano2
I was talking to my radio this morning while listening to this interview of Republican strategist Ken Buck about the speaker debacle (mostly saying “fuck you” to Mr. Buck). He kept trying to blame Democrats for it, saying they helped get rid of the speaker. To his credit the host pushed back on it several times, at one point saying something like “But this is a Republican problem, right?”. I only wish he had asked “Are you saying you believe Democrats should have voted for a Republican speaker just to help Republicans out? Can you envision any situation like this where Republicans would help Democrats out?”
Betty Cracker
@Kay: That makes sense, maybe because this aspect of the case isn’t super nuanced and doesn’t rest on proving intent. Did they unlawfully bust into the machines? Yep.
Scout211
CBS has a Trump quote that shows he favors a different sort of savior. LOL
Bold added.
Ken
Personally after a headline like that, I would have led with “Because she is guilty. But of what crimes, and how she came to commit them, is a more complex story which begins on January 7, 2020 (yadda yadda yadda)….“
SFAW
@Ken:
Maybe, but I bet 200-plus pages of that is just repeating variations of “Joe Biden stole the election” and “Did you notice that the word ‘us’ is formed by ‘U.S.’? I just noticed that, I think I’m the first to notice that.”
lowtechcyclist
The Constitution just says that the House ‘shall chuse their Speaker’ but it doesn’t say how. I assume it’s written somewhere that the Speaker must win an absolute majority of those present, but I’m curious as to where, and what the exact wording is.
After all, theoretically they could ‘chuse’ by drawing lots.
Kay
@SFAW:
I used to read Trump Twitter (I no longer read any Twitter) and I always wondered why they didn’t feel betrayed when Trump didn’t “lock up” Clinton – they never talked about it when Trump was in office, like “hey- whatever happened to those Clinton Crimes we were told about?” Instead they would just gloat about “lock her up” as if it had happened, as if she were in prison instead of sitting on boards and accepting awards.
He had 4 years. Do they wonder about that?
Mai Naem mobile
I just feel like the world is burning, meanwhile the GOP caucus members are dicking around trying to figure out what meme they can use to fundraise the most money off. It also reminds me of how right before 9/11 the big story in the media was Gary Condit and the dead intern. It was just night after night of Gary Condit and then boom! 9/11. I think Qevin McCarthy might even hold some of Gary Condit’s seat’s geographical area.
JPL
@rikyrah: Good Morning!
Ken
@Soprano2: Another unasked question is “Say Democrats had saved McCarthy by providing a dozen votes. What do you think that would have done to his support in the Republican caucus?”
Chief Oshkosh
@rikyrah: Good morning, and what a morning of mayhem it is!
dmsilev
Until the GOP presents evidence, or a plan, or a glimmering of a hope of a strategy, that the winner of the caucus vote will get (All-4) Republican votes on the floor of the House, this is all just posturing.
Also, your daily reminder that another day has gone by on the 45-day CR. They’ve pissed away nearly half of that so far.
Scout211
Law Dork reports on a new filing late last night from the Trump attorneys.
dmsilev
@lowtechcyclist: Probably written into the House rules. Which could be changed …by a House which is in session and lead by a Speaker.
You begin to see the problem.
Ken
@Scout211: And somewhere, another Trump staffer facepalms, while a colleague says “You had to tell him he needs to shore up his evangelical support by talking about Jesus.”
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
I know I keep comparing the two cases, but they eventually released the GBI report on the Atlanta public school teachers who (allegedly) manipulated the test scores of 3rd graders (a GA RICO case, like this one) so I’m hoping we get the Coffee County report. We know there was tampering in GA and MI so I would like inquiries into the other swing states. I don’t believe they limited this to those 2 states. We have to clean out the Trump people on these election boards.
JPL
@Kay: AG Chris Carr has the report and has yet to decide what to do. ha Maybe he was hoping to bury it. Thank you for the article.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: I blame the Deep State.
dmsilev
@Scout211:
So, he’s down to getting legal advise from undergraduates doing 2 AM high-as-a-kite philosophical bull sessions?
Soprano2
@Ken: I agree, that would have been a good question. Also “What exactly do you believe Democrats should have done to prevent the current debacle? How exactly are they responsible for Matt Gaetz calling for McCarthy’s ouster?”
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: MTG is going to release a book and it should be subtitled, The lies the liar told.
Soprano2
@Scout211: Boy they’re desperate aren’t they?
