US Politics October 2023: "They were crying. People who have never cried before."

Trump says farmers and builders who have never cried before come up to him all the time crying and thanking him for all he’s done for them. pic.twitter.com/wvbmq9crYs

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 1, 2023

I never would've imagined he reeked that horribly but I guess that goes to show ya

“Sir, sir …”

It's Monday already. So when is Matt Gaetz gonna file his motion to vacate the chair and take down McCarthy? And will the House GOP become a pile of fulminating wreckage as a result? Enquiring minds want to know!

It's Monday already. So when is Matt Gaetz gonna file his motion to vacate the chair and take down McCarthy? And will the House GOP become a pile of fulminating wreckage as a result? Enquiring minds want to know!

It's been filed.

Congrats @LaphonzaB on your historic appointment to the Senate.

I look forward to your partnership & to having two incredible Black women serve consecutively when we elect @BarbaraLeeForCA as the next Senator from California.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) October 2, 2023

my rep!

It would be hilarious if all the reporters at the Capitol just ignored Gaetz for the rest of the week. Odds are that his Big Challenge is going to fizzle like a damp squib anyway, so why let him posture and huff in front of two dozen microphones?

I don't get why ppl think Pressley's tweet is petty -- because there's a chance that Butler could decide to run for the seat herself? As of right now, she's not a candidate for 2024.

You can read it as kind of a warning shot, like “Don’t bother getting into the race.” But so what? Politics ain’t beanbag iirc.

Oh, it's petty -- that's why it works. I don't care either way. Butler's warming the seat and she'll likely vote close to 100% of the Senate party line; that's what matters to me.

Pressley is just reiterating her support for Lee. In a club as small and ambitious as the CA Congressional delegation little gestures like that get noted down in the ledger of who did what favors for whom.

The Senate is an institution that rewards seniority with committee chairperson appointments etc. I love Barbara Lee, but she would be 78 when she's first elected, and couldn't serve a second term starting at 84 or garner any kind of seniority in the Senate. So why is she doing it. Is it just for it to be a capstone to her career?

I concur. I'm going to vote for her, sure, but I wish someone younger was teed up for the job (someone who isn't Schiff). I guess Porter is younger.

you mean someone younger like Laphonza Butler, 44, who will be the incumbent?

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a45414167/republican-party-government-shutdown/?fbclid=IwAR1cF0vlOPEVKt4TGijx3U3qNhiesMOqbUaQaY29BGPeoKEmkPnmelWZ4LA

I'm guessing Pressley already committed to supporting Lee

What Charles Pierce seems to be overlooking is that even if the Republican Party collapses all the people who vote for the current death cult edition of the GOP will not vanish at the same time and will be entirely available for whatever mischief a canny fascist charismatic can entice them into. We have more than a Republican Problem. We have a Death Cultist Problem.

I think Pierce realizes it perfectly.

Current Death Cult Edition is the name of my Nine Inch Nails tribute band.

Hasn’t it been shown that Trump motivates people to vote who would otherwise not participate in electoral politics? People who were too dumb to understand the usual Republican racist dogwhistles?

Without Trump around as their rallying point they may drop out again. Or split into various squabbling factions over who inherits his legacy after he kicks the bucket, making them easier to crush.

The fealty these fragile rubes show does worry me a little that when he dies their brains simply won't accept it and they'll finally snap. There's a theory that the uncertainty of covid pushed a bunch of people over the edge. How will they handle the death of their God-king?

it’s cute you guys think trump will ever concede his own death

Trump [To Satan]: "Then St. Peter said, Sir, we have saved the biggest, most beautiful rooms for you. Simply the best rooms."

Trump assumes his final shape in the sand wedges of Mar-a-Lago and rules Earth for the next 3500 years, when humanity starts scattering to other planets.

Better to reign in Hell than 'Sir' in Heaven

Looking forward to Juniorites and Ericists skirmishing in the streets...

I don't think you're allowed to sire in heaven

One of the TVs at my gym is tuned to Fox, where the headline is “Violent Surge Strikes Nation’s Capitol” (or words to that effect) because of course nothing else is happening this week

Violent CRIME surge, sorry

Gaetz is some bizarre amalgam of Jack Nicholson, Jack Lord, the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and random coke fiends from college

Also the old Slim Jim mascot and the bad guy from Lazy Town

Worst. Eric. Ever.

Mangini too?

I didn't watch a lot of TV in the 90s but how in the world did I never see the Slim Jim commercials? Holy hell are those cocaine-driven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zesUjgzBauc

Weird. I never saw that either. I just remember the Macho Man Slim Jim ads.

oh I remember that one

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1203165609/henry-cuellar-carjacked

so if mccarthy gets shitcanned which looks likely, what happens? My guess is that all the GOP, even mccarthy, will vote to support Gaetz or some other shithead; but what if they can't? do we just go speakerless? I'm assuming Jeffries doesn't get to lead.

Pointless digression from Slim Jim ad:

Messin' with Sasquatch is apparently a completely different product.

Nowadays basically every TV ad campaign is for car insurance, and one is hard pressed to remember which goes with which. Apparently the cavemen ads are for a different company than the flightless bird one and maybe the lady with the name tag is the same but maybe a different one, and J.K. Simmons is one of those campaigns but I can't remember which one. Broadcast television is, effectively, a side hustle being conducted by the car insurance industry.

House Democrats were meeting on Tuesday morning to consider whether to bail out Mr. McCarthy. But their gathering in the basement of the Capitol ahead of the vote became less of a strategy session and more of an airing of grievances against Mr. McCarthy, in which even the most moderate Democrats savaged him and his record. “I think he’s likely the most unprincipled person to ever be speaker of the House,” said Representative Abigail Spanberger, a conservative-leaning Democrat from Virginia who is considering a run for governor. “He’s disdainful, he lies about us, he lies about the process of governance.”

oh boy

Democrats’ closed door meeting went longer than two hours before ending. Representative Jeffries showed a video of McCarthy attempting to blame a potential government shutdown on Democrats, angering the room.

Why would Dems save him? That seems like an incredibly dumb subplot from The West Wing.

Yeah, if nothing good is going to come of the current congress, anyway, is it better to have a craven, backstabbing asshole like McCarthy, or an incompetent lunatic like whoever may replace him? With an election year coming up, hell, give it to someone crazy.

i suppose we could still get Speaker Trump now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk8mm1Qmt-Y

Jefferies then added that McCarthy's reign at the top was "short like leprechauns"

Yeah, give it to Trump. It would be like having the world's worst substitute teacher. Congress would just watch movies all day while he napped.

It's pretty clear that any new GOP speaker will have to be ready to crash the government at the next opportunity. Which is a terrible idea for them, I think, but it seems like a lesson they have to keep learning.

"Maybe this time people will love us for it!"

yessssss

Every Democrat I’ve spoken with has come out of the meeting ready to sink McCarthy. The leadership wants to have consensus position. Jeffries will soon put out a statement. McCarthy speakership very much in doubt at this moment.

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 3, 2023

yeah, propping up McCarthy would be pretty stupid politically, even if it meant avoiding a shutdown.

lol

Inside the Dem meeting, leadership showed a video of Kevin McCarthy on face the nation on Sunday blaming democrats for wanting a shutdown.

Rep. Connolly said members were “outraged” at that video.

(Showing that video is a sign that dem leaders aren’t pushing for McCarthy)

— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) October 3, 2023

Thank you for the parenthetical i didn’t quite get it

ha, that parenthetical reminds me of a photo caption of that guy throwing his shoe at bush that said something like "throwing your shoe at someone is a sign of disrespect in arab culture".

I'd like to think somewhere it's considered a sign of respect to fling a shoe at someone. Maybe that's what hanging shoes on power lines is for.

https://i.imgflip.com/81al37.jpg

Lol Alfred and Josh

LOL

Biden interview: https://www.propublica.org/article/biden-interview-trump-supreme-court-ethics

lol this vote

looks like he's cooked, even with absences?

Looking like Ken Buck is going to vote against McCarthy. That would make eight:

Biggs
Buck
Burchett
Crane
Gaetz
Good
Rosendale
Spartz

Gaetz may have even more, but he doesn't appear to need them if all Democrats present are going to vote against McCarthy too. https://t.co/VV5UNn42IU

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) October 3, 2023

Who knows?

How to drip things out per WaPo:

Democrats are standing in a long line, stretching to the back of the House chamber, to vote by hand instead of electronically on a procedural motion unrelated to the effort to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. This is typically not the case. A Democratic lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose private discussions said it is a way to give Democratic members more time to arrive to vote against the motion to table — which is the next vote.

Ah. Now it makes sense.

Within the first minute of the vote, 10 Republicans vote against tabling the motion to vacate (meaning they want to remove McCarthy).

It's going to take a miracle for McCarthy to win this one.

— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) October 3, 2023

there it is

Enter Jesus

Jesus vows to bring back earmarks

Motion to table defeated

Does this automatically kick into another 19 rounds of speaker nomination now?

8 Craptacular Months of The McCarthy Speakership

It was a golden age

It's a brand new era, it feels great
It's a brand new era but it came too lat

So surprising that this spineless motherfucker is being brought down by the people he gave the keys to the kingdom to.

IS IT

So does this all end with Speaker Jim Jordan?

MTG OR GTFO

Whatever happened to all of those trafficking allegations that were going to bring Gaetz down?

The usual.

Gaetz's first act as speaker: vetting all the Congressional pages personally.

Ah, yes, I see the DOJ dropped them earlier this year. For some reason, I either never saw that or didn't remember it. That's a shame.

While Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) listed out times when he said Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to keep promises, the speaker just laughed. As Good continues to talk, McCarthy just keeps typing on his phone.

Probably just ordering pizza.

as opposed to Gaetz, who's ordering a page.

Ordering pizzas to the chamber under the name “Matt Gaetz”?

Time to turn over a new page.

iirc the DOJ dropped the charges because his co-conspirator, who was flipping on Gaetz, lied to them so many times they decided no one would trust his testimony.

I for one am amused at the accident of historical timing that has led a powerful Speaker from California to miss a not-so-powerful Speaker from California being trashed:

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who accompanied the body of Sen. Dianne Feinstein back to California over the weekend, said she will miss Tuesday’s vote on the motion to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) as speaker.

“Sadly, Speaker Pelosi is grieving the loss of her dear friend Dianne Feinstein and will remain in San Francisco for the next few days to participate in official memorials and pay tribute to Senator Feinstein’s towering legacy,” Pelosi’s office said in a statement. “She is very saddened not to be there for this historic vote.”

“Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who accompanied the body of Sen. Dianne Feinstein back to California over the weekend, said she will miss Tuesday’s vote on the motion to oust Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) as speaker.
“Sadly, Speaker Pelosi is grieving the loss of her dear friend Dianne Feinstein and will remain in San Francisco for the next few days to participate in official memorials and pay tribute to Senator Feinstein’s towering legacy,” Pelosi’s office said in a statement. “She is very saddened not to be there for this historic vote.””

Pelosi is very amused and probably is also following the the WP’s live-blogging of this face-palming spectacle like we all are

There has to be an "Exhuming McCarthy" joke but iI haven't yet constructed it

I’m pretty sure his time as Speaker was shorter than the time it took to get him elected Speaker

I'm all for these fools starting to hate each other even more:

And the dam breaks: When Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) stood up to counter Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying that getting rid of McCarthy as speaker would help the chamber pass appropriation bills, a majority of House Republicans reacted. They laughed. They mocked Gaetz. The disdain for Gaetz has begun to show.

At least he outlasted Liz Truss

how long did she sing for Foreigner?

There has to be an "Exhuming McCarthy" joke but iI haven't yet constructed it

Ex — you mean McCarthy?

A whole lotta speeches by guys who look like they own car dealerships

Ex-human McCarthy

I’m curious, what are the arguments against single subject bills? Omnibus spending bills, to me, a layman, seem terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRQ5IbZxcJg

I can't wait for Peter Baker's lede.

Some of the Gaetz digs at McCarthy have been pretty sharp.

"The opening line of my colleague's speech is that McCarthy always overperforms expectations. After tweeting "Bring it", he just lost a motion to table. So I wouldn't necessarily consider that overperforming expectations."

"The one thing that The White House, Democrats and many of us on the conservative side of the Republican caucus have in common, McCarthy said something to all of us at one point that he didn't really mean and never intended to live up to."

I mean, fuck this weasel, but the more chaos built into the GOP side the better.

Ilhan looks like she's having a blast

I mean, fuck this weasel, but the more chaos built into the GOP side the better.

Sure. But chaos has been their MO since 2009, and they win elections. This farrago's a lot of fun, but it won't change anything about 2024.

how long did she sing for Foreigner?

I thought she was filling in for Kurt Cobain.

Nah, supplementary guitar to fill things in until Pat Smear's schedule could open up.

doing everything as single bills means everything is even more kill-able. no reason at all for anyone to vote yes it the thing is controversial in your district.

folding them into omnibus bills approximates and enables something very vaguely resembling the idea of compromise and consensus. you vote for the thing you don't like, but were willing to bargain over, in the exact same moment as the thing that you do like and bargained to get. so you can go back home and say, well, it definitely isn't the budget I'd write if it was all up to me, but I'm very excited about x y and z... etc.

... is kinda my understanding, anyway.

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2023/10/image.png

I think it's great that they have a corpse there on the left.

Meantime earlier today a Grand Old Stateman had thoughts. Wait is that the term?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/03/newt-gingrich-matt-gaetz-remove/

Matt Gaetz on the House floor: "Boo all you want!"

Boooooooooooooo!

Christ, sit back and wait I guess:

Lawmakers have been asked to return to the floor for a vote on the motion to vacate.

The vote will be alphabetical and members have to rise individually to vote on the resolution.

Some shocked murmuring as Boebert votes to keep Kevin

Boebert said, “Nay for now.”

Pfft. Pick a lane.

Be hilarious if it somehow tied.

I'm now betting that they're gonna let McCarthy stay, after making him sweat and publicly humiliating him ... "you're off, with a warning"

Boebert's under a lot of pressure in her re-election after apparently jacking off her beau at a theater production and being escorted out by security. Maybe she's feeling a bit shy of controversy rn.

I don't know most of the names and CNN isn't showing the votes by party affiliation, but Clyburn and Dingell voted Yes so I assume the Democrats are probably gonna go that route.

4 GOP votes to ax Kev so far
How many can he lose?

after making him sweat

he's been making a point of showing he's not sweating. letting off with a "warning" will just prove that the Freedom Caucus threats are empty. not quite the message they want to deliver.

Gaetz is number 5.

And Bob Good is #6

I think that does it unless there's a Dem changeup. Guess we'll see!

McCarthy expressed confidence to reporters Tuesday morning that he'll prevail, although if five Republicans join all of the Democrats in voting against him, McCarthy would be removed.

He's such a boring car salesman of a guy. "No really I'll get through it." *house burns down* "I will get through it." *thieves rob him* "Totally through it."

lmfao

Motion to remove McCarthy as House Speaker clearly on track to succeed now.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 3, 2023

Mace voted yay. He's definitely cooked now.

boehner_red_wine.jpg

He barely squeaked to victory before. How will they find consensus on a new sucker?

Bring it on.

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 2, 2023

Bang a gong.

Wait, is it true the the US has never actually voted out a speaker?

yes per

"If the motion to vacate is successful, it would be the first time in U.S. history that a speaker of the House has ever been voted out of office." https://t.co/oUmHVf2KD3

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 3, 2023

When you're already checked out:

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) just had an awkward moment. After his name was called twice, Mills just stared at the clerk without saying a word. Once realizing what had happened, he shouted, “Nay,” but he was already passed over. The clerk will give him a chance to correct the record at the end of the roll call vote.

they should vote him back in next

i give it a 50-50 chance they will do just that

Wait, is it true the the US has never actually voted out a speaker?

Yo is it true Kev McCarthy got sonned by a white boy over a MTV beef?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sQaJNtbSzI

ha ha they recessed the house and there was a final camera shot of Ilhan Omar standing up and throwing her hands up

He burned briefly but oh so bright. Too pure for this world.

i have the conch

PATRICK McHENRY takes the chair and announces that he is now the Speaker pro tempore until a successor to Kevin McCarthy is elected. pic.twitter.com/rrtLQWX7PS

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 3, 2023

After everything it took to get him a majority last time it's shocking he lasted this long

A man without a gavel

https://media.gq.com/photos/558300b23655c24c6c955b2d/master/w_1600,c_limit/news-politics-blogs-death-race-ericandpaul450.jpg

Did someone say they need a Speaker?

A man without a gavel

but plenty of grovel

What happened to Dems in Disarray? I must say, I expected little from Jeffries, but he held this caucus together.

Haha

There is a group of House Rs huddled and praying on the House floor

Rep. Ann Wagner appears to be crying

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 3, 2023

What’s a “patrick mchenry”

god bless

give me mcliberty or give me mcdeath

that's what they call a Big Mac in Ireland

Looks like Pence is thinking McCarthy will come back:

While speaking at an event at Georgetown University, former vice president Mike Pence, a former House member, was asked for his reaction to the news that Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted as speaker.

After pausing, Pence said he was “deeply disappointed” and called the move “performance art.” But, he added, he thinks Republicans will ultimately reelect McCarthy as speaker.

Rep. Steve Womack’s words announcing that the speaker’s chair is officially vacated was followed by looks of shock and disbelief. It was as if the entire House realized what had just happened as no one reacted. Rep. Kevin McCarthy just kept smiling as he continued to look straight at the speaker’s perch.

"He's still looking like that. It's been twelve hours." "Give him time."

Ah, quality:

Representative Tim Burchett of Tennessee, one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy, suggested on CNN that McCarthy had mocked him for "praying' on the decision. “That’s what sealed it right there for me," Burchett told Jake Tapper. "I said, this is not the quality or the character of person that I want as speaker.”

Meantime I didn't even realize this was a thing and how:

Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is named interim speaker under a law passed after the Sept. 11 attacks in the event of a vacancy in the office.

A little more on that:

The House clerk announced Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) would act as a temporary speaker immediately after the vote concluded. McHenry was selected from a secret list of McCarthy’s hand-picked successors. The Californian's ally will have all the authority of a regularly elected speaker. There are several questions surrounding that acting speaker, as House rules don’t specifically lay out how soon a new speaker ballot would need to occur.

I nominate Alfred.

This thing is even goofier than I thought:

McCarthy hand-picked McHenry (R-N.C.) for this role when he was elected speaker in January. The pro tempore is kept as a secret, held by the clerk of the House, until a speaker is removed or incapacitated, a process designed after Sept. 11, 2001, to ensure continuity of government.

"Congratulations!" "What?"

“We’re making ourselves look like clowns, but it’s all part of our grand plan to try to pass really unpopular spending cuts and use a really unpopular government shutdown to do it. It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”

I nominate Alfred.

― Ned Raggett,

"First order of business: Negronis for every Dem, in gratitude for holding together."

