Lord Liaden Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 One political commentator I follow asserts that many in the GOP are operating under the delusion that numerous Likes and Shares on social media translate to widespread voter support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 2nd verse (today), same as the first.... Well, not quite. One vote switched in McCarthy's favor. They're going to adjourn now until this evening, hoping to get a couple absent members back, who'll vote the desired way, and to try to convince a couple of the holdouts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Clonus said: This would be amusing, if there were any real unity among Democrats. In the absence of a powerful Republican threat, Democrats almost invariably fall to vicious attacks against other Democrats who aren't as enlightened (or aren't enlightened in exactly the same way) as they are. Iuz the Evil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 I'd give a dollar to see that! Matt Gaetz says he'll resign from Congress if the Democratic Party changes tack and elects a moderate Republican for speaker From Gaetz: Quote "If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise. I'm a Florida man and I know of what I speak." Heh. Florida Man, indeed. assault and Lord Liaden 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 6, 2023 Report Share Posted January 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Pariah said: This would be amusing, if there were any real unity among Democrats. In the absence of a powerful Republican threat, Democrats almost invariably fall to vicious attacks against other Democrats who aren't as enlightened (or aren't enlightened in exactly the same way) as they are. The minority party is easily united. The majority party is easily fractured. Pariah and Iuz the Evil 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 And I thought that last year's mess with the Conservative Party was bad. The Republican Party did not need to one up it. assault 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, death tribble said: And I thought that last year's mess with the Conservative Party was bad. The Republican Party did not need to one up it. Just wait. The "one person recall" floor rule, for the Speaker's position, means this farce will almost certainly get a LOT worse. When you have a faction whose goal is publicity, visibility, and is desperately seeking empowerment? The ability to force a vote of no confidence is all well and good...but not when you have a faction that views disruption as desirable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 House is back in session. The forms are underway; right now it's the nominating speech for McCarthy. There'll be one for Jeffries; that's pro forma. The interesting moment is if one of the holdouts puts forth a nomination...be it Trump or one of their little squad. EDIT: nasty barb tossed out during the Jeffries nomination speech. The last line: "For justice and truth, and for the lives lost on Jan. 6th, I nominate Hakeem Jeffries." No one else got nominated. EDIT 2: Biggs votes Jordan. Boebert votes PRESENT. That means, unless she changes it, the total number of cast votes, and thus the threshold, changes. That's a huge change. EDIT 3: Crane and Good vote against McCarthy, so that's 3 of the 6. Gaetz does not respond. I suspect he's gonna grandstand, because the vote could come down to him. I think it's that close. Iuz the Evil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 It looks like the final count is 216, with 2 voting Present...Gaetz was the second, on the second round. McCarthy falls 1 short. That's how ugly this session is gonna be, they're going to have to go at least one more round. Thing is, I don't see where that vote might come from, just from what I've seen in the last couple days. That said, the farce ends if one of the 4 who voted against him, switches simply to Present, as long as Gaetz and Boebert stay there. Then it becomes 431 actively voting, and so only 216 needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Sigh. Said earlier I didn't think it'd get done before the weekend. Motion to adjourn was just made. It's going to a vote, following the pattern of the last few, but they've passed in the end. The adjournment is until Monday noon, if it passes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Does anyone know of any surveys of how all this is playing among Republican voters? How they're reacting to the farce? I have noticed that Fox is coming down hard on the GOP for how they're screwing up. Hardest on the Trumpist faction, but McCarthy is getting kicked too, and none of the party are receiving any praise AFAICT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 The circus has hit a new low. As the 15 minute clock was running out, it looked like the votes were NOT there. So there was a brief flurry, if I'm reading the stream right, of Republicans going from Yea to Nay, on the adjournment...led by McCarthy. It's now under 200 votes to adjourn, with a BIG shift. The floor is in chaos. EDIT: stayed in chaos. The vote result usually gets announced quickly, when it's an electronic one, but this time there's been a ton of manual changes. It matters to get it right for purposes of the Congressional Record. There were around 60 switches. It looks like the next nominating speech is getting set up. LL: to your question, I suspect it's too early to get polling on the question...and there's likely to be changes from Tuesday or Wednesday and now. For the worse. Bloomberg runs right too, and they were also bemoaning the farce. Slate, of course, was highly critical. McCarthy's nomination wasn't a speech, just a short announcement. THANKFULLY. Jeffries' nomination...unfortunately...has a speech. Hopefully short....well, not very. 40 more minutes or so, IIRC. We may know sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Biggs votes PRESENT. Boebert votes PRESENT. If Gaetz remains with PRESENT, that's enough. 216 is the number to win at that point. EDIT: Crane votes PRESENT. As long as no cast votes change, it's over. EDIT 2: Gaetz and Good vote PRESENT. I'm figuring Rosendale probably will too, but it doesn't matter. McCarthy has it by a couple votes now. 434, minus 5 so far, means 215 to win the vote. And it didn't happen until the weekend.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 And the final cross-check and tally verification takes...rather less time, this time around. Been thinking that it was deliberately being slowed when the votes failed. Why do they need several DOZEN people to escort McCarthy to the speaker's chair? Cripes... EDIT: the 6 holdouts somehow, I believe, failed to make the list.........hmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Pariah, Ternaugh and unclevlad 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ternaugh Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Kevin McCarthy worked so hard to get Speaker, and all I could think of was a quote from Spock in the old Star Trek episode, "Amok Time": Quote After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true. Lord Liaden, Hermit and unclevlad 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Several columnists have opined that he's gotten himself basically a position that will have no real power...and no real responsibility for what happens. I think he wants the status and title, and doesn't understand the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 What is the old bit from Douglas Adams? Something about how nobody who actually wants to be the President should, under any circumstances, be allowed to do the job? Maybe we're looking at the same thing here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cygnia Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 DShomshak 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, unclevlad said: Several columnists have opined that he's gotten himself basically a position that will have no real power...and no real responsibility for what happens. I think he wants the status and title, and doesn't understand the job. Or he does understand the job, but doesn't want any of the responsibility. Wouldn't it be something if this farcical outcome is what McCarthy was after all along? archer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 Hermit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 At this point, I think Trump makes a better figurehead to invoke...or bogeyman to curse. If it takes 15 ballots to accept his choice, if his most ardent (or at least loudest) supporters are the only opposition...how can he be said to wield real influence? I wonder how long it'll be before the first motion to vacate the chair...remove the Speaker and force a new election. Should that happen, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Dems vote No. The political damage the Reps would do to themselves by invoking this on themselves, doesn't justify another round of the chaos we just went through. That said...anyone care to guess when the first one kicks in? I'll toss out Labor Day. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3803823-alex-jones-attorney-suspended-for-sharing-sandy-hook-families-medical-records/ I think the lawyer got off light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted January 7, 2023 Report Share Posted January 7, 2023 1 hour ago, Lord Liaden said: Or he does understand the job, but doesn't want any of the responsibility. Wouldn't it be something if this farcical outcome is what McCarthy was after all along? You are ascribing to McCarthy levels of cunning and foresight that honestly I don't associate with the modern GOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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