Today's Ryan

You don't have to put the politician on the payroll. In fact, you don't want to do that because the risk outweighs the payoff.

You can pay lobbying firms to nag the congress critters, but that can get crazy stupid expensive.

So what you do is go with a social media campaign, aimed at getting a politician's constituents to pressure the politician for you.

(We're probably seeing a version of that at work with the Gaza protests, BTW)

Moskowitz Strikes Again

Another'n Bites It

218 Republicans minus Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher = 216

213 Democrats plus two Republicans willing to vote with them = 215-to-214 and Dems win

Rep. Mike Gallagher announces he’ll resign in April, further narrowing House GOP majority

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) announced Friday he will resign effective April 19, further narrowing Republicans’ already razor-thin House majority.

Gallagher, who had already announced he would not seek reelection this year, said he made the decision to resign after conversations with his family. He currently chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

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“I’ve worked closely with House Republican leadership on this timeline and look forward to seeing Speaker [Mike] Johnson appoint a new chair to carry out the important mission of” the committee, Gallagher said in a statement.

Republicans currently have a five-seat majority after Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) resigned Friday, leaving the House earlier than he initially anticipated because he found his majority to be unproductive.

Gallagher has represented Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District since 2017.

He announced in February he would not run for another term, saying in a statement that “electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old.”

A Letter

... to the editors at WaPo, from Alan Guttman in Hampton VA:

Opinion

The border bill shows the House is political theater

Regarding the Feb. 5 front-page article “Senate reveals border package”:

While Republican senators continue to work with their Democratic counterparts and President Biden to hammer out legislation to address issues around immigration and border security, more and more House Republicans are jumping on board former president Donald Trump’s ark toward injustice.

The convening of the House Homeland Security Committee to take up articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, along with the announcement from House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that a proposed Senate bill on immigration and border security would be “dead on arrival” in the House, is not political theater; it is insidious reality. These actions signal that many House Republicans have now chosen to follow the dictates of a U.S. citizen charged with 91 felonies rather than work with Mr. Biden, the only person who can sign their bills into law.

The former president’s harmful actions and inaction on Jan. 6, 2021, continue to fester within the same legislative body that was attacked on that day three years ago. Rather than doing his job and addressing the crisis at our southern border, Mr. Johnson has made clear his plans to essentially hold the House and the American people hostage at least until after the November election.

Mike Johnson is the latest in a string of malignantly incompetent GOP Speakers. And I lump him in with John Boehner and Paul Ryan, who seemed at the time to be trying to bring some regular order to a House that was rapidly degenerating into the Big Fuckin Mess it is now, because I think they both knew where it was headed, but they didn't get up on their hind legs and call it out.

And I think they were unable or unwilling to publicly criticize the rabble (then the Tea Party and now MAGA) because the establishment plutocrats were telling them to let it go, thinking the rubes were doing the work, and the fat cats would reap the rewards.

Even though more people are starting to recognize the danger, we could see the end of American democracy unless these next few election cycles go to the Blue side in a big way.

There's likely a thought that Trump has given us a taste of how bad the bad cop can be, and now it's time to send in the good cop - Nikki Haley.

Project Plutocracy is still on. Don't get cocky and start thinking it's all good, and we can go back to ignoring everything but our hobbies, funny animal videos, and our crazy friends on Instagram.

Democracy is not something we have

if it's not something we do

Bye, George

State of the GOP:
105 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to expel George Santos and his 23 criminal charges. Can’t blame Dems for that!
All 105 Republicans will vote for Trump and his 92 criminal charges. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏽‍♀️
DIVA DOWN. Traitors to go.pic.twitter.com/naKOX27F2U

— BigBlueWaveUSA® 🇺🇸🌊🇺🇦 (@BigBlueWaveUSA) December 1, 2023

Fight!

"He's a bully with 17 million dollars and a security detail."

"He's the type of guy that, when you were a kid, he'd throw a rock over the fence and run home and hide behind his mama's skirt." 

Stay with it to hear how the NPR lady reported it.

And then some jagoff MAGA dick in the Senate decided he wanted to go a few rounds with a witness in committee.

These idiots are not worth the bucket of piss it'd take to drown 'em.

Due Process

George Santos is a total scumbag grifter, who should be breaking rocks at a federal lockup.

He was up for expulsion from the House, but he eked it out. Most of his GOP "buddies" voted to give him the boot, but a buncha Dems voted against the resolution because he's not stood trial, and he's not been convicted of anything.

So he wrote letters to the guys who "supported" him.

Jamie Raskin (D-MD08) marked it up and sent it back to him.

