The House GOP Is Stupid And Self Destructive. Even When It Doesn’t Have To Be

As I’ve said previously, I have nothing even close to sympathy for the gutless, sniveling little toady that goes by Kreepy Kevin. But as time goes by, I get a better idea of why McCarthy says and does some of the contradictory shit he does. He’s responding to the insane deals he made to become Speaker by trying to wear 10 different hats at once.

Some of this insanity he had to know was coming, like the moronic statements and goals of the kangaroo kourt kommittees that are spring up like toadstools in a swamp. That was part of the package, and he knew it when he bought it. Besides, he can always hide behind, Don’t look at me, the Chairs run their committees. Go talk to them.

But his caucus’s insistence in pulling lame, stupid, unplanned shit has to be driving him up the wall, and good! For instance, how about a subcommittee chair who wants to start every meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, even though the entire House starts every session with it. This allowed Democrat David Cicilline to go off, including a flat-out statement that Insurrectionists like MTG and white supremacists like Paul Gosar shouldn’t be allowed to lead a field trip to the bathroom. And he sure as hell didn’t need the aforementioned Machine Gun Marjie holding a committee meeting rant, and screeching that traitor Ashley Babbitt was actually a murder victim at the hands of a vigilante cop. McCarthy wants J6 to disappear.

But now the needless self destruction has gone into full bore Animaniacs stupid time. And of course if it’s full bore stupid time, George Santos can’t be far off. Yesterday Santos and another numbskulled GOP freshman were spotted parading around the Capitol, with a silver pin silhouette pin of an AR-15 proudly worn on their lapels, right below their congressional pins. Somehow or other I don’t think that this was what McCarthy meant when he told Santos to Shut up and keep a low profile!

What new hell is this? In a country horrified by mass murders, who in the hell wants to wander around the halls of congress wearing the very symbol of mass murder on their lapels, like some kind of a secret club magic decoder ring that a kindergartner gets out of a cereal box?!

But it’s far more dangerous for McCarthy, and his razor thin majority than just optics. And for two reasons. Now that a couple of these chuckleheads are wearing them, the pressure is going to be on for the rest of the members to wear them to show sly solidarity behind the beleaguered NRA. Which is a terrible idea for the GOP, since for the last three election cycles, ever since Parkland, and only growing with Uvalde, GOP House incumbents with A or A+ NRA ratings are now officially on the endangered species list. Incumbents in more traditional, conservative urban border districts are unlikely to make that kind of a fashion statement.

Here’s the second reason. the real reason that McCarthy has the puny majority in the House he has today wasn’t the gerrymandered seats in New York and Florida. In my mind, it’s the 23-26 swing district seats that the GOP won back in 2020, when white suburban, largely women voters went home on the lower ballot and spanked Trump instead. The vast majority of them retained those seats in 2022.

But they live on a razors edge, and they know it. Their constituents elected them to get shit done, not dick around with politics. And considering the current trajectory of the monkey island GOP House, they aren’t going to have jack diddly to boast about to their voters when they go back home. The last thing they need at town halls and meet-and-greets is pointed questions from white suburban moms sending kids to school every day with Kevlar backpacks, why so many of their compatriots are paying fashion homage to the NRA and the weapon that’s killing their children, and exactly where they stand on that issue? Placating the moderates will only turn off whatever MAGA base they have in the district. And you know that the Democrats will hammer on it.

Here’s a Friday bonus cherry on top. I mentioned above that the last three cycles, 2018-2022 have been an unmitigated disaster for pro NRA House incumbents. For one good reason. Ever since Parkland, the fastest growing voting bloc in the US is the 18-24 group that became energized by Parkland. They’re largely motivated by two major issues, guns and global warming, and they’re breaking hard for the Democrats. Tragically there will be more school shootings before election day in November of 2024, by which time some estimated 3.5 million new voters will turn 18.

And the Democrats will be right there to welcome them home. Today was the traditional “travel day” for House members, but that didn’t stop several Democratic House members from making several very pointed comments, and asking several very pointed questions. If the House GOP continues to be arrogant idiots, we’ll see how the hammer falls next week when they get back. Gee. Think President Biden might mention it in passing at the SOTU? Don’t touch that dial.