Cheers.

Everyone's laughing about this but a whole lot of people should be looking back on it with embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/J5ToL0a3K3

— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 3, 2023

Funnier in full
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F7i1M9JbgAArDEY?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

god, do I hate wide ties in any decade. I hate ties.

A Big Mac but just the buns.

#onethread

I can buy a decent used copy of Young Guns on Amazon for $1.15.

Went down in a mayonnaise of glory.

How much for Young Buns though

Hey, go for it.

Rep. Ann Wagner appears to be crying

Thread lives up to its title and we're only three days in

Eric Cantor lol

Bad day for Erics on this thread

Not until every drugstore has sold its lah-sst pill.

I love how her useless back and forthing is about to catch up with her:

After Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) voted to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House speaker, the Republican Governance Group (known as RG2) is already discussing expelling her, according to a person familiar with the actions of the group who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The group of roughly 40 Republicans is home to many moderates and was founded on valuing governing and the House as an institution.

expelling her based on what?

i mean I'd expel her based on her being a useless bag of shit but I assume the GOP has other reasons

was founded on valuing governing and the House as an institution.

won't somebody think of the institutions

They should all be committed etc.

Weird how a plan to ensure continuity of government has handed government over to a bunch of people who just want to watch the whole thing burn.

Nobody does dog that caught the car like Republicans.

BREAKING NEWS -- KEVIN MCCARTHY will not run for speaker again.

He is about to make the announcement in closed GOP meeting

w @bresreports

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 3, 2023

cmon man whats the worst that could happen

MCCARTHY speaking very softly says: “I might have been given a bad break, but I’m still the luckiest man alive,” per source

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 3, 2023

Patrick McHenry sounds like somebody who was maybe the nation's first speaker, how old is this guy

give me mcliberty or give me mcdeath

Acting House speaker pro tem Patrick McHenry says the plan is to hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and an election next Wednesday, per Olivia Beavers (Politico)

Alfred can still be nominated I say.

“I might have been given a bad break, but I’m still the luckiest man alive.

..."because I no longer have to deal with Matt Gaetz. Too bad for you suckers."

There was some "discussion" of making Trump the speaker before McCarthy got in. In other words, I don't think the Speaker has to be a member of the House.

they should do it its a good idea

I say everyone gets to be Speaker for a day, just to trip out on it

Getting reports from inside the McCarthy office. I’m hearing the morale is sky high and they’re prepared to fight as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/B42sjUmnvq

— James (@GravitysRa1nbow) October 3, 2023

https://i.imgur.com/Hmwf3Ls.jpg

"We can be speaker! Just for one DAY!"

Such a shame (WaPo):

You can’t overstate just how much it means to Republicans that Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced he is not announcing a preferred successor to the leadership role. Many Republicans have privately told The Washington Post for weeks before a motion to vacate was even introduced that they would never back down supporting McCarthy and would only do so if McCarthy stepped back. They would also look to him for who to support as his successor.

Now that that has not happened, House Republicans are really thrown into chaos without a united leader or a consensus candidate who could unite their fractured conference.

of course. they will draft him to be speaker again when they see there won't be a consensus on anyone else

Is Dennis Hastert out of prison yet?

I think he's dead, so ... maybe?

History is made!

Pelosi was the first female Speaker of the House

McCarthy is the first Speaker to be kicked out of that role

Asked elsewhere, but has there ever been a congress with two former speakers as members?

He's giving his farewell speech, saying that he won the lottery before opening his sandwich shop

What a fuckin' thing, to be a historical footnote with a Gaetz-shaped asterisk.

The reply is what lands this one

GOP learns the hard way: Turning the base up too high blows out your Speaker

— Lee Drutman ⚙️🏛 (@leedrutman) October 3, 2023

Then you're left with nothing but your tweeters

— Rich Parr (@richparr79) October 3, 2023

meanwhile NRO continues its noble quest to persecute Hunter and Joe Biden and to pursue #wokeism in public schools.

xpost omg A+

McCarthy's press conference right now is interesting

kind of

I will not seek to run again for Speaker of the House. I may have lost a vote today, but I fought for what I believe in—and I believe in America. It has been an honor to serve. https://t.co/4EMpOuwtzy

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) October 3, 2023

speaker liz truss

Liz Truss is metamorphosing into a Matt Gaetz as we speak though

So they're all just going home now, huh? What a way to run a country.

damn...

Saw another House Republican member leaving conference crying

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 3, 2023

“run” a “country”

Fuck them all.

no thanks

^^^ can’t be overstated.

Intended as xp, works for both.

Scalise is probably putting his hat in the ring, presumably would be a front-runner.

With his mask? No way.

In more important news, I learned today that you can watch Ion (the TV channel that shows 24 hours of a different police procedural every day of the week) through Tubi.

damn that's a lot of chicago fire man.

They have that on one set at my gym, with the captions on. I catch random fragments, kind of dreamlike, never any idea what's going on.

I was not really into a Trump quote being a thread title again, but it's been eerily apt so far. Good Work President Keyes!

Scalise and Jordan seem to be running

Another apt thread title from earlier this year: U.S. Politics January 2023: Kevin McCarthy's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Life

Sources tell @seanhannity that Trump is "open" to being speaker.
"Sources telling me at this hour that some House Republicans have been in contact with, and started an effort to draft former President Donald Trump to be speaker. I have been told that president trump might be…

— Lacey Christ (@lacey_christ1) October 4, 2023

Do it.

Nooooooooo! There'd be feral dogs eating corpses in the streets by New Year's Day.

"I might have been given a bad break, but I’m still the luckiest man alive."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNLKPaThYkE

Damn I almost wanna see Speaker President Trump. But only almost.

Serious question, could you see him showing up for even a single session?

I think that just by signaling openness to becoming speaker he has already become the greatest Speaker of all time

way too much work and he neither knows nor cares about any of the procedural stuff

David Duke vs. pedo enabler vs. Trump, a real battle royale

When it's going great:

“I am not going to pass over Steve Scalise just because he has blood cancer,” Mr. Gaetz told a horde of reporters as he left the Capitol on Monday night.

The fact that "a horde of reporters" now feel compelled to trail around listening to everything Matt Gaetz says is, by itself, a sign of impending doom.

It's like a free ride when you already paid
It's like a guy concerned with blood purity being attacked by his own blood

The House yesterday:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/b80235f0658e821f0cbab1c1de3d6763/5af6db3103f48132-c3/s250x400/8ab9fa3f0ad5ff7db8992eff677db3c797916921.gif https://64.media.tumblr.com/1397c8abc2ff8a17b97462c836863b8a/5af6db3103f48132-31/s250x400/5a651ec1bc1404eee9b8089f8e170ec4fc34df26.gif
https://64.media.tumblr.com/01fe3d14218558bc636313f39fe78b6c/5af6db3103f48132-44/s400x600/b5e3c58064d47a39a18e726af3aba7f3a744d443.gif https://64.media.tumblr.com/753062626ba992d53d8fff6500003c8b/5af6db3103f48132-2e/s250x400/cca23a7d2fee1e1c466321f6b6805b85becedcbd.gif

Not enough crying imo.

Seems somewhat evident now that Scalise is going to get the speakership which seems like a downgrade?

For them or for us? Or both?

I liked him in the Florist Gump movie

xp kinda both, but mostly meant for "us" in this case

Not to make light of his medical condition, but having a Republican Speaker with actual blood cancer feels a little too metaphorically on the nose.

Having a Klansman as a Republican Speaker is pretty on the nose too

On the noose.

sad lol

lol this guy

pic.twitter.com/jNX4j5oNSB

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) October 4, 2023

"I respectfully ask for your support"

usually Jordan asks for things in a different way:

"Jim Jordan called me crying, groveling, begging me to go against my brother, begging me, crying for a half-hour," DiSabato said Wednesday. "That’s the kind of cover-up that’s going on there."

The crying never stops

Jim Jordan's detractors say his involvement with a sex abuse scandal at Ohio State should disqualify the Congressman from holding GOP leadership positions. His supporters say he could be a fine Speaker in the mold of Dennis Hastert.

— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) October 4, 2023

hahahhahahahaha

Rep. Mondaire Jones apologizes for this (now deleted) tweet https://t.co/h29uPd87QV pic.twitter.com/bKxNRGOb13

— Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) October 4, 2023

Oh ffs

Ppl so eager to dunk, the don’t realize they are dunking on themselves

Biden forgave another $9 billion in student debt (affecting 125,000 people) today while nobody was looking.

Biden: Some of the same elected Republicans who are strongly opposed giving relief to students got hundreds of thousands of dollars of relief for themselves to keep their businesses open. The hypocrisy of this I find stunning. pic.twitter.com/LBGjhAB90y

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2023

That is awesome, real change for people who need it.
Can I register some surprise at his sluggish speech without being accused of concern trolling?

Sluggish no, slightly slurred yes. If anything it was inappropriately rapid.

Didn't want to use the word "slurred" for its obvious baggage.

imagine you're the republican standard and all you have you have to do is nominate some relatively young shell of a person to be your nominee against that performance.

And you say nah let’s go with Trump again

Bob Menendez's wife killed a suicide walker:

Now, new information reveals Nadine Menendez was driving her Mercedes-Benz in Bogota, New Jersey, around 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 12, 2018, when she struck 49-year-old Richard Koop. He was killed almost instantly just steps away from his home, according to The New York Times.