Soprano2
I agree, because their definition of a legitimate election is that their candidate won. People like that cannot be allowed to run elections. Around here they don’t make noises about illegitimate or stolen elections because the minority population is less than 25%. I figure when it gets over 25% we’ll start hearing that crap from Republicans here.
Lapassionara
@Mai Naem mobile: I think of that sometime. Night after night for months! Then, when a real news story came along, poof!
Chief Oshkosh
@Kay:
Gabe is touted by moderates as some sort of hero. We see it’s all bullshit.
And, of course, the FBI continues to cover itself in glory.
Soprano2
@Kay: I read about the Atlanta public school teachers case on the “Daily Howler” web site (I used to read him every day because he knew a lot about public education and schools). That was quite the case, and a cautionary tale about making teacher’s jobs dependent on kid’s test scores. That’s a recipe for inducing cheating.
Tony Jay
@Soprano2:
Maybe it’s time for Democrats across the board to start really turning the screw on the Greatly Overrated Party by asking if a Republican majority that can’t even complete the basic task of choosing one of their number to be Speaker even deserves to be called a majority.
Is it time to start speaking about the Republican Parties in the House and asking when, not if, one or more of them are going to acknowledge that the Representative who has ‘won’ most of the votes for Speaker, and is therefore best placed to provide the House with the leadership the American public expects from it, is Hakeem Jeffries?
Get that question out there and watch the GOP sizzle like slugs in salt.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: This morning’s Politico Playbook tells me that Maryland Governor Wes Moore has endorsed Angela Alsobrooks in the US Senate race to succeed Ben Cardin. Ms. Alsobrooks is serving her second term as County Executive of Prince George’s County.
Alsobrooks’ main competitor is Rep. David Trone, who seems like a nice guy. I figured that Ms. Alsobrooks would win anyway, but Governor Moore’s endorsement will probably seal the deal.
Ken
My reading was that this was from Trump giving legal advice to his lawyers, or rather, demanding that they try this. Though it’s possible he got the idea from one of his Truth Social followers, who may have been a high-as-a-kite undergraduate. “This one weird legal trick gets you out of all charges! Just claim there’s no such thing as objective truth!”
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: @SFAW: At the end of Scout’s blockquote was this:
Just recycling that which didn’t work the last time. What’s the definition of stupidity again?
Matt McIrvin
@Kay: Maybe they’re just more patient than we imagine. It took conservatives 50 years to get Roe v. Wade overturned, and they kept the faith through all that time; then, after half a century of Democrats being amused that they couldn’t get it done, it finally happened.
Maybe if it takes that long to turn the US into a one-party dictatorship and outlaw the opposition, they’ll still think it was worth it. Everyone they currently want to put in jail will be dead by then, but there will be new people to throw in there. Changing demographics will make it harder for them to manage that unless they can adapt, but I suspect there will always be a market for certain types of lunacy.
...now I try to be amused
@Betty Cracker:
But the House Republicans don’t have another Tom DeLay to make them agree on a backbencher and serve as the power behind the throne.
Raoul Paste
@Scout211: if Jesus Christ ran for Speaker, imagine the oppo manual that Trump would have on him. More than 216 pages I’m guessing
NotMax
@Kay
Mexico’s fault. Dragged their feet on paying for and building the prison.
//
Brit in Chicago
@Matt McIrvin: Yes, this worries me too. If their win is thorough enough, and their plans fully executed, then they only need to win once….
Matt McIrvin
@Tony Jay:
See, this is what someone used to a Westminster system will intuitively realize: in such a parliament, they couldn’t form a government, so they wouldn’t be a real governing coalition at all. There would be a dissolution of Parliament and a new election, correct? Or have the rules changed?
The “centrist” Republicans keep complaining that the Democrats won’t just help them elect a Republican Speaker they like, as if they’re entitled to that, but why are they entitled? Because they’re the majority? But this isn’t really a majority if it can’t vote together on something as basic as this. That’s the whole point of having parties.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Too easy.
NotMax
@Scout211
Non-flotationally speaking.
Latest filing: 3, Lead balloon: 0.
Tony Jay
@Matt McIrvin:
Yeah, they’d be given a ton of chances to ‘assemble a majority’, but if they can’t do it, the monarch declares the Parliament dissolved and back to the People they go.
I guess this is just another one of those unforeseen Constitutional hiccups. The House has never deadlocked over the election of a Speaker before (that I know of) so it’s really a matter for the Parliamentarian ( or whatever they’re called) to say what comes next.
