Well, this shouldn’t present any complications in a world of worst-case scenarios.
Luckily we have a thoughtful and prudent SCOTUS who I’m sure will come to the right conclusion about whether or not McHenry is in line.
1 Like
Comet ping pong obviously.
1 Like
If these guys want McHenry to just be speaker and want to expand his interim powers is there a reason they can’t just vote him in? Or do these gutless fucks just not want their name tied to anyone and think this is a loophole?
This article talks about We, The Pizza and Wiseguys (which are pretty decent IMO), but I’m sure Pizza Bolis or big chains like Dominos/Pizza Hut/Papa Johns are in the rotation depending on who is doing the ordering and eating.
Probably fighting over the pizza, too.
2 Likes
https://x.com/JakeSherman/status/1715065953598230836?s=20
https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1715066518411644946?s=20
Seems like an appropriate time to listen to one of my favorite Bobby Bland songs.
This explanation of the Jim Jordan fiasco
There’s an aspect of the Jim Jordan Speaker Drama that hasn’t gotten enough attention. It’s really the central element of the story. Over the years I’ve argued that the post-2010 GOP caucus operates by a consistent set of informal rules. What looks like drama and dysfunction is actually in its own way a very stable and functional system.
The congressional party is controlled and run by the hard right minority variously called the Tea Party or Freedom Caucus. But they are a bit too hot for national public consumption. They also rely on the idea that their far right policy agenda has broad public support but is held back by a corrupt/bureaucratic establishment. For both of these reasons a system was developed in which this far right group runs the caucus, but from the background, while it is nominally run by a mainstreamish Republican leader. Under John Boehner, Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy this basic dynamic remained more or less the same. It works for everybody because the Freedom Party calls the shots while the party maintains broad electoral viability via figureheadish leadership.
Meanwhile the stresses created by the gap between party goals and electoral viability is played out in psychodrama between a cluster of self-styled rebels and the beleaguered leader of the moment. This feature is more important than it looks. The big Freedom Caucus beef with McCarthy was that he couldn’t take the far right legislation they jammed through the House and magically force the Senate to pass it and Biden to sign it. The true believers are thus in a perpetual state of being betrayed by a menagerie of RINOs and other softies who make up the ever-shifting definition of ‘the establishment’, a fact that keeps the conservative media fundraising water wheel chugging forward.
If the Freedom Caucus took over caucus management directly they would quickly come face to face with not being able to pass their favored bills. If they did they would get shut down in the Senate or by the President. They would face directly that their favored legislation is simply not very popular. The system I described above may look like chaos. And from the perspective of effective government it is. But from a political perspective it serves every player’s needs in an effective and stable way.
3 Likes
5’ 5" is ROUGH
2 Likes
Gym:
Yeah, I think this temporary speaker thing works for Jordan. They need to drive a stake through his heart, shoot him with a silver bullet, and burn the corpse. Don’t give him the option of actually getting the job.
(Then again, Jordan as speaker could well kill the GOPs chances in 2024. Conundrum.)
This is like seeing a moron’s plan come together, where is was such a bad plan it doesn’t advance any actual objective. I’ll give this to Jordan, unlike Gaetz he seems capable of first-level thinking.
It’s wild that the Freedumbs got their guy, the founding Co chair of the Caucus, nominated for Speaker. Jordan is getting behind McHenry because he thinks that’s the best chance to secure the gavel. Yet the resistance to McHenry is coming from the Freedumbs.
1 Like
So as I understand it, McHenry speaker-ish-ship is toast and we’re essentially where we were a couple of days ago. Next vote after Jordan “talks to” the 20 (actually 22?). Alrighty then.
One man, one vote, one time.
I know this seems like a mess, but maybe if they spend enough time at this they will find someone really good.
5 Likes
This all reminds me of “The Thick of It - Rise of the Nutters”
Hope the rest of the world is watching while this well oiled machine of democracy, a beacon to the developing world, is doing death threats to convince members of congress to vote a certain way.
2 Likes