In dashboard video and audio obtained by NBC News, Nadine Menendez can be heard in her 911 call saying, “Some guy just jumped in front of my car... on my windshield.”

there was no actual investigation so who knows what actually happened

Well an Egyptian businessman gave her a new car so no worries!

good morning!

biden builds the wall.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/05/politics/biden-administration-border-wall/index.html

wtf

don't worry: he's hiding the student debt behind it

Wait until you see it though. The design is woke as fuck.

It's going to read "BLM" from space.

This sucks, but could also be funny (in an awful way!) if he ends up building more wall than Trump did.

re: student loans, both my wife and my sister's loan balances (my wife's was tiny, my sisters still fairly large) just magically vanished a month ago becaues they were in repayment for over 20 years. That was a nice surprise.

Obama also "built the wall," no?

Every man builds his own wall, they say

Obama also loved drone striking civilians and immiserating the entire population of Syria

yeah I mean, aiui Bush I started "the wall" and it's been added to under every subsequent administration. it's quite stupid that this is not seen as an area of obvious bipartisan consent, along with drone-bombing civilians and imperialist policy in the middle east

Presidential candidate Cornel West is leaving the Green Party and will continue his bid for the White House as an independent candidate.

“As Dr. West’s campaign for president grows, he believes the best way to challenge the entrenched system is by focusing 100% on the people, not on the intricacies of internal party dynamics,” said the West campaign in a statement.

West, an outspoken progressive and longtime university scholar, has ruffled feathers among Democrats, who view him as a potential spoiler for President Joe Biden’s reelection chances. West has batted back the idea he might pull support from Biden in multiple interviews, saying the Biden campaign is free to court the voters flocking to him.

A former Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) surrogate, West first entered the race on the People’s Party ticket. But that party’s lack of ballot access, soon compelled him to run for the Green Party’s nomination instead.

But now, West has broken up with the Green Party too. The campaign declined to elaborate further on the decision to leave beyond wanting to be more focused on voters than intraparty dynamics.

lol

and immiserating the entire population of Syria

"grows"

xpost

Blue Angels are doing a flyover of Feinstein's funeral lol

Pelosi sounding sharp as a tack speaking at the funeral

in sad contrast to Senator Feinstein across the past few years

Or now.

Blue Angels are doing a flyover of Feinstein's funeral lol

the confederate flag is flying at half mast today

I heard truth from a Republican on television this morning! Rep from Tennessee said: "I'm like most of America, I want my pizza in 30 minutes or less and my attention span isn't much longer than that."

He was funny. too bad he's pals with Trump. His daughter is a barrel racer.

Oh also the other day when the Trump trial was going on and McCarthy was going on and all that i put Fox on out of curiosity and they spent 20 minutes talking about.....how lame Joe Biden was for trying to be cool on #meangirlsday on Twitter. !!!!

they were up in arms.

Ramaswamy says angry protesters rammed his car in Iowa; police say no evidence crash was intentional

Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign says at least two protesters upset about the Republican presidential candidate’s remarks in opposition to aid for Ukraine purposely rammed his car in Iowa in retaliation on Thursday, but police say there is no evidence to support the claim that the crash was intentional.

The police account of the crash in the central Iowa city of Grinnell sharply diverged from the story told earlier by Ramaswamy’s campaign, which contended that protesters yelled and swore at the candidate before at least one of them jumped into a vehicle, rammed his empty campaign car and sped off.

The campaign said that no one was injured and that it had filed a police report.

Police say they were dispatched to a coffee shop in the city shortly after 1 p.m. for a report of property damage. While there, they contacted a 22-year-old woman who reported that she had just eaten lunch at a nearby deli and was backing her car out of her parking spot when she accidentally struck a Ford Expedition that was across the street.

Police say the woman told them she was not there protesting anything, had no idea whose vehicle she had hit, did not intentionally cause the crash and did not flee the scene. Police say there is no evidence to substantiate the claim that protesters intentionally hit Ramaswamy’s campaign vehicle and sped off.

Both vehicles had minor damage, police said, and the woman received a traffic summons for unsafe backing.

Ramaswamy spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The Associated Press that the campaign stands by its assessment that the driver was a protester. She also stood by her assessment that there were two people in the car that hit the campaign car.

the local media had an even stronger headline with "police say that's not true" which, lol

i keep waiting for a cable news person to say: "we need to get over the politics of grievance and get back to the politics of dancing. the politics of ooh feeling good."

but it never happens. because that's not the world that joe biden wants you to live in!

We've been in "President Gas" mode for decades.

sick sick the price of everything!

biden really does sound bad. right now. live. on t.v.

I happened to run into him at a CVS in Wilmington in 2017 (he was shopping with this grandkids). The next time I saw him was in early 2020, at a fundraiser. He had visibly aged in the interim. That was now more than three years ago. Yeah, he's old and getting older, and at his age, decline can come quickly.

I'd still rather he be in the big chair than any Republican I can think of.

yeah, but it is a looooong way to the election.

i mean in old people years its a long way.

I'm having a so far friendly uh debate on WhatsApp with Dem acquaintances who want Haley as the GOP nominee. It's as if they haven't lived in this country the last eight years. Someone who smiles, has table manners, and speaks soothingly while signing anti-abortion laws is no different from the unhinged sociopath facing jail time

Fascism with a human face

I think it was actually 2018 that I saw him in Delaware. He's not the only one getting older.

Think I've mentioned before an old friend of mine whose father was a senator that had a cubby or locker next to Biden's, so he'd see him and talk to him all the time. He told me some months ago that the Biden today is almost unrecognizable, which is to say, he's clearly an imposter, just like Fetterman. Like, has anyone else noticed that sometimes Biden's tattoos are visible, and sometimes they're not? Something weird going on.

Someone who smiles, has table manners, and speaks soothingly while signing anti-abortion laws is no different from the unhinged sociopath facing jail time

I mean, I hate that we're at this point but, yes, I admit to thinking that there may be a measurable difference between many establishment GOP politicians and the absolute Satan-level all-devouring, end-times figurehead that is Trump

Emphasis on "I hate that we're at this point" if necessary

haley over trump any day.

Trump may be a terror but it's the establishment Republicans on the Supreme Court who have done more damage

There is one measurable difference: the MAGA cultists will not flock to vote if Trump isn't running, which means that pretty much anyone other than Trump is fine as a GOP nominee to me— that doesn't make them any less execrable, nor does it lessen my desire to have them blasted into the sun

with Trump i still think an inspired act of god should happen here

God has abandoned us.

November (2024) thread title

If Trump dies or goes to jail the MAGA cultists are still going to vote for whoever the GOP nominee is, and if it's someone like Hailey then some of the voters who didn't like Trump will come back to the GOP.

However if an establishment Republican somehow wrests the nomination away from Trump then some percentage of the MAGA base will refuse to vote for them.

i saw biden at a rally on super tuesday 2020 at the park by my house. putting him on stage seemed like elder abuse then.

MAGA cultists are still going to vote for whoever the GOP nominee is

Not sure this is true.. they may not even show up. Some of them are 'republicans,' but even more are just largely apolitical Trump worshippers who won't even bother voting unless he's on the ticket

I don't think the pool of people who voted for Trump is that much different from the pool who voted for Romeny

Romney

If Trump dies or goes to jail the MAGA cultists are still going to vote for whoever the GOP nominee is

Nope, hard disagree. He absolutely brought new people into the R tent, and they're gonna shamble right back out and into the sewer where they belong once he disappears or is no longer a candidate.

This is a demographic that will be writing his name in in 2028 ... even if he serves a second term prior ... and even if he's dead

Thinking that the MAGA cult is different from the GOP base is a mistake

there's like 90% overlap but there's def a subset of people who would only vote Trump and others who would vote any GOP candidate but Trump. pretty small groups I think though

think Dems would prefer him be the nominee - you want 2024 to be a referendum on Trump, because nothing he does or says from here on out is going to be any good, also they beat him once already and that was before the 91 felony charges

Romney 2012: 60,933,504
Trump 2020: 74,223,975

Obama 2012: 65,915,795
Biden 2020: 81,283,501

more people!

Nikki Haley would declare war on Mexico

The MAGA cult/GOP base is almost a circle but it’s a real question whether or or not the fully radicalized base will still turn out for a non-Trump Republican.

Absent the big man you’ve got all the dweebs running now who desperately want to go back to being 2008 racists instead of 2023 racists and the couple of wannabe Trumps who will just never have his pull. The cult needs him to name a successor and that will never happen even on his deathbed.

I mean if you look at any data past 2016 the picture is pretty stark for Republicans. Trumpy Republicans are getting their asses kicked, non-Trumpy Republicans are not doing a whole lot better (and as a faction seem to be dwindling in numbers as freaks like Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz get more and more coverage). Trump himself will get a lot of votes but seems to drive out more Democratic voters than anything. I mean I do not think that if Biden would've gotten 81 million votes if he was running against say, Mike Pence.

all republicans plus extra loons will vote for trump if he's the nominee, but if he isn't, all republicans will vote for their nominee, but a not insignficant number of loons will either not vote or try to write in Trump or vote for RFK Jr or something. Trump is a special case and Desantis' flameout indicates to me that his charisma isn't transferable.

You would have to weigh defections to RFK/non-voters against GOP-leaning independents who would not vote for Trump

The Republicans built their modern coalition on the abortion issue, but the Dobbs decision quashing Roe v Wade has been an unmitigated disaster for them. They have nowhere left to go with abortion but full-on re-criminalization and that only loses them votes. Now, they have no agenda at all except racism and subservience to the wealthy. They don't even bother writing a party platform any more.

