The newest wrinkle in the political fabric is that none other than Fox News, specifically Sean Hannity’s program, is lobbying to make Jim Jordan Speaker Of The House. Seriously. The Hannity Show has sent out an inquiry and the way that the foregoing “inquiry” by Fox News is being framed, it’s a call to moderate Republicans to get off the fence. However, as one commentator put it, “There are no moderate Republicans. There’s proud MAGA and there’s scared MAGA.” This isn’t an inquiry so much as it is an extortion note to scared MAGA, which is the vast majority of the GOP conference.

Jordan is the choice of the former. So what is the latter going to do about that, seeing as how government funding needs to be settled before November 17 and two wars are raging, and our allies are frantically requesting aid? That’s what Fox News wants to know, so if you find out, give them a call first, would you?

So, GOPers, you want to get on a Fox News show? You want your soundbite to count for something? You want to be the next Ted Cruz and spend more of your time podcasting and tweeting than legislating? You want to be the next Lauren Boebert, who does nothing but tweet, between scandals? Then you best stir yourself and give your Fox News overlords an answer by 11:00 a.m. ET Monday.

It is an in kind political contribution. It fits the definition. “An in-kind contribution is a non-monetary contribution. Goods or services offered free or at less than the usual charge result in an in-kind contribution. Similarly, when a person or entity pays for services on the committee’s behalf, the payment is an in-kind contribution.” To quote a line from the movie Network, “We’re getting publicity we couldn’t get for a million bucks.” That’s how Trump got elected in 2016, remember? Except in his case, he probably got closer to half a billion dollars in free publicity.

To clarify these tweets, Fox got the idea it was running the country when candidate Trump implored the press, Call Sean Hannity, and hats were made up with the slogan. And Hannity was the de facto White House press secretary and Trump the de facto Fox News assignment editor, back in 2017. Those were the days.

Now here’s a congressman with a handle on this subject. Maybe the GOP can nominate him. (Psst…he’s a Democrat. Darn.)

Here’s the sane alternative. But you know that sane alternatives are not the GOP’s style, right?

That’s in the real world. We’re talking about proud MAGA and scared MAGA as we watch the GOP implode. Let us thank the political gods that the Republicans only control (albeit barely) the lower chamber of Congress. Can you imagine if they controlled both the House and Senate?

You would think that a bite in the pocketbook like that would have stung for a while. But no. They fired the head of legal affairs and now it looks like they’re going right back out and doing the same behavior that put them in the position to have to make that settlement in the first place. What was it you call doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

Now, you’re wondering what this has to do with the headline. How can this be a godsend for the Democrats? I think that the GOP has finally reached the point of no return. I think that this House Speaker issue is their Little Big Horn and here they do their last stand.

If you didn’t get a chance to read my “Never Jordan” piece yesterday, read it now, because I believe that this is the equivalent of the Whig Party’s last days in the mid-1800’s. The intelligentsia of the GOP is anti-Jordan. Anybody who is not an election denier and/or a conspiracy theorist, both of which Jordan is, is anti-Jordan. The only pro-Jordan people are proud MAGA, which are the fringe crazies; Donald Trump and now Fox News.

Here MAGA stands or here it dies and frankly, I think it’s going to die.

I agree with that. But this is even more compelling.

Congress is not going to stay deadlocked forever. Fox News, representing Team Jordan, has made its move. I believe what you’re going to see is scared MAGA, or call them the Silent Majority, if you will, but we’re talking non-Freedom Caucus fringe crazies, i.e., “normal Republicans” banding together en masse to get something moving again.

This is a do or die moment. There is no playbook for this. The playbook is being written right now, extemporaneously. I believe that people like Austin Scott, the Georgia congressman who got 55 votes by simply coming out of the blue and challenging Jordan, will all band together and present an alternative plan.

I do not believe Jim Jordan will be Speaker Of The House Of Representatives. And if he is, I do firmly believe that Democratic turnout will be a non issue and there will be a unified Democratic government in 2025 — and God knows we need it.

The Republicans can figure this out as easily as you or I. That’s the main reason I think that a bloc of them, a substantial bloc, will choose to band together and cobble some kind of a coalition government together. They don’t want to see Jordan as the Speaker because they don’t want to see the GOP wiped out in the next election.

Let’s see if I’m right. Let’s see what the state of play is at 11:00 a.m. ET in Washington. Because right now, it looks like a win-win scenario for Democrats. So either way, coalition government or Jordan as Speaker leading to a wipe out in November, 2024, it works for me. I think the former will happen but even if the latter does, we win.

Game on.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Sometimes you take the needle to prevent the disease that will kill you. Whatever stirs the majority to get off their collective arse and stop this fascist takeover is fine by me. After all, we survived Trump as president, we can weather gymsocks until next November.

    11

    • He can still do a hell of a lot of damage. Plus, if the idea of McCarthy being second in line to the presidency put me on the floor, the idea of Jordan in that role makes me want to crawl under the coffee table, assume the fetal position and suck my thumb.

      8

  2. This is a good article. The boil is being self-prepped, to be fatally lanced. Once lanced, there’ll be a wounded mutt yelp or two, along with some feral and fetid muck blowback. That’ll be the start of the healing process, as the host and its lifeline mouthpieces wither and die from their self-inflicted injuries. It’ll be a most welcomed, but drawn out, clinical healing. it surely will be.

    11

    • I see this as the collapse of the party and I am not alone. I looked at PoliticusUSA’s newsletter this morning and they spoke of the collapse of the Whig Party as well. So either they read it here or it’s becoming pretty obvious that that is what’s going on. Maybe both.

      I honestly think we’re going to see the old GOP die and some new party emerge. What’s happening in the House are labor pains.

      4

      • Your “… What’s happening in the House are labor pains…” is a fair call. Maybe we’re in violent agreement, by presenting points of view as two sides of the same coin.

        1

  3. Let’s see now, will this help the H.O.R. get back to business? Nope. Will this help the nation? Nope. Will it allow gym bag to bog down everything for political theater? Yep. So of course hannity would be pushing it. These are not bright people.

    9

    • Fox News doing this may be the kiss of death. The role of Fox News is also changing. They rode high in the saddle when Trump was in office. They’re not doing as well now.

      4

  4. When did Hannity start using the alias “Stephanie?” That ain’t gonna keep him out of trouble! Stephanie is to Hannity as John Barron is to Trump!

    5

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