I have to get ready to go to the dentist (fun, fun) so I can’t do a post on Kevin McCarthy’s decision to withdrawal from the Speaker race. I will say, quickly, that you’ll see that I was right to be highly skeptical at the outset that he would ever be able to become the next Speaker and also that I was wrong about how much his comments about Benghazi would hurt him. However, if you realize that I thought he was doomed before he made the Benghazi comments, you’ll understand that I don’t think it was a necessary or decisive issue.
When I do get a chance to write about this, I’m going to be going back to how the GOP can’t fit a parliamentary Congress into a binary box. The Dems belong in the majority along with the Republicans who want to pave our roads and pay our bills on time. The logic of this will win out eventually, but probably not this time unless they go to an unending number of ballots and can’t find a Republican who can get 218.
But perhaps their attempt to do so has broken the box at least defacto. That would be something that would be gteat as anything that noves us to a real parliament is a welcone development.
Best tweet so far:
Boehner’s nightmare: he has to stay.
The GOP crazies finally got a scalp.
The jokes and political ads against these hacks practically write themselves. Before getting giddy had to remind myself that DWS is the DNC chair.
At least she voted for the nuke deal with Iran. Since we gave them Iraq may as well give them the money to smash the mass murderers in ISIL. With their wise and tough guy ally Mr. Putin.
This made me lol.
All they need to do is change Blind Rebels Motorcycle Club to Blind Republicans Motorcycle Club
I’m thinking helmets and black leather jackets (made in China, of course) with the corporate and personal logo stickers of those they work for.
Twitter-verse is exploding over House GOP meltdown.
We will of course will see if this amounts to anything, but this can’t be bad news.
Oh, yes, it can. They’re stumbling around on a very slippery slope and we’re still lab rats engaged in the American Experiment.
Run, Nancie, run?
Now is the time for her to “keep her powder dry” on the House leadership question. Let the majority keystone kops run around for a while inflicting more wounds on themselves.
Yeah, I was mostly kidding. But wouldn’t it be a hoot if she wound up being the only viable compromise candidate?
Geez, that could probably kill the GOP just as much as Trump as the GOP nominee.
I’m tellin’ ya, the GOP isn’t long for this world.
The GOP is so into purity that anymore, all you can do is point to the guy on your immediate left and say he’s not pure, but I am…right before the guy on your right does the same.
Only the Republican base could kill the GOP.
You were right. I didn’t think this would happen.
File under FWIW: rumors flying about an alleged sex scandal as real reason for McCarthy to want to spend more time w/his family.
Who’da thunk that simply stating (well in McCarthy’s garbled “speech” format) the truth about the Benghazi!!!1!!! comm real purpose would take him down. I mean, we all knew that’s what it’s been about from Day One. No one in the GOP gives a crap about 4 dead Americans. It’s only about taking down HRC.
Then again, I think everyone in the GOP takes an oath signed in blood to never ever tell the truth under any circumstances. And I can believe that is what might have brought McCarthy down.
You told the Truth, boy! Next thing you know, all those rubes we fleece will demand more truth, and then that’ll be the end of fleecing. You gotta go…
Trey Gowdy is not happy with being thrown under the bus.
Raul Labrador is not happy that McCarthy holds the position in leadership that Labrador wanted to hold.
Add up the personal motives of 247 big egos. There’s a lot of potential chaos there without some common objective. And it seems that with Boehner, they lost the thread of that.
Waiting for the Rushdoony relgious house to make its appearance again. Now, who was the Democratic snitch who lived there?
More to the point. There is a faction within the GOP caucus holding out for actually defaulting on the national debt.
Just think that John Boehner’s extended speakership might be the only thing standing between 124 nutcakes and economic disaster (the markets will read it so). Rumors that Goehmert was one of the names on the first ballot, but there are lots of rumors always inside the Beltway.
Can the Republic survive if the Republican party collapses before the election? Trump as the rallying point for the new opposition party.