Full-in on culture issues: "I don't want a MAN in my little daughter's restroom!" etc.

apparently "it's a secret ballot and you would absolutely lose" was the argument that won trump over, not "it's actual work" https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/06/trump-jim-jordan-house-speaker-endorsements-00120320.

just because the job description entails work does not mean he intended to do anything other than throw shit around the capitol

Yep, he's not afraid of work, but he is afraid of losing

Hell, even the "secret ballot" part probably wouldn't phase him as he'd just blame vote rigging

just never.fucking.ends

Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about US nuclear submarines with an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, three months after leaving office, according to a new report.

Citing a source with knowledge of the Australian’s account to investigators for the special counsel Jack Smith, US news outlet ABC News reported an “excited” Trump allegedly discussed “the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads US submarines routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected”.

The sneaky submarine stuff was just a memory from watching The Hunt For Red October on fast forward and mixing up countries, though.

Tipsy, what is going on down there?

MUST WATCH! Aerospace executive, apparel company operator, therapist? Franklin candidate's dubious bio (More in link below.) https://t.co/DO2lXYrNTX pic.twitter.com/RGHvoTxeZr

— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) October 6, 2023

love Jeff Feldman's 'so called' resume

I'll bet George Santos could vouch for him.

the fact that he sort of resembles Jon Lovitz is not helping his case

Or the lawyer from the Wire

Tipsy, what is going on down there?

Williamson County is wild. Especially with Ben Shapiro et al moving to Nashville, the outlying areas are really becoming a national center of rich Republican maniacs. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Lee both live there, the place is flooded with money and right-wing lunatics. There's a guy named Gary Humble (lol) based there too, he runs a super-right group called Tennessee Stands — opportunistically founded to fight pandemic restrictions — that keeps running candidates and usually losing but often scaring people in the primaries. That's how they got the gender-affirming care ban for minors, that bill was sponsored by Jack Johnson, a state senator from Williamson County who Humble primaried the year before. Humble didn't care that he lost, I think, he wanted to force Johnson to follow his agenda. Which seems to have worked. They're kind of taking over the whole state, at least the government.

Local governments still totally different, of course. Nashville just elected a new progressive mayor by a 2-1 margin over the Republican establishment candidate.

But Franklin is the biggest incorporated city in the county, and it has its own traditions of being basically conservative but not crazy. So hopefully these obvious nutjobs will lose.

(meanwhile someone just texted me a screenshot of a Facebook announcement that the local Moms 4 Liberty chapter is gearing up again after sort of falling flat a year ago. sigh.)

Jack Johnson should go back to surfing and making soundtracks.

Important news

🐾💔 Yes, the repawrts are true: I am no longer “on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated.” But whatever happens next, Major and I are still First Dogs and our parents still love us. We might be out of the spotlight fur a while, but we are not out of their hearts. pic.twitter.com/J22omFu91b

— The Oval Pawffice® 🇺🇸 DOTUS Fans (@TheOvalPawffice) October 6, 2023

That Feldman clip reminded me of this one person that a few friends of us followed online purely because they had such a clearly overinflated ego. Like, at the top of person's website, they proudly listed "Worked at Apple" but a quick 5 minute search of his resume you found out that he just worked as an Apple store associate for a summer.

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Gotta love a good Daily Mail headline

Hunter Biden withdrew $20,000 from daughter Maisy's college fund and spent it on hookers and drugs after bankers warned he had just 44 cents left in his account

who among has not done the same

The rest of it, he wasted.

college fund? I learned all i need to know at the School of Hard Cocks

you never contributed to the gay threads tho

hard cocks belong to the universe. no one has exclusive rights.

From the edge of the bonerverse to the palm of your hand.

(Something something) "electile dysfunction" joke goes here

Going to leave this here for anyone who would dare lionise the utter stain that was Dianne Feinstein. https://48hills.org/2023/10/the-local-record-and-legacy-of-dianne-feinstein/

I hear she fucked up the hunt for the Night Strangler

I'm not sure who the Night Strangler was. We had the zodiac, and two Night Stalkers in California (Night Stalker #1 rechristened the Golden State Killer, and he wasn't active in SF)

Right, the Night Stalker, not Strangler

https://www.thewrap.com/night-stalker-dianne-feinstein-richard-ramirez/

The Night Strangler was Richard Anderson, better known to 70’s TV audiences as Oscar Goldman, and he was apprehended by the Night Stalker, Carl Kolchak, ably played by Darren McGavin.

Right, the Night Stalker, not Strangler

https://www.thewrap.com/night-stalker-dianne-feinstein-richard-ramirez🕸/

Amazing for the NYT to create an equivalence between one family moving to a different state because the medical care their child needs was made illegal and one family moving because they don't like to see unhoused people and got radicalized by social media. Impressive! pic.twitter.com/OF1Gszg8yD

— Alex Han (@alex__han) October 8, 2023

It’s basically a pitchbot story: Whether it’s queer people fleeing persecution or bigots moving to places where they can persecute queer people, many Americans are choosing where to live based on political views.

Buddy of mine lives over in eastern Tennessee over by the mountains and there is a huge real estate boom going on with boodles of out of state people buying up land like crazy.

who are those nightmare people

who are those nightmare people

Preppers, basically, but genteel ones.

The Great Vapey Mountains

Yeah, that includes these weirdos: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avkdw/rod-of-iron-ministries-purchases-property-in-tennessee

That's crazy. We really aren't that far from the underground dwelling bomb-worshipping mutants in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, are we.

I know that ours is an utterly insane species, but I don't seem able to ever fully comprehend just how insane we are. Stories like that regularly one-up the depraved depths of my imagination.

And you just know this congregation regularly listens to sermons about how liberalism is a mental illness

Yeah, that includes these weirdos: https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avkdw/rod-of-iron-ministries-purchases-property-in-tennessee🕸

Oh, you need to at least see the accompanying photo. It's like some completely absurd tableau that The Onion would've photoshopped together in the early 2000s except actually real somehow.

bryce harper's moving to knoxville after the playoffs. i sort of don't want to know why.

I tend to think of Tennessee the way the rest of the world probably thinks about the US, a place not unlike the version of Springfield in that one Simpsons episode where everybody had multiple guns, and used them to operate light switches, open bottles, etc.

I think we’re well into the “cool city with a pedestrian mall and chill vibes”-ification of Knoxville. I’ve never been but someone I know moved there about a decade ago and they’re one of those people who would be cool but possibly presage a gentrification wave. In the last few years I’ve heard of several people moving there.

Hopefully that doesn’t mean it’s cooked. Sorry, Tennessee natives

Our urban gentrifiers are mostly OK, at least on a relative scale. They just wanna live in a downtown apartment and drink fancy beer. (And most of those apartments are in buildings that were empty — or were parking lots — 15 years ago, so it's not like there's been some mass displacement.) It's the lunatic refugees from "Commiefornia" and "Taxachusetts" that are the bigger problem.

I gotcher "rod of iron" right here

xp The Ben Shapiros of the world.

The Mika Brzezinskis of the world

When Ben Shapiro moved to Nashville our idiot Legislature passed a resolution to formally welcome him to the state.

I considered moved to Knoxville because gun-toting lunatics are already legion where I live so it'd hardly be a minus

moving

Was out seeing family over the weekend and was stunned to see that the Trump store in my mom's tiny ass town is not only still a going concern, but has expanded to take over the empty storefront next door as well. Even more disappointed to learn that my cousin's kid is deep into Shapiro's college thing.

there's more things in tennessee/than are dreamed of etc lux bein' right again

The Big Ears fest has made Knoxville cool.

To certain quadrants of the outside world, for sure. (Certain quadrants of Knoxville don’t know wtf to make of it, but they like that it packs the downtown hotels and restaurants.)

RFK Jr's campaign is off to a great start

*cue Curb music* pic.twitter.com/JMyKF3pvNA

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2023

Does that start with a giant fart and then go into a poorly written and performed SNL skit about an imbecile politician not knowing how to read a scripted speech? Wow.

I was in Knoxville yesterday for lunch. Seemed cool, and Potchke was great.

🐦[RFK Jr’s campaign is off to a great start

*cue Curb music* pic.twitter.com/JMyKF3pvNA🕸
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 9, 2023🕸]🐦

I like Knoxville, seems nice.

Potchke was great

Heck yeah, love Potchke.

Knoxville is pretty great. Lots more going on than when I was a kid there tbh

He’s got that Kennedy magic

I'm not proud of thinking this way but surely his weird croaky voice should write him out of being a credible candidate from the off? Especially when he's the anti-vax dude and he sounds like he's got the worst Covid the world's ever known? Yes I know he hasn't actually got Covid.

lol I thought the same thing watching this morning, i.e. "Does he have COVID?"

"THE VACCINE IS NO GOOD"
"Jesus that motherfucker sounds ill"

he has spasmodic dysphonia

that’s just what they used to call covid

But a pretty rockin' Queensryche song.

Fun fact, spasmodic dysphonia is famously what sidelined Linda Thompson from singing, though apparently she got better. Others with it include the Dilbert dude and also Mary Lou Lord. I guess there are a few treatments but good luck getting Kennedy to pursue them.

he has spasmodic dysphonia

I know, that's why I feel bad mentioning it. It just seems so weird, with his anti-vax fervour, and yet he clearly sounds ill.

I don't live in California: how soon can you all vote against Gavin Newsom? does he really think any Dem governor of CA can craft a public image as a centrist? lmao

I can tell you that most South Florida Dems I've spoken to would love Biden to drop Harris in favor of Newsom. These Dems are white Cubans, of course.

he'll be voted against as soon as he has a legitimate challenger but that hasn't happened. he'll be termed out in '27.

