Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries Schools GOP on ABCs of Democracy

Towards the end of a long contentious evening of votes that the GOP had intended to hand Kevin McCarthy his long sought after prize of the House Speakership with the bare minimum of support and exactly no more, and nearly culminated in (R) Rep. Mike Rogers going George Foreman on Matt Gaetz about his majestic forehead when he had ascertained, almost certainly correctly, that Gaetz was trying to use his vote that would put McCarthy over the top to wrest the coveted Chair of the Armed Services Committee from him…

Washington Post

“Instead of the anticipated victory, on the painstakingly long trek through 14 ballots, Gaetz voted “present.” Some Republicans thought that was enough to deliver a victory, since Gaetz had previously been voting for other conservative alternatives, but McCarthy knew right away that something was wrong.

He had 216 votes out of 432 cast, as Gaetz and Lauren Boebert’s “present” votes essentially did not count in the overall tally. This was not enough for a majority, so McCarthy darted up the center aisle toward Gaetz and Colorado’s Boebert.

But quickly the GOP leader and his closest allies, including Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, homed in on Gaetz. Other Republicans came around as well, clearly trying to convince Gaetz to switch his vote before the clerk and vote counters officially counted up the ballots and gaveled the vote shut.

Then Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, who expects to become chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, on which Gaetz serves, stormed toward the huddle, enraged. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), a member of the leadership, walked with Rogers, aware of how angry he was.

Video and photographs show Rogers beginning to yell at Gaetz, when Hudson grabbed Rogers, including across his mouth, and physically yanked him back and sent him away from the group.“

What’s this shit? Mike Rogers of Alabama….? pic.twitter.com/kVKwkb8Wus

— GingerSnap 🤶 (@CackyC) January 7, 2023

… before Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, N.Y. took to the House floor to extend an olive branch to the newly elected scum of the earth McCarthy – before switching gears to rousingly teach the Republican Majority the ABCs of Democracy:

HOLY SHIT, my man Rep. Hakeem Jeffries actually schooled these fools alphabetically!👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/PFQ18f7vWP

— BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 7, 2023

Those ABC’s in case you would like the text:

“We will never compromise our principles. House Democrats will always put…

American values over autocracy.
Benevolence over bigotry.
The Constitution over the cult.
Democracy over demagogues.
Economic opportunity over extremism.
Freedom over fascism,
Governing over gaslighting.
Hopefulness over hatred.
Inclusion over isolation,
Justice over judicial overreach.
Knowledge over kangaroo courts,
Liberty over limitation.
Maturity over Mar-a-Lago.
Normalcy over negativity.
Opportunity over obstruction,
People over politics.
Quality of life issues over QAnon.
Reason over racism.
Substance over slander.
Triumph over tyranny.
Understanding over ugliness.
Voting rights over voter suppression.
Working families over the well connected.
Xenia* over over xenophobia.
Yes, we can over you can’t do it, and…
zealous representation over zero sum confrontation.”

Quite an excellent speech from Jeffries…

It’s 1:00 and I’m jumping up and down in my living room and cheering like a high school teeny bopper! He is magnificent!

— Warnock is a winner! (@SheDidItRight22) January 7, 2023

But I would almost trade it for a 5 minute video of Mike Rogers pummeling Matt Gaetz about his painstakingly coiffed Pompadour…