Having failed utterly in its policy prescriptions both domestically and in foreign and national security policy, the GOP schemes to hold on to power extra-Constitutionally. They long ago lost the “spririt of democracy” and likewise the reality of democracy; now they focus on seizure of power, but for what? Stopping immigration? Ending abortion? What positive vision of society are they seeking on the other side of a government shutdown and bankruptcy?
“…now they focus on seizure of power, but for what?”
Two words:
Money. Power.
All the rest of it is just Kabuki Show to achieve the above.
Democracy? Running the government/country responsibly?
Such notions are for the chumps. The Big Boyz ‘n Girlz only got two things on their minds. See above.
That’s easy. Sticking it to the moochers, the takers, the welfare cheats, the gun grabbers, the promiscuous minority women. It’s positive in the sense that it’s their vision of justice. It’s a personality disorder or profound neurosis masquerading as a political platform. They believe that if they can just punish the right people (everyone else) the right amount (infinitely) then God’s justice (or the invisible hand of the CEO Jesus) will rain down in golden showers.
You are right to point out that a significant number of them want a default. Why? It’s overdetermined. Some believe the gold bug laffer curve fairy tales. They really are that dumb. Some think it will benefit them personally on some political level, that they can blame it all on the libruls. I suspect many are so inured to consequences that they can’t legitimately think that far in advance. Some perhaps know that it will hurt their people but it will hurt others more and that is justice. And a small number are perhaps Cheney acolytes and see chaos and suffering as their natural domain, their arena of triumph.
Offered without comment:
ummmmm….I must be getting old.
What the fuck does that mean?
Burning trash is probably universally considered disgusting. Ascribing the Republican party to burning trash seems relatively reasonable to me.
I always use dumpster fire to refer to Darrel Issa. As in:
Darrel Issa (DumpsterFire-CA)
The speaker was grasping for words to express his understandably strong feelings, mostly alarm. Congress has until November 5th to resolve a fiscal shortfall; Wall Street’s ‘talk’ on this has been a strange mixture of panic alternating with rainbow-coloured unicorns since Boehner resigned.
I read it also as fear of the damage,
So Boehner should just lead the dems and surviving reps into voting to simply suspend the debt limit indefinitely and leave it to the next congress to raise it. Nothing would technically change but then we could all ignore it. Sounds very American to me.
Repeal the debt limit act altogether. It was a redundant piece of garbage supposed to force discipline on the House. It became a hostage-taking device.
The debt limit is the difference between what Congress appropriates and the revenues it authorizes being taken in taxes. They tried the cuts with the sequester legislation and still want to goose military spending. It is time the GOP walked the plank on raising taxes.
Are there any political strategists on the Democratic side of the House who can push them over that cliff? Republicans are in the majority no matter how that gets solved. They must have their fingerprints on the chaos in a way that the public finally gets about responsibility. They have fed the public a fiscal fantasy for way too long.
Someone tripping over the Wurlitzer cord on their way out would also help, Mr. McCarthy. Feel vindictive yet?
I prefer to think Kevin McCarthy just wanted to spend some quiet down time back in his office in his home town of Santa Mira. Maybe brush up on his grammar.
I am dismayed by this. I actually do not want to default on the US debt, but we are moving in that direction. I do not want an arsonist in the Speaker post.
Repub. chaos might be fun to watch, but I don’t want those morons to crash the economy. Really, we need to fix the gerrymander problem, with a nationally-mandated system like Californias . That would go a long way toward getting rid of many of these loons.
Yet the toxic constituencies remain. I am convinced the whole Right-wing ‘movement’ is nothing more than a massive grift perpetrated on the Republic for no more redeeming purpose than unscrupulous religious leaders, media personalities and politicians enriching themselves and their pals at everyone else’s expense. It is one huge, long con and it is now clearly interfering with governance; uninformed talk-radio grievance writ large.
Other societies with less obsession with the ‘entrepreneurial’ might find a way to mitigate this problem. Let’s hope the constituencies in question grow tired of this pastime and perhaps a little ashamed of the circumstances or consequences. We’ll see. It’s a pretty pickle the GOP is in, that’s for sure. The Republic is merely hamstrung by these radicals but they are tearing the Republican party apart. Politically, as a conference, this seems eligible for a Darwin Award special-mention.