"Dear Congressman Santos:

I appreciate your note and only wish someone had proofread it first.

Meantime, you should apologize to the people of New York for all of your lies and deceit.

I know you must have thought you could get away with it all in the party of Trump, but the truth is resilient."

Buck Bows Out

Ken Buck is a card-carrying member of the Freedom Caucus in the US House of Representatives. Unfortunately - for him - he's not down with "The election was stolen from Trump" or "Let's impeach Biden".

So he won't stand for re-election. Which opens a primary to give Colorado voters a shot at picking a Republican who isn't totally bat-shit crazy - which is exactly what would happen if he stayed in it. Voters could choose a semi-nutty Buck instead of some rabid MAGA dingleberry. So I don't know how to read this at all.

Somebody tell me: What the fuck's the difference here?

Congressman Ken Buck won’t run for reelection in 2024, citing GOP’s embrace of election conspiracies

Buck, who was first elected to the House in 2014, cited Republicans’ embrace of election conspiracies as part of his reason for leaving Congress

U.S. Rep. Ken Buck announced Wednesday that he won’t run for reelection to a sixth term in 2024, citing the GOP’s embrace of election conspiracies and Congress’ inability to get work done.

The Windsor Republican’s decision, first announced on MSNBC, is certain to set off a fierce race to replace him in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, a highly conservative part of the state that spans across the Eastern Plains into Castle Rock.

“I have decided that it is time for me to do some other things,” Buck, 64, told reporter Andrea Mitchell on her show Wednesday. “I have always been disappointed with our inability in Congress to deal with major issues and I’m also disappointed that the Republican Party continues to rely on this lie that the 2020 election was stolen.”

He added: “If we’re going to solve some difficult problems we’ve got to deal with some very unpleasant lies.”

In a video posted to his YouTube page, Buck, who was first elected to the House in 2014, thanked his constituents for their support “as we have fought against the left’s policies that have had real world consequences.”

“Our nation is on a collision course with reality,” Buck said. “A steadfast commitment to truth, even uncomfortable truths, is the only way forward. Too many Republican leaders are lying to America claiming that the 2020 election was stolen, describing Jan. 6 as an unguided tour of the Capitol, and asserting that the ensuing prosecutions are a weaponization of our justice system. These insidious narratives read widespread cynicism and erode Americans confidence in the rule of law.”

Buck said “it is impossible for the Republican Party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”

The congressman’s announcement wasn’t exactly shocking news. He has been raising eyebrows and drawing conservatives’ ire for months for making the rounds on TV news shows to criticize fellow Republicans, including over the House GOP’s pursuit of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Buck also voted against U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan’s bid to become speaker, citing the Ohio Republican’s participation in efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. But Buck then backed Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to lead the House, despite the Louisiana Republican’s leading role in objecting to the 2020 results.

The difference between Jordan and Johnson, Buck told CNN, is that Jordan “did a number of things that were election denialism in their highest degree,” including texting White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows a legal theory on how Congress could block Biden’s win and talking to President Donald Trump during the Jan. 6 riot.

“Jim Jordan was involved in much of the post-election activity,” Buck said. “Mike Johnson was not. (Johnson) voted to decertify (the election results), absolutely. That wasn’t my vote, but we need to move forward. We have some important business.”

Buck added that it wasn’t OK for Johnson to vote to decertify the 2020 presidential election results, but “we’re at a point now where we need to move forward and make sure the government stays open — that we fund Israel, we fund Ukraine, we fund the border efforts. And that’s going to take a human being in that speaker position. Not a perfect human being, but a Mike Johnson, who has done his very best to move issues forward and is a really good person.”

Buck has been a staple in Colorado’s Republican politics for decades.

Buck was elected Weld County’s district attorney in 2004. He went on to be the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010, running unsuccessfully against Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who was appointed to the seat in 2009.

He lost by nearly 30,000 votes in a year when Republicans took over both the U.S. House and Senate. Some attributed Buck’s narrow loss to his handling of a rape case as district attorney.

In 2013, Buck initiated another run for U.S. Senate but dropped out of the contest when Republican U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner entered the contest, running instead for Gardner’s seat. Buck was then elected to the House in 2014 and served as Colorado Republican Party chairman in 2019 and 2020.

But Buck’s long tenure in the upper echelons of the state’s Republican ranks have not made him immune from criticism as of late. The Colorado GOP, now under the leadership of Dave Williams, a 2020 election denier, has blasted Buck for his opposition to Jordan’s speakership bid and unwillingness to go along with he impeachment inquiry.

The congressman also said he received death threats and was being evicted from his office, owned by a major GOP donor, for refusing to back Jordan.

