The GOP Finally Got The Memo, But Can They DO Anything About It? I Doubt It

The 1st paragraph of new reporting inn The Hill today brought a warm smile to my face. The Hill claimed that GOP senior leadership, especially in the Senate is starting to worry about the GOP’s sudden affection for self inflicted gunshot wounds, and it hoping for more discipline going into the next election cycle.

Why would that make me smile? Because I’ve been writing about it for months now, every dan tie they take another finger or toe off. Their worries start out simple, and at the top;

Leading Republicans think that the House GOP’s raucous reception of President Biden at last week’s State of the Union played into the president’s hands and that the proposal by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) to sunset all federal legislation after five years is a political gift to Democrats.  

And the GOP leadership is right. By acting like a daycare class whose teacher stepped out of the room, the House monkey island let Biden bamboozle them so badly that they had no choice but to stand and applaud when Biden announced that Entitlement programs are off the board for upcoming budget negotiations. And Scott’s idiotic plan is actually a double barrel boon for Democrats. Forget entitlements, the card the Democrats have yet to play is asking the GOP how congress is supposed to get anything done if they have to spend all their time reauthorizing every federal law that becomes five years old?

But what should be worrying GOP leadership the most, especially in the Senate, is the problem that it isn’t a one off. Every damn time the gun goes off, the silly bastards just keep pulling the damn trigger! And just keep giving the Democrats more ammunition of their own.

Here’s a prefect example. From the day that Rick Scott put out that stupid 12 point plan that has the five year sunset clause for Social Security and Medicare, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has run from it like a scalded cat. He called it a terrible idea, calling Scott short sighted, and pronounced it DOA in his own caucus. But after Biden called out Scott personally, Scott called Biden a liar, and blasting McConnell for being a turncoat, giving Biden another free shot at him. And when Biden called out WI mental midget Ron Johnson for the same thing, Johnson went on far right radio and again proposed letting Social Security and Medicare expire every year if not renewed. This time it was senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who took Johnson behind the woodshed from the floor of the Senate. They just keep putting bad ideas front and center.

The GOP is hoping for a little more discipline going forward, but where is it supposed to come from? McConnell has no control over his caucus, and hasn’t for three years. He dictatorially forbade his caucus from providing any seconding votes on January 6th to contest state elector results. Seven of them tossed him double barrel birds. His Senators have voted bipartisan with Democrats on some of Biden’s agenda, and Rick Scott challenged McConnel for leadership for the first time in McConnell’s career. And now he’s going to find a way to put his Cornish Pixies back in their cage?

And when it comes to the Squeaker Cavein McCarthy House and discipline, fuggedaboudit! Infantile behavior in the GOP House caucus isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. The perfect example of that is misfit toy George Santos. If you can’t discipline an ass clown so offensive that a background check company actually has ad ad featuring his face, and saying Don’t Get Santos’d, who can you discipline? Besides, the GOP House isn’t a functioning caucus. They are totally committed to performance art specializing in victimhood and culture wars. How do you administer discipline when discipline is directly antithetical to your preferred conduct?

I suppose it’s a positive step on the road to recovery for GOP leadership to at least admit that there’s a problem. But just admitting to a problem without creating a plan of action to deal with it is like waking up in a doorway, looking into your soul and saying, God, I’m a drunk!, and then stumbling off to a bar to console yourself. And while they’re admitting the problem, I didn’t see anything in the article about proposed meetings to come up with a solution. Carry on, boys.