(which means, I guess, he won't get 'voted' out)

How do South Florida Dems feel about dropping Biden AND Harris AND Newsom in favor of trying to re-court RFK Jr.?

There was some rumbling amongst Republicans about reinstalling Kevin McCarthy so they can vote to send aid to Israel. Probably not gonna happen.

Saw something this morning where two of the anti-Kevin crew were, like, nope, not going to happen.

I can't imagine McCarthy even at his most deluded is ready to go in front of the firing squad all over again so soon

well he reversed himself on not running again after like 6 days lol

Whoa whoa, let's not shame the guy for his public humiliation kink.

he does seem to love losing votes to be speaker

He should join the Replacements

Whoa whoa, let's not shame the guy for his public humiliation kink.

Sad Ted Cruz: "That was <my thing>..."

Cruz probably wishes he were Gaetz

The Great Gaetzby

Newsy Nugget: In the candidate forum, Rep. Ken Buck asked both Scalise and Jordan if Trump won or lost the last election, per sources.

Multiple House Rs felt both equivocated. One said both “tried to have it both ways.” They argued how some states changed their laws bc covid…

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 11, 2023

I don't live in California: how soon can you all vote against Gavin Newsom?

California has a recall process. So there is a mechanism to remove state elected officials before their term is up. Governor Gray Davis was recalled 10 months into his second term in 2003.

Honestly, this is some Santos level bullshittery:

I don’t want to bury the lede at all, so let’s start with the money shot.

An email from TSS employee Cassie Cantlon to her higher-ups, the very day TSS provided the initial lectern docs, explicitly stating that Sarah Sanders office altered the Beckett Events invoice. pic.twitter.com/Bep2cO8wcM

— Matt Campbell (@BlueHogReport) October 10, 2023

xp Of course, Gavin Newsom already handily survived a recall effort.

Yeah, you could have voted for Larry Elder

Or Caitlyn Jenner.

Love how any criticism of horrible Democrats automatically gets turned into “well you could have always voted for the fascist.”

Well, those are kind of the available choices.

was just thinking about the Newsom thing in relation to some of the recent "Trump/Biden 2024 will be very close!" polls that have been dropping lately, iirc the polls all showed Newsom's recall effort to be close as well and it very much was not

Feds secure another guilty plea in a Capitol riot case (approaching 700 total guilty pleas)

James Rahm III of PA acknowledges entering Speaker Pelosi office suite while amid the mob & saying on video "Holy s**, holy s**. Oh, my f**ng God. We just stormed the Capitol. Holy F**" pic.twitter.com/tGQ17oVlMY

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 11, 2023

Front page from July 21, 1969: Holy Shit Man Walks On Fucking Moon http://t.co/2Kje4J1s

— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 25, 2012

“We just did a crime! Is that camera on?”

More fun in Franklin TN:

Speaking directly to her colleagues, Hanson said the Tennessee Active Club showed up because they are an “anti-antifa” group, and “the dark web is showing massive antifa activity”.

If they're 'anti-antifa', I guess that means they're 'pro-fa' right

The rest of the sitting Franklin council condemned any affiliation with white supremacist groups. Hanson's name notably absent, though it's possible they didn't even ask her to sign because they think she's a loon.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/deeply-concerned-and-disturbed-franklin-leaders-condemn-hate-groups-appearance-at-forum

It’s Scalise if anyone’s interested

he isn't quite there yet, but is a lot closer than anyone else

which one is that, the rape enabler or the white supremacist?

the latter

The other, tho, is unquestionably both

Remember the dude who shot Scalise at the House softball game? I think about him sometimes.

which one is that, the rape enabler or the white supremacist?

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, October 11, 2023 1:42 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yes

He's also already dying, I think? So we could be doing this again in a year?

of course Trump endorsed the other loser lol

The Trump Touch

sometimes i wonder how you can squeeze by and near to a difficult and early deaths, and just be like, yo, yknow what'd be cool? doubling down. right here.

I'm sure Trump, on some level, regards having cancer as a character weakness

He’s proof that cancer can assume human form.

Cancer or shark?

Doo doo, doo-doo doo-doo

I'm sure Trump, on some level, regards having cancer as a character weakness

― insert nothing here (Eric H.), Wednesday, October 11, 2023 2:20 PM (thirty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

someone does

I just voted for Jim Jordan for Speaker on a private ballot in conference, and I will be voting for Jim Jordan on the House floor.

I like Steve Scalise, and I like him so much that I want to see him defeat cancer more than sacrifice his health in the most difficult position in…

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 11, 2023

Jim Jordan endorsed Scalise

So did Gaetz

Hello, government shutdown!

and as WWIII begins in earnest, Tuberville still blocking all military nominations

Maybe he's a closet pacifist

Forget it, Jake. It's Tuberville.

speaking of Tommy

Tommy Tuberville on Biden’s Europe trip: “I’m afraid he’s going to fall down every time I turn on television.”

Here’s Tommy …. pic.twitter.com/QKLhlK0NUy

— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) October 11, 2023

Mace: There are Democrats who trust Jordan 

Tapper: Jim Jordan?

Mace: Yes

Tapper: From Ohio? 

Mace: Yes

Tapper: Name one pic.twitter.com/22QdZLARx2

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 11, 2023

DEMS FOR JORDAN, the new SuperPac

"I'm not gonna name anyone, just pay attention to my cleavage."

Knowing what someone is going to do in every single instance isn't the same as trusting them

Right, I mean, you can trust him to do the wrongest, most self-aggrandizing thing at every opportunity.

Today in loser shit:

Cenk Uygur running for president as a Democrat

Progressive pundit Cenk Uygur will challenge President Biden for the Democratic nomination, offering himself as an alternative to an incumbent who “is definitely going to lose” if he makes it to the general election.

“I’m going to do whatever I can to help him decide that this is not the right path,” Uygur, 53, told Semafor, as he prepared to file for the 2024 Nevada primary. “If he retires now, he’s a hero: He beat Trump, he did a good job of being a steward of the economy. If he doesn’t, he loses to Trump, and he’s the villain of the story.”

The founder of The Young Turks media channel had repeatedly urged Biden to quit the race, calling his re-election bid “intensely selfish,” and warning that it made a Trump victory likelier.

He’d urged “at least a dozen people” to enter the race before deciding to try for it himself, as “proxy” for Democratic opposition to Biden, focusing on “popular issues” like a higher minimum wage, a “public option” for healthcare, and paid family leave.

“It isn’t like I have giant policy disagreements with Biden,” Uygur said. “I actually intend to fight for those incredibly popular policies and pass them. Biden hasn’t tried that, because his donors don’t want him to.”

Uygur was born in Istanbul, and immigrated to the United States from Turkey in 1978, but believed that the Constitution’s “natural born citizen” clause wouldn’t disqualify him from running. The issue would end up in the Supreme Court, he said, and be a “slam dunk” victory.

“That’s another good reason to run,” he said. “I’m tired of 25 million Americans having this albatross around their neck.”

DAVID’S VIEW
Democrats have ignored the president’s primary challengers, and that won’t change for Uygur.

He won just 7% of the vote in his first bid for office – a longshot progressive run for Congress in southern California. And early polling of the first primary states, which found a majority of Democrats ready to support a Biden alternative, didn’t entice anyone else into the race. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who on Monday bolted the party to run as an independent candidate, was trailing Biden by between 45 and 70 points.

But Uygur said that he could “break through” in a way that Biden’s other challenger, Marianne Williamson, had not. (“She’s a terrific person with great policies,” he added.) He’d learned from his House campaign that “the mainstream media, generally speaking, are grotesque liars,” and wasn’t afraid of scrutiny of his brash or suggestive on-air comments — a problem that cost him the endorsement of Bernie Sanders in his congressional race.

“I don’t believe in traditional campaigning,” he said. “I will do almost all my campaigning in the media. I love diners. I love meeting actual voters. But that’s mythology, and you’re not going to diner your way into beating an incumbent president.”

Uygur has a different audience than Kennedy or Williamson. He worked briefly as an MSNBC commentator, but parted ways with the network 12 years ago, focusing on building his progressive video news channel, which has 5.6 million YouTube subscribers.

can’t stand this guy

I refuse to believe Cenk Uygur is a person. Maybe a character in a Star Wars prequel.

Uygur was born in Istanbul, and immigrated to the United States from Turkey in 1978, but believed that the Constitution’s “natural born citizen” clause wouldn’t disqualify him from running.'

Good luck with that one. All this BS is just to be able to give lawyer friends billable hours on someone rich right wingers dime.

It is just clown move after clown move at the Young Terfs this year

I wouldn’t trust the guy who hired Dave Rubin, Jimmy Dore and Michael Tracey to be able to assemble a good cabinet

young terfs otm

also the fact they’ve been like “we named the show that and it doesn’t mean anything anymore” is kind of insane. knowledge and acknowledgment of the armenian genocide has only increased

if the U.S. annexes Turkey, he may technically qualify

Ummmmm have we talked about this

We Are the Worst pic.twitter.com/UOslRY2bdM

— Eric Notarnicola (@ericnotarnicola) October 11, 2023

Are they singing about Trump or God? Or do I not want to know?

They’re giving the listener permission to do a lot of things to them there

The House goes into recess after two minutes pic.twitter.com/OkIkomf3pZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 12, 2023

can't believe the democrats let this happen

it makes Biden look weak and old to have the democrats in such disarray they couldn't keep congress functioning

Shame on Speaker Jeffries.

Bob Menendez has been indicted on an additional charge - being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government.

It's a start!