Buck is leaving Congress at a time when other Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, of Utah, are opting against reelection, too, because of election conspiracies.

Buck said his departure from the House, however, won’t be his departure from politics.

“I’m not going to be leaving the party and I’m not going to be leaving my role in trying to talk truth to the public,” Buck told Andrea Mitchell.

Among the Republicans rumored to be interested in running for Buck’s seat are

• State Rep. Richard Holtorf, R-Akron
• Heidi Ganahl, a former CU regent who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022
• Deb Flora, a conservative talk radio host and failed 2022 U.S. senate candidate
• Former Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown
• Former 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler
• Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, who is now a Logan County commissioner
• Former Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville of Castle Rock

Buck beat Democrat Ike McCorkle by 24 percentage points in 2022.

Why Are We So Cynical?

Because every time we try not to do that sweeping generalization thing (ie: "all Republicans are phonies and crooks"), another one turns out to be a phony and a crook.

It's getting to be unavoidable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson was once the dean of a Christian law school.
It never opened its doors

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before House Speaker Mike Johnson was elected to public office, he was the dean of a small Baptist law school that didn’t exist.

The establishment of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law was supposed to be a capstone achievement for Louisiana College, which administrators boasted would “unashamedly embrace” a “biblical worldview.” Instead, it collapsed roughly a decade ago without enrolling students or opening its doors amid infighting by officials, accusations of financial impropriety and difficulty obtaining accreditation, which frightened away would-be donors.

There is no indication that Johnson engaged in wrongdoing while employed by the private college, now known as Louisiana Christian University. But as a virtually unknown player in Washington, the episode offers insight into how Johnson navigated leadership challenges that echo the chaos, feuding and hard-right politics that have come to define the Republican House majority he now leads.

The chapter is just the latest to surface since the four-term congressman’s improbable election as speaker last week following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a reminder of his longstanding ties to the Christian right, which is now a dominant force in GOP politics.

Johnson’s office declined to make him available for an interview and did not offer comment for this story.

“The law school deal was really an anomaly,” said Gene Mills, a longtime friend of Johnson’s. “It was a great idea. But due to issues that were out of Mike’s hands that came unraveled.”

J. Michael Johnson Esq., as he was then known professionally, was hired in 2010 to be the “inaugural dean” of the Judge Paul Pressler School of Law, named for a Southern Baptist Convention luminary who was instrumental in the faith group’s turn to the political right in the 1980s. The board of trustees who brought Johnson onboard included Tony Perkins, a longtime mentor who is now the president of the Family Research Council in Washington, a powerhouse Christian lobbying organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as an anti-gay “hate group.”

In early public remarks, Johnson predicted a bright future for the school, and college officials hoped it would someday rival the law school at Liberty University, the evangelical institution founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

“From a pure feasibility standpoint,” Johnson said, “I’m not sure how this can fail.” According to the Daily Town Talk, a newspaper in Alexandria, Louisiana, he added that it looked “like the perfect storm for our law school.”

Reality soon intruded.

For several years before Johnson’s arrival, the college had been in a state of turmoil following a board takeover by conservatives who felt the school had become too liberal. They implemented policies that restricted academic freedoms, including the potential firing of instructors whose curriculum touched upon sexual morality or teachings contradictory to the Bible.

The school’s president and other faculty resigned, and the college was placed on probation by an accreditation agency.

But a shale oil boom in the area also brought a wave of prosperity from newly enriched donors. And school officials, led by president Joe Aguillard, had grand ambitions beyond just the law school, which included opening a medical school, a film school and making a movie adaptation of the 1960s pastoral comedy TV show “Green Acres.”

Bringing Johnson into the school’s leadership helped further those ambitions. As dean of the proposed law school, Johnson embarked on a major fundraising campaign and described a big-dollar event in Houston with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, then-Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Pressler, according to an account Johnson wrote in a 2011 alumni magazine.

But he struggled to draw an adequate amount of cash while drama percolated behind the scenes. That culminated in a flurry of lawsuits, including a whistleblower claim by a school vice president, who accused Aguillard of misappropriating money and lying to the board, according to court records.

A law firm brought in to conduct an investigation later concluded in a 2013 report that Aguillard had inappropriately diverted funds to a school the institution hoped to build in Africa, as well as for personal expenses.

Aguillard declined to comment on Tuesday, citing health reasons.

Meanwhile, the historic former federal courthouse in Shreveport that was selected as the law school’s campus required at least $20 million in renovations. The environment turned untenable after the school was denied accreditation to issue juris doctorate degrees and major donors backed away from their financial pledges.

