There are times when I type an especially Bizarro World headline that I wonder if I’m not hallucinating all of this. Or perhaps if my computer is haunted. It’s even occurred to me on occasion that I’m in some bizarre afterlife and I just don’t remember dying — but then I keep having to pay bills and clean the tub, all that, and so I realize I’m still in the earthly realm. I just am having an incredible time squaring what I see happening with the GOP with any kind of norm and that’s because there is none. The Republican party is dying on its feet and we’re watching the death throes. Their gyroscope, if they ever had one, is broken, along with their moral compass, which is long gone.
Here’s the latest: Kevin McCarthy is thinking of running as Speaker with Jim Jordan as Assistant Speaker. What’s that you say? Can they just make up an office that isn’t in the Constitution? Beats the living hell out of me, I have no idea. But I’m sure Laurence Tribe or somebody will chime in soon enough. Here’s the latest from the (mad) House. Raw Story:
“Amid the impasse, McCarthy is floating a plan that would reinstall him as speaker and make Jordan, a conservative Trump ally, the assistant speaker, according to three sources familiar with McCarthy’s pitch,” the outlet reported.
NBC asked why this was happening at this point in time, and was reportedly told that the Republicans are “desperate.”
“Asked why the idea — which lacks key details, like how it would be enacted and whether it could even gain enough traction to happen — was being floated now, a GOP lawmaker replied: ‘We’re desperate,” NBC reported. “While the idea might seem far-fetched and it has not been pitched broadly within the GOP Conference, it is being discussed among some Republicans after Emmer, the third GOP nominee, dropped his bid. A source briefed on the idea likened it to the Speaker Nancy Pelosi/Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark arrangement that the Democrats had.”
The outlet further reports that McCarthy “melted down” in conference meetings on Tuesday.
“He had two ‘outbursts’ behind closed doors today, the sources say, that were about his objections to quickly moving to a nominating vote for Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the runner-up to Emmer, the lawmakers said,” NBC reported.
McCarthy’s melting down behind closed doors, Trump’s melting down in open court. Being out of control is the essence of GOP leadership these days, no question. But this is stranger still. Newt Gingrich might come back onboard, are you ready for this? NBC News:
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., pitched Newt Gingrich as a possible candidate for speaker.
“The House needs to get their act in order,” Scott, a Republican candidate for president, said tonight during an appearance on iHeart’s Des Moines, Iowa-based “Simon Conway” show.
“It is embarrassing, and it’s going to cost us, if this continues, it will cost us in 2024,” he said before he pitched the idea that, as a temporary solution, the House would be “better off” selecting a speaker who’s not in the chamber.
“Take someone like Newt Gingrich, put ’em in the position for three months, get the rest of the conference together, figure out who they’re willing to vote for, and then put a permanent speaker in place,” Scott said.
Gingrich, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, was House speaker from 1995 to 1999.
I think they should channel the spirit of Schuyler Colfax, who was House Speaker when Lincoln was assassinated. I suggest that, because anybody who lived during those tumultuous times might actually have some kind of a handle on what’s going on from day to day in October of 2023.
This is beyond batshit. Simply beyond batshit.
I don’t recall hearing about any “assistant Speaker” arrangement under Pelosi. Is that a real thing?
McCarthy won’t win, and Jordan will make him even less palatable than before.
Very good question. No, it is not a real thing. Katherine Clark is Pelosi’s protégé, and she was elevated to the position of House minority whip in November 2022. Which makes her now the highest ranking woman in the house. But that’s it. The analogy would be to make Jordan the House majority whip, but that’s impossible, considering that there already is a majority whip, and he is none other than Tom Emmer! It looks to me like McCarthy was trying to squeeze some fictional position in there to satisfy Trump. And it wouldn’t even be an elected position, just the product of a deal, and totally not a thing. Actually, it’s an idea worthy of Trump to just make up a position: I bet this was Trump’s idea, idiotic and desperate as usual.
Well, it’s not GOOD recycling but the fact GOPers are even thinking about any form of recycling could I suppose be construed as progress.
I’ve seen fuzzy sweaters from recycled plastic bottles. The is more like recycling plastic bottles to make a noose.
It almost seems just as likely four Republicans in districts Biden carried, will jump ship and help elect Jeffries. Sounds implausible but we elected a Democrat in NC who turned traitor and gave the Republicans a super majority. I could see four trying to join the adults, and get things done, so they can run on an actual record versus sticking with a group run by a cult, led by a traitor/criminal, whose crimes are being exposed daily by those involved.
I’m not so sure. A dozen of them voted multiple times for asshat candidates and can’t take those votes back. Those votes are a matter of record now and will be used against them next year even if they switch to the side of sanity. THAT will be (accurately) portrayed as pandering. Of course, there’s the possibility that knowing they are toast come next year they might decide Congress isn’t for them and try to do the decent thing and stand up to MAGA. Yes, it will be rough for them for a bit but it will pass. I’m not holding my breath but you never know.
You’re kind of answering an open question I asked here the other day: When will the Republicans realize the jig is up? And that Trump can’t do anything for them. What you’re saying makes sense, but it’s just because it makes sense that it seems so unlikely. The fly in the ointment is the crazy MAGA base, because even when everybody else realizes that Trump is all washed up, they will believe he is about to ascend to glory. A small number of Republicans from districts Biden carried will not have to worry about the MAGA base; the only thing they will have to worry about is getting primaried by some MAGA jerk. But I read now that “the window is closing for any surprise candidates”. It’s not quite here yet, but maybe that will be the moment. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/window-closing-surprise-2024-candidates-emerge/story?id=103969013
Another factor comes into play if some states do not allow Trump on the ballot. Even though that’s sure to be challenged, it will create a lot of uncertainty, and many Trump fans may just not bother to go to the polls when the time comes. Also some state Republican parties are in very bad financial situation, close to bankruptcy. We may be, and I hope we are, watching the disintegration of the GOP as a functional national party. Maybe it’s about time for them to go the way of the Whigs and be replaced by something else.
Trump’s not being allowed on the ballot can certainly be challenged and when it is, we can finally get all this “states’ rights” nonsense behind us once and for all. The Constitution provides that EACH STATE is in FULL charge of its elections process. The only time the Feds can really get involved is when there’s some kind of obstruction of a person’s ability to VOTE, not run for an office. If SCOTUS even dares hint that a candidate’s being or not being on the ballot is NOT up to the states, then we can expect a lot of third parties going to court, challenging laws that force them to jump through hoops just to “qualify” for ballot access.