...now I try to be amused
@Tony Jay:
The basic problem is the GOP trying to run the House like a Westminster-style parliament without Westminster rules. If the House was operating under Westminster rules the GOP, having failed to form a governing coalition, would have to step aside and allow Jeffries to try forming one. If no one succeeds, new elections.
The possibility of either of these events would concentrate the Republicans’ minds
[Crossposted. Argh.]
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
@Scout211: No, I don’t think J.C. would get 217 either. The oppo research would bring to light all that woke crap in the Bible like the sermon on the mount. Compassion is not to be tolerated in a Rethuglican leader.
Matt McIrvin
@Brit in Chicago: These days, the saving element is that these people couldn’t plan a rummage sale. But they’ve been more disciplined before (say, during George W. Bush’s first term) and they could be again.
There are Weird Tricks by which even a slim majority with a tenuous hold on all three branches of government could abolish democracy through arguably “constitutional” means. But it would take careful organization and planning that they currently don’t seem to be capable of.
trnc
Yup. By my count, of the 18 votes for speaker held between January and now, Jeffries got the most votes in 15 of them.
Trust me, we can. Here’s a little tale about Dusty. He was on NPR this morning, and of course blamed democrats for kicking out Qevin and said that was a sign of rank partisanship while making some mouth noises about republicans also having some responsibility. To my surprise, the interviewer pushed back a little, but every republican who blames dems should be asked why they don’t just vote for the candidate who has already gotten the most votes several times. After all, that would be a sign of his much revered bipartisanship.
Matt
Just noting that cooperation with Dems comes up repeatedly here, presumably because the Rs are being asked directly about it. But it’s clearly many steps beyond a last resort since it would mean the end of their political careers.
ETA: Nym should be MattF. I rename myself every now and then.
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
Is the blog still acting screwy? It seems to have stabilized for me, as a lowly commenter.
SFAW
@Matt McIrvin:
Which raises the hypothetical (for me, at least, and which has probably been answered elsewhere): what if six Rethugs decided to switch parties tomorrow, making it 218 D to 215 R? Does that change the entire dynamic immediately? Or would Dems still have to wait until Jan ’25 (assuming we retake the House)?
I really have no idea. And, no, I don’t believe there’s any possibility of a switch like that. But I thought it would be an interesting idea to float to the MSM.
Steeplejack
Test comment from phone.
NotMax
@Tony Jay
Worst party ever.
The Doritos are soggy, the Pepsi is flat and the only record on the turntable is ‘She’s Having My Baby.”
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack: Yep. I just had to fish comment #59 out of moderation, where it was diverted for no apparent reason. ETA: Two more had to be fished out! I hope whatever ails the blog is fixed soon. I’m going on vacation and won’t be around to babysit.
Kristine
Saw on Threads that Jenna Ellis took a plea deal.
Geminid
@Geminid: Angela Alsobrooks administers a county with a population of 955,000. She has a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from the University of Maryland. She was State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County before running for County Executive in 2017.
Ms. Alsobrooks would be Maryland’s first female Senator since Barbara Mikulski retired, and the state’s first Black Senator ever. She is 52 years old.
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly: My habit of reading only far enough to get a line that I can
witlesslywittily reply to has been exposed again.Kristine
I tried posting a comment and it got e
Now I’m in moderation with an established ‘nym so the issues are spreading.
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
I sent WaterGirl a message.
MattF
@SFAW: I don’t think ‘parties’ are a part of the Constitutional system. If there’s a group that elects a speaker, then they’re in charge of the House.
Matt McIrvin
@SFAW: It would, if it happened, which it won’t.
Control of the Senate shifted from Republicans to Democrats in 2001 when Jim Jeffords switched parties. The political significance of it kind of got stomped by 9/11 happening a few months later. But it seemed like a big deal at the time.
These days, it seems more common for professional ratfuckers to get elected to state legislatures and such as Democrats and then switch parties once they’re in, flipping the lege to the Republicans.
MattF
@Kristine: Leaving Rudy and John Eastman.
Betty Cracker
@Steeplejack: Was trying to figure out if there’s a pattern, but I don’t see one so far. Hmmm.
Matt McIrvin
@MattF: They aren’t. The Constitution was written without reference to parties–they’re an epiphenomenon, in that sense. But statutes might be a different thing.
Tony Jay
@NotMax:
And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, the doorbell rings and it’s Crazy Madison Cawthorn with the Conservative Chippendales and a big old bag of blue pills.
OzarkHillbilly
@NotMax: You left out the warm Bud Light.