“Mike worked diligently to assemble a very elite faculty and curriculum,” said Gilbert Little, who was involved in the effort. But “fundraising for a small private college is very, very difficult.”

Johnson resigned in the fall of 2012 and went back to litigating for Christian causes. He also started a new pro-bono firm, Freedom Guard, which Perkins served as a director, business filings show.

Five years later, Pressler, the school’s namesake, was sued in a civil case that has since grown to include allegations of abuse by multiple men who say he sexually assaulted them, some when they were children. The matter, which is still pending in court, helped spark a broader reckoning by the Southern Baptist Convention over its handling of claims of sexual abuse.

Little said the school was named after Pressler because he had a close relationship with the institution’s leaders. Johnson didn’t stray entirely from the school. He represented the college for six more years in a case challenging a mandate in then-President Barack Obama’s health care law that required employers to provide workers access to birth control, court records show.

It was the type of case that has defined his legal career.

The 51-year-old Johnson was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the eldest of four children in what he has described as a “traditional Christian household.” Tragedy struck when Johnson was 12.

His father, Pat, a Shreveport firefighter and hazardous materials specialist, was critically injured when ammonia gas leaking inside a cold storage facility exploded during an emergency repair — leaving him permanently disabled, while killing his partner.

“None of our lives would ever be the same again,” his son wrote years later in a commentary piece published in the Shreveport Times.

Johnson and his wife, Kelly, married in 1999, entering into a covenant marriage, which both have touted for the difficulty it poses to obtaining a divorce, and the couple served as a public face of an effort by evangelical conservatives to promote such marriages. In 2005, Kelly Johnson told ABC News that she viewed anything less as “marriage-light.”

Johnson has said he was the first in his family to graduate college, enrolling at Louisiana State University, where he earned a law degree in 1998. He also worked on the 1996 Senate campaign of Louis “Woody” Jenkins, where he had an early brush with a contested election.

Jenkins, a conservative state lawmaker, narrowly lost to Democrat Mary Landrieu amid allegations of voter fraud, including ballots cast by dead people and voters who were paid. A subsequent investigation by the Senate’s then-Republican majority found no evidence “to prove that fraud or irregularities affected the outcome of the election.”

But in the wake of Trump’s 2020 election loss, which Johnson played a leading role in disputing, the congressman offered a differing view of the decades-old contest while describing himself as a young law student “carrying around everyone’s briefcases.”

“Even though we had all the evidence all wrapped up,” Johnson, told Louisiana radio host Moon Griffon in 2020, the Senate “put it in a closet and never looked at it again.”

Even though Jenkins lost, Johnson drew notice from conservative activists who worked on the campaign.

Among them was Perkins, the founder of the Louisiana Family Forum, who has long promoted an existential clash between pious Christians and decadent liberals. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Mills, a longtime Perkins confidant who now leads the Louisiana Family Forum, called Johnson’s ascension to House speaker “a wonderful day in America,” adding, “if you don’t believe God is at work in the midst of this, then you aren’t paying attention.”

Of his initial interactions with Johnson, Mills said, “he just glowed.“

“The reality is Mike added value everywhere he went. And that was evident from the early days,” Mills said.

Soon Johnson was representing the group and others during his roughly decade-long tenure as an attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit legal organization still in its infancy, which presented itself as a bulwark for traditional family values.

The group is no longer an upstart. Now known as the Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF, the organization raised over $100 million in 2022 and conceived the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court last year overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, among other conservative wins it helped secure from the high court.

Much of Johnson’s early work for ADF was far more prosaic. In court and before public boards, he represented conservatives on issues related to the exercise of faith in schools and alcohol regulations, as well as zoning disputes over casinos and strip clubs.

But Johnson’s vehement opposition to the burgeoning gay rights movement in the mid-2000s soon garnered greater attention.

In 2004, Johnson and the ADF filed suit, seeking to overturn a New Orleans law that allowed same-sex partners of city workers to receive health benefits, which a judge rejected.

He also wrote a semi-regular guest column in the Shreveport Times, where his defenses of “religious liberty” included stridently anti-gay rhetoric, including a prediction that same-sex marriage would be a “dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy that could doom even the strongest republic.”

“If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles and others will be next in line to claim equal protection,” he wrote in a July 2004 column, as previously reported by CNN. “There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet.”

Another column lamented the Supreme Court’s decision in 2004 to overturn a Texas law that outlawed same-sex intimacy, which Johnson referred to as “deviate sexual intercourse.”

His advocacy did not occur in a political vacuum. Then-President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign was looking to energize turnout among social conservatives, tapping allies across the U.S. to place referendums opposing gay marriage on the ballot in hopes of doing so. It’s a role Johnson leaned into.

