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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Bad Omen

Bad Omen

by | 121 Comments

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Pastor Mike was elected Speaker on the first vote:

Mike Johnson has been reelected speaker of the House after a contentious and dramatic back and forth with several Republican holdouts.

After voting against Johnson, South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman and Texas Republican Keith Self changed their votes in support of Johnson.

He needed 218 votes to become speaker, which he received on the first ballot.

Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie did not change his vote, supporting Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota) for speaker.

My bet on the current session of the House was chaos driven by the Freedum Caucus.  But another possibility is the natural Republican way:  unity.  Today we saw the latter, and that’s not a good thing.

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  1. 1.

    different-church-lady

    C’mon, the result was never in doubt. It was only a question of how much they were going to make him squirm.

  5. 5.

    chrishod

    The major news bulletins here (in the capital of Australia) are reporting this as though Mike Johnson didn’t get elected speaker at all, far less on the first ballot.

  6. 6.

    wonkie

    Yeah, disappointing. Especially since the MSM, in their effort to frame our current politics as normal, will say the moderates won against the hardliners-in complete disregard for the reality that there are no moderate Republicans. None.

  7. 7.

    H.E.Wolf

    I think I’ll remain agnostic until the Republicans have to take a vote on actual legislation.

    Meanwhile, I have plenty of household tasks to occupy my attention. New year, new momentum to address all those projects that I so easily ignored last year….

  8. 8.

    Scout211

    @karen gail: They held the final tally for Johnson to negotiate with the holdouts and after that he had enough votes in the final tally. It only appeared as if he lost.

  9. 9.

    karen gail

    Once again we had Chuck Grassley, 91, as third in line for President. Old, old, old; I firmly believe we need young people in Congress but not young idiots.

  10. 10.

    KatKapCC

    I don’t care that he “won”, he’s still a loser.

    And sadly, so is the rest of the country.

  11. 11.

    RepubAnon

    I expect someone pointed out that they need a Speaker or Trump can’t have his victory confirmed by Congress verifying the Electoral College results.

  12. 12.

    MazeDancer

    Took hours. Not completely GOP in array.

    And such a thin margin. GOP gonna play Johnson on every big vote.

    Doesn’t really matter who is Speaker. They just need someone on Jan 6 to get Trump in,

    Poor Kamala. Hope she takes stiff drinks. And remembers Al Gore managed to get through it, too.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    Chico Man continues to steal Florida Man’s mojo.

    July:

    A 42-year-old man was arrested Thursday and accused of pushing a burning car into a ravine that sparked the massive Park Fire, an ongoing blaze that has burned more than 120,000 acres in California, authorities said.
    Ronnie Dean Stout, II, of Chico, California, was seen pushing a car that was on fire into a gully near a swimming hole in Bidwell Park shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday, Butte County District Attorney Michael L. Ramsey said in a statement.

    “The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire,” he said.
    Butte County is about 80 miles north of Sacramento. The blaze, which has been named the Park Fire, is California’s largest active wildfire.
    The fire had spread to more than 120,000 acres by late Thursday, Cal Fire reported. It was only 3% contained.
    Stout has two previous “strike” felony convictions that will be charged along with any arson charge that is determined, prosecutors said.

    Park Fire eventually burned 420k acres, the biggest of 2024. $351MM spend fighting it.

    Today:

    Authorities have arrested a Chico man in connection with the intentional blaze that destroyed Chico’s historic Bidwell Mansion in December, California State Parks officials announced Friday.

    Kevin Alexander Carlson, 30, was arrested Thursday afternoon on suspicion of felony arson and a host of other charges and booked into Butte County Jail in Oroville. State Parks officers along with Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal, Chico Police Department and officers at California State University, Chico, made the Thursday afternoon arrest. State Parks officials Friday said more information was to come at a Monday news conference in Chico, but said Cal Fire investigators “found clear indicators pointing to an intentional act and on Dec. 17, determined the cause to be arson.”

    The fire early Dec. 11, stunned a city where the mansion was a fountainhead, home to its founding family and its enduring symbol. “For Chico, it’s like when Parisians lost Notre Dame. If St. Louis were to lose the (Gateway) Arch. It’s something like that. It’s been here for 160 years. It’s older than the town.”” former Chico mayor Andrew Coolidge said of the mansion’s impact on the city in the blaze’s aftermath. “In a literal way, it’s the center of town. It’s tied to every aspect of the city. It’s very traumatic.”

    sacbee.com/news/local/article297934393.html#storylink=cpy

    Don’t allow this travesty of a meme theft, Florida. Your move!

