Tom Emmer drops out

[mister_coffee]

McCarthy went back on the deal made in spring of 2023 to extend the debt ceiling. If he would have honored that deal he would have had the Democratic votes to stay as speaker.

If you don't honor agreements, it is hard to see how anyone is going to want to negotiate with you.

[Rideback]

No one did. He wasn't vetted and the craziness about his career is over the top. He is the least experienced Speaker in 140 years.

[Fun CH]

David Dems could have voted to retain McCarthy. Better the devil you know.

Like I said, Democrats could have changed this outcome, but Dems wanted to continue the mayhem hoping to benefit from it.

Is that good for the county?

And that's it, Johnson gets the speakership!

Guess you didn't see that coming.

[Rideback]

And that's it, Johnson gets the speakership!

[Rideback]

Good points David.
The latest guy, Johnson, is so outrageously over the top that there is no way any Dems could vote for him and in fact he is way short of the 217 Rep votes needed. We're far and away from any nominees that aren't outright crackpots so actually the discussion about getting any Dem votes is moot.

Mike Johnson (R-LA), the new Republican nominee for Speaker:
- is a rightwing Christian fundamentalist who has close ties to extremist Christian organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom and Focus on the Family, who believes America is a Christian nation, there should be Christian prayer in public schools, immigration and tourism from Islamic nations to the US should be limited or even banned, there should be NO separation between church and state, and who strongly opposes abortion, same sex marriage, LGBTQ rights, etc.
- is a supporter of widely discredited and unethical "conversion therapy" to make gay people straight
- is not only an election denier, but is an outspoken MAGA who STILL thinks Trump won the 2020 election despite all evidence to the contrary. If he's not actually a seditionist, he is certainly sedition adjacent and has repeatedly said January 6th was a "legitimate protest"
- is a rabid pro-lifer who thinks a large number of women are actually getting abortions AFTER the baby is born (which is also something Trump said at his most recent rally in Derry, NH). He wants a national ban on abortion and restricted access to contraceptives
- is a COVID denier who thinks the pandemic was a hoax perpetrated by (insert nefarious conspiracy involving the CDC and some global cabal)
- is (surprise!) an anti-vaxxer who thinks COVID vaccines are "dangerous"
- is one of those Republicans who calls Social Security a "Ponzi Scheme" and says it should be eliminated in favor of "privatization." Ditto Medicare.
- is a climate change denier

[mister_coffee]

Many House Republicans have said they will not vote for any speaker that has any Democratic votes.

Historically, Speakers are voted in with unanimous support of their own party. And "it hasn't ever been done before" is a lot bigger barrier in this case.

Republicans aren't putting any serious deal on the table to get Democratic votes for a Speaker. In fact, there doesn't seem to be anybody on the Republican side with the credibility with the whole House to offer such a deal. Saying the "Democrats" should negotiate implies there is someone to negotiate with.

I note that McCarthy went back on several deals with the Democrats, most notably a package of spending cuts in order to authorize additional debt to keep the government operating. So Democrats were rightly skeptical of any deal that he might have offered and at least wanted to read the fine print.

Also, math. It would take fewer Republicans defecting to support Hakeem Jeffries than it would take Democrats defecting to support whoever they nominate today.

[Fun CH]

Hope this helps-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... -syndrome/


"Trump Derangement Syndrome — the overwrought, persistent belief that everything former president Donald Trump did was corrupt, evil or both — has dominated political discussion for four years. You might have thought the condition would fade now that he is out of office. Instead, we’re seeing one type of TDS replaced by another: Trump Deprivation Syndrome."

[Rideback]

I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes me that you don't care.

[Fun CH]

Don't care.

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

[Rideback]

No, this is a Rep problem to solve, not the role of the minority party to step in and fix. Jeffries has laid out what the Dems would need to be resolved right up front. Rules would need to go back to where they were before McCarthy's rule and bipartisanship would have to be recognized. Until Rep take responsibility nothing will move forward.

Today, while the House was taking the vote and then afterwards Trump was literally taking calls in the NY courtroom telling Rep allies not to support Emmer.

[Fun CH]

You realize Democrats could have voted to either help elect a new speaker or retain the old one, right?

This is just more of the same show.

"Turn on, tune in, drop out"- T. Leary

[Rideback]

3 weeks without a House Speaker. No business being attended to. And now, hours after the Reps nominated him for the role of House Speaker Tom Emmer has backed out.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.html