In 2004, he represented the Louisiana Family Forum in opposing a case filed by gay rights supporters who sought to block a voter-approved state constitutional amendment that prohibited “civil unions” — a legal precursor to same-sex marriage — and codified marriage as between one man and one woman.

The amendment was overwhelmingly approved in an unusual and low-turnout election, held weeks before the 2004 presidential contest, in which it was the only issue on the ballot. The election was marred by the late delivery of voting machines to the Democratic stronghold of Orleans Parish.

In a legal brief, Johnson chided gay rights supporters for challenging the outcome in court.

“Discontent with an election’s results does not entitle one to have it overturned,” he wrote. Nearly two decades later, Johnson, then in Trump’s corner, would effectively argue the opposite.

Johnson’s harsh rhetoric in the early 2000s surrounding the issue of gay rights contrasts starkly with the amiable image he cultivated following his election to public office, which is punctuated with appeals for “a respectful, diverse society where citizens from all viewpoints can peacefully coexist.”

Yet his arguments often obscure a far more striking reality.

The Marriage and Conscience Act, which he sponsored as a freshman state representative in 2015, would have effectively blocked Louisiana from punishing business owners and workers who discriminated against gay couples, so long as it was for religious reasons — similar to arguments invoked during the Civil Rights era against interracial marriage. The bill was rejected by lawmakers in both parties.

The following year, critics charged that his “Pastor Protection Act,” which was focused on gay marriage, would also create a legal defense for clergy who opposed interracial marriage. Johnson, who has an adopted Black son, acknowledged the point but argued it wasn’t a big deal because opposition to interracial marriage was an issue of the past — unlike gay marriage.

“Maybe there are some people out there who do that. But it’s not a big current issue, I think we would agree, at least in the courts and the court of public opinion,” Johnson said during a 2016 committee hearing.

The bill was rejected by lawmakers in both parties. Johnson was elected to Congress the next fall, drawing his short tenure as a lawmaker in Baton Rouge to a close.

Lamar White Jr., a progressive who wrote a widely read Louisiana political blog, said his interactions with Johnson were always pleasant, even if he “disagreed with everything he stood for.”

“His climb to the top is not surprising considering his personal charm, his charisma and intellect, which were disarming,” said White. “That obscured the end goal and what he was really up to.”

Make 'Em Pay

House Speaker Mike Johnson is no friend of American democracy.

Oh, Mr Jordan

Jim Jordan lost again - 3rd time's the charm I guess. And his losing margin got three votes bigger - so he quit the race.

House Republicans retreated into private caucus for an hour or so, where they voted by secret ballot, and Jordan was ... uhm ... de-selected as the Speaker candidate.

86 said, "Yeah, Jim - you're our guy."

112 said, "Fuck off, Jim."

It's interesting that out of those 112 who voted NO in secret, only 25 of them had the balls to vote that way on a roll call vote, on the floor of the House, where they have to say it out loud.

A couple of things to remember.

1. The MAGA strong-arm tactics got even uglier than they usually are - loud and aggressive harassment of members, and their staffers, and their families, up to and including outright death threats. But it backfired, making more people less likely to support Jordan. I'm not feeling all warm-n-fuzzy about maybe this is some kind of turning of the worm, but I may be able to hold out a bit more hope. (as always - hopeful but not yet optimistic)
2. I haven't seen anything in this yet to dissuade me from my belief that Republicans are deliberately causing dysfunction.

Oh yeah - almost forgot. Apparently god got it wrong (?)

Another Mitch Glitch

Some of the wiring in Mitch McConnell's brain has gone a little kerflooey.

I imagine you've already seen the video and heard the reports, but this is the era of piling on, so here it is again. He goes off the air for a good 20 seconds, and then kinda reboots enough to continue.

That death grip on the podium seems a bit metaphorical - McConnell desperately holding on to something he thinks will shield him from the humiliation he continually brings on himself.

About a month ago:

I think the interesting angle here is not just that Mitch is having some really alarming episodes, but that the Democratic governor of Kentucky would appoint a replacement Senator if McConnell can't serve out his term, and the Republican legislature has put through a bill requiring the governor to appoint a replacement of the same party as the departing Senator - from a list of candidates proffered by the Kentucky GOP.

So what if Gov Beshear ignores that requirement, appoints a Democrat, and tests it out in the courts, arguing Separation Of Powers?

That's of particular interest for me because the Republicans have been chipping away at the Checks-n-Balances thing for decades, starting at least as far back as Reagan, with the cockamamie "theory of the unitary executive".