  15. 15.

    karen gail

    @Scout211: I saw that later in Maddow blog; I also saw comment that Johnson is now in Trump’s sights and first in line to scapegoat.

  17. 17.

    Jeffro

    I’m not worried about GOP unity.  It won’t come easily or often, and when it does, whatever they’re after will be bad for the country.

    The trick is for us to LOUDLY point that out, every time.

  25. 25.

    JKC

    Is it true that the final votes for Pastor Mike didn’t materialize until president-elect Musk tweeted his wishes?

  26. 26.

    karen gail

    @Suzanne: One could say that is the “job” of any politician. Though with Trump it isn’t boots being licked it’s a**es.

  27. 27.

    KatKapCC

    @JKC: He did tweet his support but who knows if the two flippers gave a fuck or if Johnson just threatened to monitor their porn usage if they didn’t.

  28. 28.

    Trivia Man

    I am curious about the rules for a new vote. IIRC, last any one single rep of either party could request a speaker vote with no opportunity to tabe it or delay without all members going on record YES/ No.

  30. 30.

    hrprogressive

    My understanding is it took more than one vote, not a first ballot.

    Second, with a fingernail-thin majority this time around, and no obvious other GOP candidate, I’m not shocked, really.

    The real shitshow will be further down the line.

    I do not expect the House Clown/Fascist Caucus to suddenly start getting “good at governing” anytime soon.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    Elmo’s making time to be a weirdo overseas. His UK obsession should be a concern to those in the UK.

    Elon Musk’s attack on the government’s handling of grooming gangs is “misjudged and certainly misinformed”, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said.
    Tech multi-billionaire Musk has posted a series of messages on his social media site X, accusing Sir Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute gangs that systematically groomed and raped young girls, and calling for safeguarding minister Jess Phillips to be jailed.
    Asked about his comments, Streeting said “this government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation incredibly seriously”.
    He invited Musk to “roll up his sleeves and work with us” against rape gangs.
    The Tories have also criticised Musk for “sharing things that are factually inaccurate”.

  32. 32.

    ljdramone

    @JKC: no, but the final 2 votes for Pastor Mike didn’t materialize until they held the vote open for quite a while to give the dissidents a talking to off the House floor.
    Elon’s been ignoring his DOGE responsibilities for the last couple of hours and focusing his supergenius powers on Britain, retweeting Liz Truss saying “defund the BBC” and Nigel Farage.

  34. 34.

    Splitting Image

    The way I look at it is that this is Pastor Mike’s easiest vote. The caucus is supposed to be completely united after the election. It’s only going to get worse for him from here on out.

  35. 35.

    Suzanne

    @KatKapCC: @karen gail: I was just looking back on my FB memories, and exactly one year ago today, I wrote this as my status update:

    Revit has crashed on me twice today, and I am still having a better day at work than Kevin McCarthy.

    No crashes today, and maybe a slightly less bad day for Johnson.

    However, I went back and looked at my friends’ comments on that post, and the word “rimjob” was used. So the band members may change, but the themes remain the same.

  36. 36.

    Jackie

    TCFG is finally whining about the American flag being at half staff Jan 20:

    President-elect Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Friday to complain that the American flag will be flown at half-staff for his inauguration due to the period of mourning for the recently deceased former President Jimmy Carter.

    “The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration,” wrote Trump. “They think it’s so great, and are so happy about it because, in actuality, they don’t love our Country, they only think about themselves. Look at what they’ve done to our once GREAT America over the past four years – It’s a total mess!”

    “In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half mast,” he continued. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

    Again, not linking to his unTruth account. The link is above for those who are interested.

  37. 37.

    Old Man Shadow

    Johnson hasn’t been as horrible as he could have been so far… so… I guess we’ve got that going for us…

  38. 38.

    Anonymous At Work

    It was only after realizing that their “Present” votes and “No” votes would make Hakeem Jeffries into Speaker of the House that they switched.  It bodes ill for Republicans that negative partisanship is the only way to achieve unity.  Without the “…or a Democrat wins…”, the unity will fall apart.  Debt limit and budget reconciliation will offer a chance for defectors to decide, “I didn’t get everything I wanted, so I can vote against it.”

  39. 39.

    Mai Naem mobile ¹

    Johnson will lose Stefanik and the FL rep who was nominated by TFG for something so they’ll be down 2 more for a few months. Johnson’s going to be doing a lot of grovelling and bribing to get the votes.

  40. 40.