Meantime more fun from the House GOP:

Hern is also mulling a bid for speaker if Scalise or Jordan cannot get the 217 votes needed to win. He spent last week making his pitch to colleagues and cited his business experience — he has operated 18 McDonald’s franchises in addition to other ventures — as a key reason he could bring a fresh approach to the job.

"My experience as Mayor of a small town of edible characters and masked criminals may not impress the coastal elites..."

"And so I ask the nation: do you want fries with that?"

Getting serious!

A couple of GOP aides just brought a whiteboard and markers into the Republican conference.

Holy shit, who let them have markers?

If they're scented, the future of congress may be at stake.

nay, the Republic.

— as a key reason he could bring a freshsitting on a heat table for an hour approach to the job.

fixed

Senator Menendez should not be a U.S. Senator. He should have been gone long ago. It is time for every one of my colleagues in the Senate to join me in expelling Senator Menendez.
 
We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate.
 
This is not a close call. https://t.co/e0H2LtHkme

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) October 12, 2023

Oh good grief, Hern fully leaned into it:

https://www.politico.com/dims4/default/resize/680/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F20%2Fc9%2Fb215e2b1425584d69679a1c4979b%2Fimage-9.png

You laugh until it turns out that his 18 McDonalds franchises are a complete fiction, at which point he becomes the frontrunner.

George Santos owns 30 McDonald's and 15 Burger Kings

Pfffft. I'll be really impressed when someone runs an In 'N' Out Burger.

Hakeem Jeffries, as much I’d like to see him be speaker, is a fantasy choice in a Republican controlled congress, and is not going to happen. Scalise has now withdrawn thank god, and Jordan is creep who could never get 217 votes. Nor could b-teamer Kevin Hern

It seems like the only choice is to bring McCarthy back, as long as he is willing to give the democrats some concessions for a few of them to vote for him. It is something he was not willing to do at all before he was ousted, and maybe not still

It’s a total mess

Lmao

🚨 SCALISE says he’s withdrawing:

“I just shared with my colleagues that I'm withdrawing my name as a candidate for the speaker designee.”

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 13, 2023

Just go with the McGriddle guy, who cares anymore

Damn you, Democrats!

I hate to bring international politics into politics but Hakeem’s platform has a strong Israel plank and oh shit, oh boy

I just fell into one of my least favorite political tar pits, Debating Ruth Bader Ginsburg With Liberals.

Oh dear, that’s a quagmire you definitely want to flee

https://bsky.app/profile/patstokes.bsky.social/post/3kblsebbiwm26

lol:

Quite a meteoric rise: in 2012 Clint Eastwood introduced an empty chair on stage at the Republican National Convention, and just eleven years later the empty chair defeats all other Republican contenders for Speaker.

Empty Chair/ Empty Suit 2024

Austin Scott is running for Speaker! (Whoever that is.)

The speaker could theoretically have Austin powers

Lol

According to Wagner and other House Republicans briefed on the meeting, Jordan said to Scalise: “You get one ballot. And when you go down, you will nominate me.”

She said Scalise pushed back, arguing he had won by the conference rules, to which Jordan replied: “America wants me,” before storming out the door.

From here: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/republicans-speaker-mccarthy-jim-jordan-00121370

Children by the millions wait for Jim Jordan to come around

She said Scalise pushed back, arguing he had won by the conference rules, to which Jordan replied: “America wants me to die,” before storming out the door.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51qLytKCSdL._SL1360_.jpg

lol

GOP lawmakers warming to the bipartisan option.

“You know what, I’m getting to the point it wouldn’t be that bad an idea,” says Rep. Greg Murphy

Armed Services Mike Rogers says “we may” meet w/ Jeffries: “We’re working on it.”

— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) October 13, 2023

lol looking bleak, huh?

now that is something I wasn't expecting...

Hahahahaha no way

If I were Jeffries, I would want nothing to do with trying to herd that group of alley cats.

Who's collecting ballots?

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/carriemovies/images/e/ec/NormaWatson.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/270?cb=20131018182732

https://eddieraysmoviereviews.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/norma.jpg

there's easily enough moderates who would rather have jeffries than jordan (you only need 4, right?), but they'd want the cover of party support to actually vote for him (rather than merely talk to the press) and that is not going to happen in a million years.

“Plus Dove bars every night.”

I think they mean a Republican they could get a few Democratic votes for, not Jefferies

Santos obv

lol

They are going to have another vote soon. Jordan will win but the number of votes Austin Powers gets will show approximately how many holdouts he has.

secret ballot too. they'll probably vote to get rid of secret ballot next so they can pretend to be unanimous.

Yeah, baby.

Speaking of Santos, here he is, freaking the fuck out

Just now on Capitol Hill: George Santos has a yelling match with a man who’s here, calling the man “human scum,” screaming at the top of his lungs. Man says his name is Shabd Singh of Washington, a Jewish American who’s critical of Israeli policies. Video of the moment here 👇 pic.twitter.com/iZrTZWeg8v

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 13, 2023

"you have no business in this building..."

Do tell, George.

CUT!

Great scene everyone.. that's a wrap

Jfc

best scene from the new season of Veep

This guy seems cool

Democrats have a George Santos and his name is Shri Thanedar. Do some googling and read this thread, he’s incredible. https://t.co/iZdeei90R2

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) October 13, 2023

So, is Jim Jordan one of those Republicans that just pretends to be stupid, or is he an actual moron? I guess it doesn't matter.

I’ve heard estimates that there are 20 “hard no’s” against Jordan.

Even if that is cut in half, that is enough to block him from the gavel so Jordan will have some ground to make up

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 13, 2023

Jordan 124
Austin Powers 81

So do they shag now, or shag later?

Behave

Jordan got the nomination

Doesn't really matter who gets the nomination though, does it? Jordan has more hard NOs against him than Scalise had, from my brief reading.

well now

NEWS: 152-55 House Rs on the ballot question of whether they will support Jordan question, per source.

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 13, 2023

The real contest now is to see if he can get more failed votes than McCarthy

This clip reminds of the scene from "Jaws" where the mayor is in shock:

Raju: What does this do to your swing district Republicans?

McCarthy: That all the Democrats voted to try to bring chaos?

Raju: That you guys can’t govern. pic.twitter.com/3arhXv0Otq

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 13, 2023

McCarthy staying on-weak-ass-barely-coherent-message

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9AWIhOwlmo

Xps Yes how could Democrats do this to the nation?

we never really got to see a solemn McCarthy walk down the House steps, snare drums and brass, yet standing tall in defeat... he just went right back to being whiny and annoying

Is anyone going to ask these guys why they never got rid of Pelosi? Since the Minority can apparently vote down speakers from the Majority party.

Jordan won the vote to be nominated but I don't see how he can win the speakership, and if he did it would mean a guaranteed government shutdown at the end of November.

I'm still hoping moderates in the Republican Party can make a deal with the Democrats

"moderates"

MSNBC brain

My US representative here in Oregon was elected as a 'moderate' republican. It's a 'swing' district. She was the mayor of local bedroom community that has a city manager type government and about 10K population, so the mayor was just a figurehead. The national GOP recruited her. Her biggest asset was a hyphenated last name: Chavez-deRemer (2nd half pronounced much like "dreamer"). Basically, she was a cipher without any political profile in the district. For all I know she really is a moderate at heart. Not that it matters a damn.

Her Democratic opponent took no PAC money, ran a pure small donor campaign and unseated a notorious 'blue dog" (read: huge asshole) incumbent. The national GOP bought in big money and proceeded to air several millions in television ads to buy the seat. A little went to paint Chavez-deRemer as a moderate, but almost all of it went to tar her Democratic opponent (to whom we gave several hundred dollars) as a fire breathing radical. It worked. Barely.

Of course, now she's an inexperienced freshman rep in DC who owes her seat to the national party and its big money donors and she has no real control over her votes. I'm hoping she's got enough sense to band with other 'swing' republicans as a bloc, but basically she's just a tool of the party with no constituency except what GOP money can buy for her. I'm going to work hard to get her booted out in 2024.

Could the dems just say that they'll vote for any Republican speaker who is willing to say that Trump lost in 2020 and build a bipartisan majority from there?

I think dropping Biden impeachment would have to be a top demand

The GOP doesn't operate in good faith, so I'm not sure how they could be held to *any* deal.

Louisiana governor primary election--

https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-governor-race-election-2023-ed79c5a80af6e59593985c9be4ce5dc8

As Louisiana’s election polls closed Saturday night and gubernatorial candidates await results, Republicans are hoping to reclaim the governor’s mansion after an eight-year hiatus while Democrats try to keep the position in a state where Donald Trump garnered a majority of the votes in the last two presidential elections.

Six major candidates — four Republicans, one Democrat and one independent — are vying for the seat that is being vacated by Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. With Edwards unable to run due to consecutive term limits, the election opens a huge opportunity for Republicans to win Louisiana’s top position.

Republican attorney general Landry is likely to get most votes-

As attorney general, Mr. Landry has honed a confrontational approach, at one point suing a reporter for requesting public records related to a sexual harassment investigation into one of his aides. After a court hearing on Louisiana’s abortion law, one of the strictest in the nation, Mr. Landry said that critics could leave the state.

That combative spirit has earned him support from staunch Republicans, who cheered his willingness to challenge both Mr. Edwards and the Biden administration over coronavirus vaccine mandates. He also won support for his sweeping promises to address crime and prioritize parents’ rights in education, as well as for other positions that have motivated the Republican base.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/us/politics/louisiana-governor-primary-landry-edwards.html

If Republican Landry get Louisiana governorship, he will have support from a Louisiana Senate supermajority.

https://x.com/Taniel/status/1713386429596729436?s=20

Because Landry got over 50 % in open primary, he is the new Louisiana governor.