The general principle that the President controls the entire executive branch was originally rather innocuous, but extreme forms of the theory have developed. Former White House Counsel John Dean explains: "In its most extreme form, unitary executive theory can mean that neither Congress nor the federal courts can tell the President what to do or how to do it, particularly regarding national security matters."

According to law professors Lawrence Lessig and Cass Sunstein, "No one denies that in some sense the framers created a unitary executive; the question is in what sense. Let us distinguish between a strong and a weak version." In either its strong or weak form, the theory would limit the power of Congress to divest the President of control of the executive branch. The "strongly unitary" theory posits stricter limits on Congress than the "weakly unitary" theory. During his confirmation hearing to become an Associate Justice on the United States Supreme Court, Samuel Alito seemed to endorse a weaker version of the unitary executive theory.

Alito's seemingly obvious self-interest in preserving his own power not withstanding (the guy did lie his ass off during his confirmation, dontcha know), the GOP position is largely that the Legislative Branch can't really interfere with the Executive's power to run the government. Which is pretty interesting because the Kentucky legislature is trying to do exactly that.

And that contradiction is just too perfectly on-brand for these asshole Daddy State Republicans.

You Little Bitch

Marj and Bobo got after it pretty good on the House floor. No ripped pantyhose or hair-pulling or busted glasses though.

It doesn't look like much, but people within earshot have said it was pretty nasty.

It remains to be seen, of course, if the followers of either one will attack the other - rhetorically or bodily or whatever.

We might also look forward to a time when the "grownups" in GOP Leadership step up and try to tell these idiots they're doing harm to their own ambitions, and they ... nah, never mind.

But wait - what's this? Kevin McCarthy speaks.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is urging House Republicans to vote against a proposal from Representative Lauren Boebert this week.

Republicans have long made their dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden known, with some advocating for impeachment. Earlier this year, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced articles of impeachment, but Boebert took the threat a step further and introduced the articles of impeachment against Biden in a strategic way that would force a floor vote.

Some Republican officials expect the motion to worsen relationships in the Republican Party, and McCarthy is asking the legislators to vote down the proposal when it reaches the House floor.

Boebert announced the motion on Twitter on Tuesday, citing Biden's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border as the reason behind the articles of impeachment.

"The American people can no longer be subjected to a President who refuses to secure our borders. His open border agenda has put every American at greater risk, allowed human traffickers to thrive and given the cartel a free pass. He is not fit to remain as Commander in Chief," she tweeted.

But McCartney advised his party to vote against Boebert's proposal, urging them to bide their time and wait for the right moment before impeaching Biden.

According to a tweet from Punch Bowl News founder Jake Sherman, McCarthy suggested that by voting in favor of Boebert's proposal, House Republicans could lose the majority they just fought so hard to win. He reminded his colleagues that Republicans have taken back the House only five times in the past century: 1946, 1952, 1994, 2010 and 2022.
"But the first 2 times, we lost it right away the next cycle. The second two times we held it for 12 and 8 years," he said, according to the tweet. "What majority do we want to be? Give it right back in 2 years or hold it for a decade and make real change. How are we going to censure [Representative] Adam Schiff for abusing his position to lie and force an impeachment and then turn around and do it ourselves the next day?"

Uh - 'scuse me, Kev - when did you start getting all ookie about Republicans looking like a buncha fuckin' hypocrites?

McCarthy reminded House Republicans that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is already investigating Biden, and if the investigation leads to articles of impeachment, then the House should vote to impeach.

Boebert's proposal also annoyed Greene, who allegedly called Boebert a "copycat" for offering a Biden impeachment resolution similar to the one she proposed, according to a tweet by CNN reporter Annie Grayer.

Boebert and Greene have disagreed in the past, such as when House Republicans finally voted in favor of McCarthy for speaker. McCarthy secured the position after 15 rounds of voting, with Greene voting in favor of McCarthy and Boebert voting against him.

Newsweek reported on Tuesday that one political science expert called Boebert's act a "political stunt, pure and simple."

"No one wants to be seen as sticking up for the White House or failing to go after the president. At the same time, they know that an impeachment vote is both substantively baseless and would backfire politically."

What does and doesn't amaze me is that people like Boebert and Greene seem to have no fucking clue how badly they're being manipulated by handlers and staffers who are puppeteering the fuck out of them - it's like they think they're actually smart enough and skilled enough to do this shit on their own.

High on their own supply.

Papa Got A Brand New Crush

TX-30

Jasmine Crockett is fire.

A Bit Of A Scuffle

Some Freedom Caucus congress critters were trying to do a little public gaslighting hold a press conference in DC when a guy named Jake Burdett - identified as a Medicare-4-All activist decided to disrupt it with some loud, combative questions.