Is this the beginning of anarchy? Seems like the only thing left for the GOP to do is have a few punches thrown on the floor of the House.
Distracted from their important work of passing the 832nd bill to repeal Obamacare, holding the 89th session of the Benghazi hearings, and daily hatefest chants against PP.
The fifth of November!
Except this time parliament is intended to be blown up by the current occupants. Historical coincidence or whim of drunken Clio?
While technically probably not legal, Lew could refuse to authorize paychecks for Congress. Wouldn’t be anyone around but Obama that could order him to “cut those checks.” The unpaid House could impeach Lew, but it would move very slowly or die in the Senate.
I could be wrong, but suspect there are just enough not totally insane GOP House members and GOP House members that live paycheck to paycheck that at a minimum, they’ll kick this can down the road.
But can they do it? Doesn’t seem promising. The jig is up:
Crikey. We are officially playing with fire now.
Maybe not. The House GOP caucus in disarray gives the GOP Reps cover for failing to stop the passage of a clean credit limit bill.
they’re starting a committee to hold hearings on Planned Parenthood.
Starting? Does that mean the last committee on PP has been disbanded and they’re putting together a new one? Or does the old one continue on and PP is such a major issue that one committee isn’t enough? Who knew that the House has so little to do that they can fill their two hour per day – three day per week work schedule with utter nonsense.
CNN – Chef Paul Prudhomme dies at 75
A friend and amateur chef once gave me his take on Prudhomme’s cooking method:
To grill a steak —first, melt a cube of butter.
My understanding of Paula Deen’s method: First, melt two cubes of butter.
All joking aside, Chef Prudhomme did promulgate the use of Cajun spices for which many fish and seafood eaters are grateful.
Thanks Paul.
Yes thanks Paul. My older brother gave me a Prudhomme cookbook around 1985 and it opened to me a whole new world of spice and cooking methods. Far from killing me it has given me a little joy and reason to look forward to another day.
Well, take away all the butter, the steak and any fish caught in dubious local waters near NO, and it sounds pretty good.
Actually it’s a minor miracle he made it to 75.
Ah, I sense “contempt before investigation”. Fine. More for the rest of us.
And with apologies to Marie3, Paula Deen has as much in common with Prudhomme as Walmart has with Thomas http://www.crabtreefarm.org/contemporary-furniture/mike-jarvi — http://www.mikejarvi.com/video.html )
In fact it may be necessary to shop at Walmart to get many of the packaged crap Deen requires for her recipes — “Start with a #14 can of Crisco…”
err… That would be “Thomas Chippendale. Or my personal favorite Mike Jarvi”
Darn cut and paste.
Was only referencing the first, melt a cube of butter in many of Prudhomme’s recipes and that the popular Deen endorsed that component.
Unless I’m confusing Paul Prudhomme with Al Hirt, I’m sticking with my observations.
And Crisco? Do they still allow that stuff to be sold? My mom used to cook with it, but that was half a century ago, the dark ages of American cooking.
“The Dems belong in the majority along with the Republicans who want to pave our roads and pay our bills on time,’ SED YOU.
Where’s the money, honey? There ain’t none, except for printing for the rich. where have you been? are you completely occluded from reality?
Wow. your political commentary is pretty good, whereas your connection to reality is nil. it’s like watching chuck todd, except your political analysis is better.
Having opportunity to listen to RW radio for a couple days – yesterday listened to Michael Medved who I guess would fall into category of not crazy RW – he corrected a caller who said the deficit keeps going up; and someone else;s show – I didn’t recognize name- who was of the TP faction. fascinating. McCarthy was Boehner’s puppet, deserved defeat. they have no concept of how gov works whatsoever
also, the TPers didn’t even bother criticizing dems, even their tone of voice was calm mentioning dems. all the venom was for Boehner and his ilk
Any truth to the rumor that certain tea party members have proposed The Nooge for speaker?