Geminid
@Matt: Some Republican Representatives are ready to retire. I’m not saying they will defect, just that they don’t have to worry about destroying their political careers, or hurting their careers post-retirement either. They’ll land on their feet.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
@SFAW:
The quoted part of the article noted:
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: I think we are all so afflicted, at least some of the time.
Jeffro
@Matt McIrvin:
@Tony Jay:
Danielle Allen’s column in the Post today covers that very topic and comes to that very conclusion!
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: I am now in moderation and I blame you. If you hadn’t raised the issue…
eta: Released!
Soprano2
@trnc: I was surprised the interviewer pushed back too. I’m so used to them accepting Republican framing as the truth that it always surprises me when they don’t. It’s ridiculous on its face, the idea that Democrats are responsible for this debacle because they won’t vote for the Republican for Speaker. It should be laughed at by every interviewer.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
@SFAW:
The quoted part of the article noted:
SiubhanDuinne
@lowtechcyclist:
Shirley Jackson style? I’d watch that on PPV.
Suzanne
@Kay:
Right, but they get to roll around in fantasies about how much they hate people, and that is really all they genuinely need. The right wing is all a psychodrama for white people and dudes to feel good about themselves, because they are not successful in real life and are resentful toward those who are.
WaterGirl
So many new posts just went up that you probably can’t see that there is a post up about this morning’s issue with comments.
New Deal democrat
This sounds about right. *If* the GOP runs through all 8 of the new contestants without finding any who can command 217 votes, that’s when enough are likely to come to the conclusion that there is literally *no* member of their caucus who can succeed. At that point some will conclude there is no choice left but to cut a deal with the dreaded Democrats.
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes, Ozark already pointed it out.
I still think my version is better.
trnc
@Soprano2: Yup. Might also be worth asking how many times a republican has crossed party lines to support a democrat for speaker. I’m pretty sure the answer is zero.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sorry, TL;DR.
UncleEbeneezer
I love when Republicans fight, but this whole thing is also super-depressing since it shows how badly the GOP (and America) has been taken hostage by Trump allies. Ugh…
Betty Cracker
@UncleEbeneezer: True. Kinda dampens my glee at their unraveling.
Roger Moore
@Scout211:
If Jesus Christ were on the ballot, the Republican caucus would deny him three times before the cock crowed and then vote for Barabbas.
Steeplejack
@Betty Cracker:
Same. I see WaterGirl has put up a post.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Like the Republicans, I created a problem just so I could get credit for fixing it! Although they apparently have forgotten how to do the second part.
catclub
I am still bitter and resentful over Fitzmas. Or the lack thereof.
catclub
My understanding is that the typical GOP Trump voter is upper middle class – however that might be defined. They are NOT failures, they just think they are temporarily insolvent billionaires.
and that is the problem.
Geminid
@New Deal democrat: I think Republicans will at least try electing whomever wins the 8-man caucus contest. If Republican hold outs don’t go along at first, there will be some more votes while Republicans try to wrangle dissenters.
They might end up making one last effort Thursday. Or maybe even on Monday.
If that fails, some interesting possibilities might open up. I’m keeping my eye on Rep. Don Bacon (NE). I think that if there 5 or 6 defectors, he will be one of the leaders.
OzarkHillbilly
@SFAW: HA! Still giving it away, I see.
lowtechcyclist
@Matt McIrvin:
I don’t think it would take organization and planning on Congress’ part, just Trump hiring the Cabinet members that would institute the needed changes, and Congress and SCOTUS rubber-stamping it all.
I’m sure Leonard Leo and his gang have people who could figure out how to change the rules to keep Trump in power until his corpse has long since rotted away.
OzarkHillbilly
@Steeplejack: So, you’re gonna fix it then? In 3 or 4 weeks?
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2:
This. But first you’d have to find the interviewer that would ask a question like this that would illuminate the way the media keeps a big thumb on the scale to pretend the parties are equivalent.
RSA
@Tony Jay: Danielle Allen in the Washington Post yesterday:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/23/hakeem-jeffries-house-speaker-gop-division/
RSA
It’s impossibly hard (at least it was for me a few days ago) to find out when if ever it last happened that a Republican or a Democrat voted for the opposite party’s candidate for Speaker. I think it last happened in the 1930s. It’s important context that political reporters should be aware of and mention.
Geminid
@RSA: I’m not sure Jeffries and other Democratic leaders even want a Speaker Jeffries, at least in this Congress. Jeffries keeps saying Democrats want a mechanism by which bills with majority support can get an up or down vote on the House floor. It Jeffries is offered a deal thst achieves this without him being Speaker, I think he’ll take it.