Keep in mind, Burdett was just talking - not acting in a threatening manner - annoying to be sure, but in no way violent or dangerous. "Just asking questions".

So I don't know how exactly this kind of protesting should be done, but I do know that the Tea Party clowns in 2010 would show up at practically every gathering of Democrats and raise hell, shouting down any elected official who was trying to interact with their constituents.

And I know that no Democrat grabbed any protester and shoved him away from the proceedings.

I also know that the guy who is now Montana's governor assaulted a reporter in 2017 while campaigning for a seat in Congress:

Montana congressman-elect pleads guilty to assaulting a reporter

BOZEMAN, Mont., June 12 (Reuters) - A Montana congressman-elect pleaded guilty on Monday to a criminal charge of assaulting a reporter, and the Republican was ordered to perform community service and receive anger management training.

Greg Gianforte, a wealthy former technology executive who campaigned on his support for President Donald Trump, attacked a reporter on May 24, the day before he won a special election to fill Montana’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gallatin County Judge Rick West sentenced Gianforte to 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management classes.

The judge in Bozeman, Montana, also handed down a six-month deferred jail sentence, which Gianforte would avoid serving if he complies with the court’s orders.

Ben Jacobs, a political correspondent for the U.S. edition of The Guardian newspaper, said Gianforte “body-slammed” him, breaking his eyeglasses, when the reporter posed a question about healthcare during a campaign event in Bozeman.

- more -

GOP Rep. Clay Higgins Faces Calls for Arrest After Dispute With Activist

Social media users, including a retired U.S. Army general, are calling for Representative Clay Higgins to be arrested after a viral video shows the congressman physically removing an activist from a press conference.

A video of the altercation, which occurred during a news briefing on Wednesday with the Louisiana Republican and fellow GOP Representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, shows Higgins pushing activist Jake Burdett, age 25.

Higgins can be heard telling the Medicare activist, "You're out," as he physically moves Burdett, who yells, "Get off me," as the lawmaker pushes him.

Burdett, a Medicare supporter, told Newsweek that he was there by coincidence for a Medicare for All event at 2 p.m., which featured independent Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Pramila Jayapal. He said that after the rally ended, he saw some GOP lawmakers he recognized and decided to stay to ask questions. Some of the questions mocked the lawmakers, including those aimed at Boebert regarding her divorce.

"Despite Rep. Higgins being the one putting his hands on me, dragging me without my consent, the cops all sprung down on me," Burdett said to Newsweek via text message. "They let Rep. Higgins walk away without having a word with the guy, but then told me to go walk across the street to the sidewalk opposite us, so that they could question me about what happened."

Higgins, in a statement to Newsweek, said Burdett was "Threatening. He was escorted out and turned over to Capitol Police."

As Burdett shouted questions to Gosar and Boebert, Higgins asked him to stop. Burdett said he was removed while Boebert was speaking at the podium.

"Higgins seemingly appointed himself to be the bodyguard/security of the press conference, to violently crack down on activists like myself who may dare to ask his extremist buddies tough questions," Burdett said.

Burdett also posted about the ordeal on Twitter earlier Wednesday, sharing that he had been questioned by police, but not arrested after being removed by Higgins.

"I am currently being detained by DC Police for asking tough questions to far right extremist Congressmen @RepGosar and @laurenboebert at a press conference. Rep Clay Higgins proceeded to assault/physically remove me from the press conference. For this, the cops detained me, not him," he tweeted, following up with another post asking if any attorneys would be willing to help him pursue legal action against Higgins.

A Twitter user, whose post garnered thousands of comments and retweets, shared video of Burdett being physically removed by Higgins and questioned the lawmaker's behavior.

"RepClayHiggins pushing an activist for asking tough questions is supposed to be normal," she said, adding in another tweet that she is a friend of the activist in the video.

The clip quickly went viral Wednesday evening, with prominent figures weighing in as Higgins became a trending topic on Twitter.

Retired U.S. Army General Mark Hertling responded to a video clip of the incident, saying he once "fired a junior officer for assaulting a soldier" and called for Higgins to be charged.

"The issue is the subordinate has little recourse when assaulted," he said on Twitter. "Had this guy fought back, he certainly would have been charged for assaulting a congressman. This is BS and @RepClayHiggins should be charged."

Twitter user Jon Cooper echoed Hertling's calls for Higgins to face legal action over the recordings, which show Burdett saying that the congressman is hurting him.

"Why hasn't @RepClayHiggins been arrested for criminal assault or battery," he tweeted.