    Raoul Paste

    @schrodingers_cat:  if you have nothing else to do, the London eye is fine, especially if you’re with a small group.

    Otherwise,  go see the Victoria and Albert Museum.  A stunning variety of interesting displays, and you won’t forget  the opulence of  the dining level on the lowest floor.

  42. 42.

    Barbara

    @schrodingers_cat: For myself, not, with my kids, yes, worth it. It doesn’t take long but I don’t know how much it costs now. I would probably spring for $15 or pound equivalent.

  44. 44.

    Shalimar

    Johnson won when everyone accepted reality, that there was no alternative who could even come close to 218.  Republicans do not accept reality very often.  He hasn’t won anything worth winning.

  48. 48.

    Shalimar

    @Jackie: As soon as Trump is inaugurated, you know he’s going to disrespect Carter’s memory by raising the flag again.  Then Republicans will be far giddier than Democrats supposedly are now.

  49. 49.

    Eric S.

    @schrodingers_cat: I rate the London Eye a solid “meh”. It gives great views of the city. As I recall it’s a 30m ride. On the other hand the lines can be ridiculous and it’s maybe 50 quid. I was there in August and the weather was nice.

  50. 50.

    lowtechcyclist

    “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it.”

    Yes we do, and yes we can!

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie:

    Where was the flag when LBJ was inaugurated? Teddy Roosevelt? James Garfield? Andrew Johnson?

    “Never” is a long time.

  56. 56.

    Jackie

    @trollhattan:

    Where was the flag when LBJ was inaugurated? Teddy Roosevelt? James Garfield? Andrew Johnson?

    Details… history… TCFG is sorely lacking in both.

  57. 57.

    scav

    Somebody quick reassure His Orangeness. His flag will be the biggest, most elevated memorial flag ever seen on the planet.

  58. 58.

    greenergood

    @trollhattan: Musk in terms of the UK is an interfering annoying shit, who sucks up, and finances, another UK shit who f***ed over Britain with Brexit. Musk hasn’t a clue what he’s talking about – he just plumps for the latest Fascist because that looks fun and edgelord-y, which is exactly what Fascist Farage is: a microscopic edgelord, desperate for funds and recognition from Musk the ‘billionaire’

  59. 59.

    Scout211

    @hrprogressive: My understanding is it took more than one vote, not a first ballot.

    It only seemed like that because the last minute wrangling of holdouts took a long time.

    PBS — Republican Mike Johnson won reelection to the House speakership on a first ballot Friday, pushing past GOP hard-right holdouts and buoyed with a nod of support from President-elect Donald Trump.

  60. 60.

    bbleh

    Concur with other comments: if THIS vote — which is necessary to do ANYTHING else, including crowning the Orange Guy, required delay and arm-twisting, imagine what anything with any SUBSTANCE will require.

    Remember also, there was no obvious alternative: the other 3 or 4 potential Republican Speakers have factions dead-set against them.  Pastor Mike is SO bland and generally powerless that he’s almost the only one acceptable to all of them.

    Put another way, if this is what counts as Republican “unity,” it’s pretty fragile.

  61. 61.

    Steve LaBonne

    @Scout211: No, it was a single ballot. The vote was held open until two holdouts could get their arms sufficiently twisted to change their votes (Trump was on the phone with them).

  64. 64.

    Old School

    For the pedants:

    South Korea’s president instituted Marshall Law for a day and they’re trying to arrest him.

    Fauci basically instituted Marshall Law for months.

    — Former Congressman Matt Gaetz (@FmrRepMattGaetz) January 3, 2025

  69. 69.

    rusty

    @schrodingers_cat: It’s got a great view of the city, and can be a way to take a break on a long day.  My favorite view of London however is to climb the dome of St. Paul’s.  You go up between the inner and outer domes and come out on top with a fantastic view of classic London since city hasn’t allowed tall buildings to be built close to the cathedral.  A suggestion for part of a day.  Start at the Tate Modern, go past the Globe Theater (you can even catch a Shakespearean play at the right time of year), cross the Thames on the Millennium Bridge, go to St. Paul’s and climb the dome.  Then take a double decker bus down to Trafalgar Square.  If you wait, you can catch one of the old classic Routemaster double deckers they still run on that line.  You can stop at Covent Garden on the way, then at Trafalgar visit the British Museum.  It’s a great day and a good way to catch a bunch of the best sights with limited time.

  72. 72.