The Bolt website reporter Taniel tweeted that:

The brand new governor of Louisiana, Landry, in one story:

This year, he championed a bill to make public the criminal records of children as young as 13... but only in 3 parishes that have large Black populations, and nowhere else in the state

Louisiana Dem candidate Wilson got just 25% of the vote, and many Dems didn't vote

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4248036-louisiana-governor-race-shawn-wilson-black-voters/

Black voters make up a critical base of Democrats’ voting bloc in the state. But early voting numbers show Black turnout has dropped 8 percent compared to the 2019 primary. White voter turnout also declined 12 percent

Ron somehow put me on his mailing list.

Hi (x),

I’ve been spending lots of time out on the campaign trail meeting thousands of inspiring Americans, so I’m reaching out to you today with the hope of us getting to know each other better.

By the end of this email, after you’ve heard the story of where I come from, who I am, and why I’m running for President, if you’re ready to join my team, I have something special I’d like to offer you.

I’ll start by telling you where I come from: My mom, a nurse, and dad, a box installer for Nielsen, moved across the Rust Belt before settling down in Florida, where I was born and raised. After I graduated high school, I worked to pay my way through Yale University as the Team Captain of our baseball team, and then went on to graduate from Harvard Law School. In those years, I aspired for a great career, but when I witnessed the horrific events of September 11th, 2001, nothing else mattered to me except volunteering to serve in our military to defend freedom—no matter the cost.

I deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Navy as a Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) Officer in support of SEAL Team 1, and it was the honor of my life to serve alongside fellow patriots, proudly wearing the cloth of my country as a badge of honor on our uniforms.

After my time in the service, I felt compelled to continue fighting for what’s right and standing up for causes bigger than myself, and I’ve since been blessed to serve my community as a Congressman and now Governor of Florida. During my term as Governor, our nation was faced with COVID-19, and this pandemic exposed just how much leadership matters. It proved that our nation is in decline because elected leaders have lacked the necessary qualities to stay strong, fight for the people they serve, and chart a different course even if it goes against the grain of public opinion. In Florida, we showed that it can be done—success IS attainable—and I've let my record speak for itself.

Two more titles I’m proud to hold are husband to my incredible wife Casey—the best First Lady I believe this state has ever seen—and father to my 6-, 5-, and 3-year-olds. As a father, I’m having to watch the radical Left shove a political agenda down parents' and kids' throats at every turn. They’re having to face lies that men can get pregnant and that we should embrace feelings of hate and guilt instead of pride in our country. At this rate, if we don’t make a change, we are facing the reality where we become the first generation to leave our children with a worse America than we inherited.

But, (x), we do not have to accept this decline. It CAN be reversed, and I believe we have a responsibility to step up and do it. This cannot wait another four years.

If you share this belief in a better tomorrow with me, I am humbly asking you to join my team. You should know that every dollar counts in this race, and every contribution to my team goes so much farther than you could know. That’s why, if you join my team by making any donation of just $5 or more, I want to welcome you with a free bumper sticker.

While we put your contribution to good use out on the trail—reaching new voters, hosting big events, producing all kinds of merchandise, advertising across the country, building our network, raising the resources we need to keep going—you could be making an even bigger impact by spreading the word right where you are.

I have made it my mission to always lead with conviction, unwavering energy, and with a refusal to back down. With your help, we won’t lose. We will reverse the decline of this country and get the job done.

You’ll see very quickly I'm not like anyone else in this race. In the state of Florida, everything I promised we would do, we've gotten done, and then some, when's the last time anybody you've elected has over-delivered on their promises? As your next President, I promise I'll do the same thing. It’s time for the Republican party to buck this culture of losing.

You can count on me, (x). I hope I can count on you.

In Freedom

Ron DeSantis

They’re having to face lies that men can get pregnant

love this

i also loved that

omg free bumper sticker

Defending freedom as a military lawyer.

I love the "How dare you criticize Jim Jordan?" crowd. It's like they've never heard a contrary word about the guy and think that all of the GOP colleagues who can't stand him must just be super-squishy libs.

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) October 16, 2023

Moderates are growing increasingly irritated with the tactics Jordan allies are using to pressure them into voting for him, with one member noting the Hannity show has gotten involved in the efforts sending potential defectors the email below. One lawmaker said the push is… pic.twitter.com/ulOn0ZEbts

— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) October 15, 2023

Speaker Jim Jordan presiding over the certification of the 2024 election is gonna be a treat.

Gymentum

The members who have flipped for Jordan have the Jordan-resistance House Rs feeling far more nervous now.

There’s strength in numbers and their numbers are dwindling with Wagner, Calvert, and Rogers flipping this AM https://t.co/8mObzsrc8F

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 16, 2023

this is pretty good:

Joe Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign has joined Truth Social, a rightwing social media platform created by the Republican former president Donald Trump.

Using the handle @BidenHQ, the account says it is a “project of Biden-Harris 2024” and includes a banner image that says “the malarkey ends here”, referencing the president’s signature colloquialism.

The campaign wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it joined Truth Social “mostly because we thought it would be very funny”.

Lol

A+, WH social media team

Will be even more "very funny" when overt threats made to that account to get Chris Hanson "have a seat" treatment from the justice dept.

The performative idiocy of this particular cadre of conservative glory hounds is interesting to me in that it seems entirely a creation of right-wing media, in the sense that the people themselves were weaned on right-wing media, it's all they know. They are creatures of the dark.

But they're about to take over the House, so yee-haw.

they were already in charge though

Meet the new boss

Tbh that’s doing a huge favor to TruthSocial, the main flaw in its design is that there aren’t any libs for users to yell at.

Oof

https://t.co/uxCVF3OcS8 pic.twitter.com/iQ7qCSKvBP

— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) October 16, 2023

lol at "butt out of New Jersey" to the guy who had to beat a guy from New Jersey in the last election.

"I was on the violent side of the building."

Also lol @ "I wish I could pay for it" — that's what's about to happen!

https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1714091221327446173?s=20

oops

Rachel Powell “Bullhorn Lady” has her J6 sentencing tomorrow and can’t believe the govt is asking for 8 years: “it doesn’t make any sense to me. It was a mistake and I’m sorry. I wish I could pay for (the window). I did break a window. I was on the violent side of the building.” pic.twitter.com/WCnxuCaKFP

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 17, 2023

"I committed a felony, but you know, mistakes happen. Sorry."

"I was on the violent side of the building." for November thread title.

they were different times, your honour

justice for thee but not for me

Her trial has entered the find out phase, and isn't she surprised.

that LINDELL TV logo is a delight

So it sounds like Jordan's strategy is to let the holdouts vote against him and lose the first Speaker vote. Then come back and whip a later vote after the holdouts have made their show of defiance.

The only upside to a Jordan speakership is that he will fuck absolutely everything up.

is that an upside? I see no upside to a more dysfunctional congress.

i.e. every GOP speaker ever

Only inasmuch as it limits the Republicans' ability to enact any legislation at all, and strengthens the Democrats' chances of retaking the House next year.

I don't see much upside in reinforcing and normalizing a non-functioning government, but hey that could just be me

I don't see what the Dems can do about it.

xp That's not really what I said or meant. I just mean that whatever horrendous shit Jordan wants to do will likely fail due to his sheer incompetence, and the Dems' chances of retaking the House and thereby increasing the likelihood of a return to a functional government, increase.

Someone pointed out that for so long the Republicans have been the party of crisis and tearing shit down and the Democrats have been the adults who clean up after them that the press has internalized this dynamic and were sort of confused when the Dems decided not to bail McCarthy out.

hell, the GOP was confused.

it's worth nothing that Jim Jordan has not visited the WH once during the Biden presidency

And whatever you think about K McCarthy, he was a hell of a fundraiser with institutional GOP donors (one of the Speaker's more important roles)... Jordan won't bring in shit, he doesn't know any of those people

lol I thought the only thing congress agreed on was Jim Jordan being a huge creep

that's why they want him as their leader

What do they need to fundraise for if the whole point is to tear down the entire institution?

Wrecking balls are expensive these days

He's a creep
He's a weirdo
What the hell's he doing there
Let's make him speaker

Based on the resounding success of his Hunter Biden investigation, I look forward to more displays of cunning political strategy. I'm sure we'll get a hilarious impeachment vote at some point.

what are the chances he actually gets the votes? I've heard there are a lot of holdouts but also that the GOP moderates realize how bad this is making them look and might cave in just so we can have a functioning government

the speakership will imbue Jordan with new gravitas

Maybe even a hairpiece to replace the distracting combover.

how many failed votes did McCarthy get? Fifteen? Jordan should be able to double that, at least

👀 Quite a few Scalise allies are voting for Jordan “between 1-3 round max before bailing,” per a GOP source with direct knowledge from one of those Scalise allies supporting Jordan currently

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) October 17, 2023

the GOP moderates realize how bad this is making them look and might cave in just so we can have a functioning government

Because that will absolutely be the result...

Nothing says "functioning government" like "Speaker Jim Jordan."

For the Dems - Jordan speakership will be a nightmare in the short term, but likely a gift in the long term

oh I know if Jordan wins it'll be an unequivocal disaster - I didn't know that in his 17 years in office Jim Jordan has somehow managed to not pass or even sponsor a single bill - but what exactly happens if there's no speaker at all??

3 votes for McCarthy so far. I think Jordan can only lose one more and win?