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
What is wrong with these people?
It’s a simple answer. EVERY DAMN THING.
Brachiator
Let’s also dispense with the notion that the Republicans will make some deal with the Democrats. The GOP is committed to opposing or obstructing the Democrats wherever possible. It would be very hard to give that up.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: Also give the factions names, like the Bolsheviks did to the Mensheviks.
Geminid
@Brachiator: House Republicans as a whole are very unlikely to make a deal with Democrats. But the conditions you apply to them collectively might not keep five individuals from making a deal.
But if this happens at all, we won’t see it happen until Republicans waste more time chasing their tails.
Paul in KY
@Ken: I think the courts would respond with some legal wording of: It’s close enough.
Paul in KY
@Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): No way that commie, free-love, income redistributor would get 217 votes!
Brachiator
@RSA:
From Wikipedia:
Ruckus
@Matt McIrvin:
Sir, are you trying to convince us that the conservative party of the US is trying to get their heads out of the dark, smelly place they have them stuffed into and it’s not going well?
Too late, already convinced….
Ruckus
@…now I try to be amused:
The possibility of either of these events would concentrate the Republicans’ minds
I believe that you overestimate them. First that they have minds to concentrate. Second the idea that they have a clue. Even a stupid and incorrect one.
The current day republican party doesn’t have a rudder or a captain. Worse, they have a number of entities trying to be both, without any concept of who, what, why, when or how. It’s going splendid for them.
Brachiator
@Geminid:
Has any Republican mentioned this as a possibility? Has any Republican spoken even off the record about what might be done to end this stalemate that would involve cooperation with Democrats?
Tony Jay
@RSA:
@Jeffro:
Tiny minds think alike! Maybe the WAPO is getting bored with the Republicans being in such disarray.
@Paul in KY:
Shouldn’t be hard, the Bullshitists and the Mediocrists are just sitting there waiting to be used.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: I think the non-Freedom-Caucus Republicans expect Democrats to come to them with concessions. They think of the ability to just get what they want as their birthright.
artem1s
They are such a mess. Jeffries should make it public that the Dems will never accept a Speaker who didn’t certify the EC. He should also make it clear the Dems will support a MTV if the GOPers manage to get to 217 on one of the Deplorable who wouldn’t certify and/or was part of J6 or the conspiracy to overturn EC votes in swing states. Time to draw the line and make it clear the only path forward for the GOP is to reject the extremists in their party.
Ken
If so, it cries out for the Godfather‘s “My offer is this: nothing” line.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Kay:
Sure. They think the ‘swamp’ protected her, which is why he needs to be back in office and fire all of the people with integrity who follow the law and require people to have actually committed crimes in order to be locked up. After years of Fox lies, they really think she’s guilty of something.
Geminid
@Brachiator: Don Bacon talked about this back in January. He did not get much attention, but he did float a scenario: that if Republicans deadlocked on a Speaker, 5 of them might make a deal to elect a retired Republican like Charlie Dent Speaker. Bacon’s guy won after 15 ballots, so he never had to pull the trigger on this plan.
But I wouldn’t expect any of them to mention it on the record. Why would they? They still want a Speaker acceptable to them, elected out of their caucus. They’re not going to show their hand until Republicans fail to do this.
But if there is a pool of potential defectors, I bet they’ve been talking among themselves, and maybe to a couple Democrats they can trust not to blab it out.
Paul in KY
@Tony Jay: God, you are a treasure
Think I would be with the Mediocrists. At least they stand for something (being a sad piece of humanity).,
The Lodger
@Matt McIrvin: I think the non-Freedom-Caucus Republicans expect Democrats to come to them with concessions.
Next thing, they’ll want donations.
Chris Johnson
@Ken: Sovereign citizens advising him to claim to be a sovereign sovereign.
Chris Johnson
@UncleEbeneezer: Thing is, if they were really hostage to Trump allies, Jordan would be speaker and there would be an end to it.
It’s like dating where men are afraid they’ll be rejected and women are afraid they’ll be killed. Up to now, Republicans have been afraid they would be killed if they didn’t obey the Trump wing. This is them ceasing to believe that (in the Senate, McConnell stopped believing it way before these guys got a clue, probably when he saw Russia fail to take Ukraine).
Now that they don’t believe Trump can have them killed, they don’t know what to do.
Steeplejack
@OzarkHillbilly:
Two weeks. I believe that’s the standard amount of time.