    Kayla Rudbek

    It’s thundersnowing here in the DC area and I hope that it screws up everything for the Rethuglicans trying to leave town right now.  My sibling and spouse know how to drive in this so I will just text them later to make sure they’re safe.

    Mr. Rudbek was talking about putting the studded tires on his mountain bike and going for a ride so I will be checking my phone to make sure that he’s safe.

  73. 73.

    Old School

    BREAKING:Judge Merchan orders Trump to be sentenced on Jan. 10 — before his inauguration — in the criminal hush money case.

    The request to dismiss the case has been denied. @MSNBC

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2025

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Hahahaha ha — TCFFG has to appear before Judge Merchan for sentencing one week from today LOLOL

  76. 76.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @m.j.: depends on the law school and the state bar exam. California and New York are reputed to be the two toughest in the nation, I would think that Florida is a lot less challenging.

    The truly annoying aspect of law school is that it generally doesn’t prepare you for either the bar exam or for the practice of law (the bar exam depends more on whether you have the time and money to take a prep course for it; Marquette and Wisconsin being the sole exceptions to not teaching you to practice law due to the diploma privilege aka 3-year bar exam)

  77. 77.

    Splitting Image

    @Old School:

    South Korea’s president instituted Marshall Law for a day and they’re trying to arrest him.

    Fauci basically instituted Marshall Law for months.

    Did somebody say Marshal Law?

    Recommended if you are a fan of The Boys. Marshal Law did it twenty years earlier and arguably better.

  78. 78.

    Suburban Mom

    @schrodingers_cat:  I went with my then 19 year-old-daughter.  She had never been to London before and loved it.  I thought it was just okay, but I had visited a bunch of times prior to that trip.

  82. 82.

    RevRick

    @different-church-lady: The real fun will begin when they have to vote on raising the debt ceiling and funding the government. The House GOP has been ungovernable since the Tea Party triumph of 2010. Just ask John Boehner, Paul Ryan and McCarthy.

  83. 83.

    Suzanne

    Ben Wikler just posted this on his Xhitter:

    Let’s show up where Dems have been missing.

    Fox News. Local conservative radio. And new platforms and podcasts—from Joe Rogan to shows you’ve never heard of. And let’s build progressive media at the same time.

    If I’m DNC Chair, we’re going on offense.

    I wish I knew how to do the embedded tweet thing.

    But anyway! This, to me, is good! I approve this messaging message!

  84. 84.

    JaySinWA

    @scav:

    Somebody quick reassure His Orangeness. His flag will be the biggest, most elevated memorial flag ever seen on the planet.

    The flag will be “flown” so much lower than any memorial flag before! Or higher, I guess higher could work too.

  85. 85.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Kayla Rudbek:

    Out here in Calvert County, we’ve got snow coming down at a 45° angle, accompanied now by thunder and lightning.

    Glad I’m indoors with no plans to go anywhere.

  86. 86.

    KatKapCC

    @Suzanne: Not sure about the app, but on desktop, you’d click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, select “embed post”, then select “embedded post” on the next screen (as opposed to “embedded video”), then click “copy code”. Then you would paste that into the text editor on the comment box.

  87. 87.

    Old School

    @Suzanne:

    I wish I knew how to do the embedded tweet thing.

    Click “…” on the tweet.

    Choose “Embed post”

    Choose “Embedded Post”

    Click on “Copy Code”

    In Balloon-Juice comment, make sure you are in “Text” mode (not “Visual”)

    Paste Code from Twitter.

    Hit “Post Comment”

  88. 88.

    karen marie

    @Old Man Shadow:   That’s because in order to get the very little that got done in the last go-round Johnson had to work with Democrats.

    The “new” House has zero women as committee chairs.  That makes the choice of Gerry Connolly over AOC for ranking member on the House Oversight Committee even more egregious.

  90. 90.

    slybrarian

    I really don’t think it’s a bad omen that Johnson had to hold the vote open two hours so he could beg members of his own party to elect him, which should be the simplest and most straightforward vote a speaker will have all term. That doesn’t look much like unity to me.

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    I mean..he’s outlived his usefulness to Vlad.

    And, tokens get spent.

     

    Was Bashar al-Assad poisoned in an assassination bid in Moscow? Reports say he was taken ill on Sunday and was struggling to breathe SECTIONS Read more at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/was-bashar-al-assad-poisoned-in-an-assassination-bid-in-moscow-reports-say-he-was-taken-ill-on-sunday-and-was-struggling-to-breathe/articleshow/116886700.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

  94. 94.

    ETtheLibrarian

    He was the compromise choice last time so I am sort of not surprised that he gets it again. I am surprised they all figured that out (again) quickly.

