Today history was made. Not since 1923 did a Speaker fail to take the gavel on the first vote. The last time this happened, we lived in a world where Yankee Stadium was under construction, likewise the Hollywood sign.
We saw before us today the inversion of the usual paradigm in government, i.e., the Democrats were all sticking together and the Republicans were acting like a herd of cats. You know the expression, Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line. Is it possible that now it’s the Republicans who fall in love?
Now, extend that concept out to an even more bizarre proposition: is it possible that the GOPers, particularly the Trump loving extremists who started this debacle in the House, are actually trying to get their glorious leader to take the gavel? If the far-right extremists love anybody, it’s Trump.
Anyone that doesn't think Republicans would get behind voting for Trump for Speaker of the House on Jan 6th 2023, hasn't been paying attention. https://t.co/CUoUorysrU
— Eanie Meanie (@MFishbowl) January 4, 2023
Now I think this is insane for a couple of reasons: One, how is Trump going to be Speaker and run for president? Although maybe he thinks he could do that. You have to admit, if he took the Speaker’s gavel, that would give him the spotlight he craves. That’s hands down true.
Problem is, the job of Speaker is very different from the way Trump “did the job” of president. Last I knew, the Speaker didn’t do executive time for six hours a day in front of the TV. Plus, there’s no way Trump could show up someplace to work every day and not be able to knock off and play golf on a whim. So there’s that downside.
But consider this: we live in a world where performing for the media is everything — at least for the far-right fringe GOPers who started all this. Did you hear or read John Boehner’s comment on this earlier today?
“What they’re really interested in is chaos.… They want to throw sand in the gears of the hated federal government until it fails and they’ve finally proved that it’s beyond saving.” And they are tied tightly to right-wing media: “Every time they vote down a bill, they get another invitation to go on Fox News or talk radio,” he said. “Its a narcissistic—and dangerous—feedback loop.”
And this from an anonymous source who spoke to Jake Tapper, as reported in Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter.
On the other hand are Republicans like the one who spoke to CNN’s Jake Tapper last night, saying that the holdouts want “procedural trickery that no one in America gives a damn about, but that might give these few loudmouths just a little bit more of the attention and power they crave…. None of these narcissists—and that’s what they are, pure narcissists—did a damn thing to help us win the majority. Nothing. If anything, many of them were liabilities, requiring outside help from Kevin McCarthy, ironically. So they contribute nothing to the team, and then have the audacity to demand outsize influence and power.”
The statement is important; equally important is that the source wanted to stay anonymous.
https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1610064876201705472?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
That is the state of play in government these days, at least with the GOP extremists and right now, it looks like they’re running the show. They’re playing to the peanut gallery. They need to get on Fox News and impress the rubes to survive. At least that is their belief. There isn’t even a pretense of governance anymore.
And who knows? Given this climate, given the fact that Donald Trump is desperate and you know he’s totally nuts, maybe something this wild could happen. I don’t know.
I just picked up this random thought on Twitter and plugged it into a lot of other things that are going on. Submitted for your approval, as Rod Serling would say. And this is certainly the Twilight Zone.
Until there’s a Speaker, the House may as well not exist. As such, the Republicans are not running crap and nominating Trump will do nothing to change that. If anything, it’ll likely cause more splits in an already fractured caucus.
What makes anyone think Trump would show up at the Capitol every day and actually DO the Speaker’s job? Anyone who watches C-SPAN knows the Speaker seldom is up there in the chair during regular House business. Only for big votes/occasions. That’s how Trump would treat the job – show up when there’s something “bigly” going down and have some staffer(s) do the actual grunt work just like he did as President. So in many ways it would actually be easier, except he’d have to pay for travel to DC (when he wanted to play his role – “Reality Speaker tee vee?” – for the cameras) which could be an issue for him with all the financial pressure he’s under. Then again, that spotlight could open up a whole new compartment of grift and make him some serious money. As for running around the country and campaigning for President while at the same time being Speaker, since when did Trump give a shit about norms? The ONLY thing that would matter to him is what’s best for HIM. Having said all that I don’t think it’s going to happen, and never was a serious consideration. If so, I think it would have been that mystery candidate Bob Good promised on the second ballot. Hell, maybe it was but Trump looked at the numbers and decided it wouldn’t be the financial windfall he first thought it would.
There are not, what six?, republicans available to vote against the mango moron taking over the gavel? I realize these republicans are not intelligent people but I cannot believe the republicans in swing districts would go anywhere near a “yes” vote to install former guy as speaker. This is not a realistic scenario.
It’s what I’ve heard described as a “rescue fantasy”, Spike. Like any irrational dream scenario that looks good, they only get taken seriously when you have no better realistic options.
That’s what I was thinking too, Spike.
Maybe we’ve reached the point of no return already …
The junk dealers, rusty Gates and RO-BOT, have a claim on total idiocy, they WILL flame out soon, but the average GOP Repugnant has no grand platform to defend or propagate, where is well structured, in print, detailed Republican plans for our country’s future?
The biggest plan I understood so far was, get the House in hand, blow up everything Biden, shut down ALL Government restrictions and regulations, (sounds like an old broken record), these turds are going to try to bust up the Jan06 committee, get a hold of all known evidence and some kind of document grab by Gym Jordon, pretty hard to do with all documentation and powers to put Gym Jordon himself in prison in the hands of the DOJ, who sit on the President’s side of government …