  95. 95.

    TBone

    I love Judge Merchan for showing some cojones!  I don’t dare get my hopes up too high, but his insistence is commendable.  I dig it.  I hope that the ball gargling thunder twat is sentenced to ten days at Rikers and has to be released and escorted to inauguration by his parole officer.  Ok, my hopes are indeed a little too high.  So am I!

  96. 96.

    hitchhiker

    I’m fresh out of outrage. Americans elected these fools AFTER watching them fuck up for the last two years. I have checked my outrage supply, normally kept nice and cold in the freezer, and it’s just all gone.

    In the meantime, I gotta walk my old dog. He’s going very slowly these days, and not all that far, but he can still do it.

  97. 97.

    zhena gogolia

    @Suzanne: I just got asked by Kamala to transfer my monthly donation to the DNC. I did it, although with qualms, because I have some hopes for Wikler.

  99. 99.

    Captain C

    @TBone: 10 days at Rikers, followed by another several years upstate starting either the moment he is no longer President OR Jan 21, 2029, whichever comes first.

  100. 100.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @schrodingers_cat: I enjoyed it – you get a great view. Remember it’s security conscious similar to an airplane, so no knives, etc. You get them back after you get off your capsule.

  101. 101.

    Argiope

    @schrodingers_cat: This isn’t likely helpful since I haven’t done it, but I’ve been to London 5 times since it’s been built and it’s somehow never made the cut of things I wanted to spend time or money on.  There are just so many other cool things to do and see, including places to look down from a great height of that’s your jam.

  104. 104.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: Reports are that Bashar Assad amassed a personal fortune of over $6 billion.* Maybe Putin intends to steal that money.

  106. 106.

    JMG

    My interpretation of the Speaker vote is that the craziest of the crazy caucus did a whole show just to tell Johnson, “we can get rid of you at any time, so what we say goes.”

  107. 107.

    Suzanne

    @zhena gogolia: You’re a nice person.

    SuzMom and I were just having this discussion yesterday. Her brother (SuzUncle) was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and LBD last year, so she decided to stop donate to the Dems and to donate to a Parkinson’s charity instead. She’s feeling guilty about it, though.

  108. 108.

    TBone

    @Captain C: my hopes are not that high anymore dagnabbit.

    Merchan said an “unconditional discharge appears to be the most viable solution,” so that Trump could pursue his appeals. Under New York law that means a sentence without incarceration, fine or probation.

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    @Captain C: CBS Radio News reported that Judge Merchan said he wasn’t going to impose a jail sentence on Trump. They also said Trump can appear in person or by video link.

  110. 110.

    TBone

    Maybe Judge Merchan will surprise us.  Everything I read so far says “appears” or “he signaled” or “he may.” I’m rooting for humiliation at the very least.  Convicted felon by imposition of sentence has a nice ring to it.  Wear that shit like a tattoo, Donnie.

    I’d put him in stocks in Central Park and let the public piss on him throw rotten tomatoes and other assorted, stinky garbage.  They could sell those items to pelt him with and make a killing.

  112. 112.

    Queen of Lurkers

    @schrodingers_cat: Depending on physical ability, I’d recommend the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral over the London Eye. The latter is good with kids/elderly

    I wrote this before reading others’ comments — I notice that someone else said the same thing.

  115. 115.

    karen marie

    @m.j.:   Given how grossly incompetent the prosecutor is in this superior court criminal trial I’m transcribing, I can’t imagine law school would be hard at all.  “Expensive” is a matter of perspective.

  116. 116.

    Glory b

    @karen marie: AOC has to do some more work on not pissing off her fellow Dems.

    People tend not to vote for coworkers who actively tried to unseat them.

    She should probably pass at least one bill too.

  117. 117.

    artem1s

    good lord, they managed to find their own asses with a flashlight today. something 120 or so House members have done with little or no trouble in the past – many on the first vote. not much of hurdle to jump and hardly 11 dimension chess. let’s not crown them sooper geniuses just yet.

  120. 120.

    Soprano2

    @Queen of Lurkers: I climbed to the top of St. Paul’s when I was 18. It was worth it, but I’m not sure I could do it now even though I’m in good shape. That’s a lot of stairs!

  121. 121.

    Gretchen

    I enjoyed Ted Danson’s A Man on the Inside – about a man recruited to go  undercover in an assisted living place and find out who was stealing stuff. Someone said that if you liked this you would love Thelma on Hulu. I’m going to check it out.

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