In a follow-up text, Burdett told Newsweek that he is "consulting with legal counsel" and will file charges if there are solid grounds to do so.

Fall Down Go Boom

Dear Mitch,

Get well soon. I can't really justify bad-mouthing a guy who's all stove in and laid up. I need you good and healthy so I can shit on your ugly malignant head with a clear conscience.

Your pal,

Mike

Mitch McConnell hospitalized after falling at hotel

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been hospitalized following a fall at a hotel in Washington, his spokesman said late Wednesday.

The 81-year-old senator was attending a private dinner at a local hotel when he tripped, spokesman David Popp said in a statement. “He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” he added, without providing any further details on his condition.

McConnell, who is serving his seventh six-year term in the Senate, became GOP leader in 2007. He has held the post for longer than any other Republican and for years has been among the most powerful elected officials in Washington.

He previously underwent surgery following a serious fall in August 2019, when he fractured his shoulder after tripping outside his Louisville home. The procedure kept him out of the public eye for weeks as he spent the congressional break recovering at home and undergoing physical therapy.

The senator, who overcame polio as a child, also has a history of heart issues and underwent triple bypass surgery in 2003, just after being promoted to the No. 2 Senate Republican post.

When pictures emerged in 2020 showing his hands bruised and bandaged, he downplayed interest in his health as media hype. As of December, the average age in the Senate was 64.

In November, McConnell was reelected Senate minority leader, overcoming the first challenge to his leadership following a disappointing performance for Republicans in the midterm elections. McConnell easily defeated Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on a 37-10 vote. The GOP infighting underscored that while McConnell has overwhelming support in his conference, he has lost key allies to retirement.

GOP hopes of capturing the Senate majority in a difficult year for President Biden and Democrats were dashed by ineffective and problematic candidates who had the backing of Donald Trump. McConnell blamed the former president, saying he “proved to be decisive” in the midterms’ outcome, highlighting the ongoing rift between the two men.

Trump is a frequent critic of McConnell, who accused the then-president of provoking the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump repeatedly has mocked McConnell’s wife, former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, and has made racist remarks about her.

This week, McConnell denounced the leadership of Fox News for airing Tucker Carlson’s vision of the assault on the Capitol, holding up a letter from U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger that said Carlson’s show was “filled with offensive and misleading conclusions.”

“It was a mistake, in my view, for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here in the Capitol thinks,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

The Senate has dealt with the absence of other lawmakers less than three months into the session. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the oldest senator at 89, was recently hospitalized for shingles and is recovering at home. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression nearly three weeks ago.

Punching Hard

More Mr Raskin if you please.

It'd be hard to find another congress critter who embodies the fighting spirit better than Jamie Raskin (D-MD08).

The guy's battling cancer, and he's still got plenty to dunk on clowns like Lauren Boebert.

More Ukraine

Majorities in both parties, and in both houses, support helping Ukraine.

A lot of the money allocated "for Ukraine" goes to US companies so they can ramp up production and replace the stocks we're sending them.

So when Repubs say "stop the funding", one very important thing they're saying is that they want Americans out of work. (at about 11:35)

I was slammed on Twitter for "warmongering", and I can admit there's an element of that in what I want to see happen, but I think it's very much outweighed by the need for everybody to stand up and fight the best they can.

I haven't changed my default position of wanting to defuse and de-escalate, because I don't like the kind of fight where people bleed and die.

But my dad did manage to instill a little Galahad in me, and sometimes, ya just gotta punch some joker right in the face to straighten him out.

Anyway -

Walter Isaacson interviews Julia Ioffe

GOP Newspeak

It should not surprise me anymore, but somehow I'm still jolted when I hear just how craven some of these GOP assholes are.

"It will be my objective to phase out Social Security - to pull it out by the roots and get rid of it." --Sen Mike Lee (R-UT) February 2010

Let's be really clear on this - Republicans are still fully intent on killing Social Security, but Mike Lee and practically all his comrades are now backpedaling furiously because they know they'll be savaged if they don't dress up their plan in language that's a little softer, and more likely to lull the unsuspecting into a false sense of security.

They will never stop trying to fuck us out of what we've all spent a lifetime earning. And they will never tell us the truth about what they're trying to do. Ever.

When they say "reform", they mean "privatize".

And when they say "privatize", they mean, "We have to placate our dark-money sponsors by perpetuating Wall Street Welfare forever."

Fuck these guys.

When A Bad Idea Sounds Pretty Good

It sounds a lot like the little band of Republican crazies in the House are really stoopid, and maybe they are, but when you leave the other side with a chance to blow up your whole scheme, you may need to rethink one or two things.

On the other hand, if I come at this from the perspective of my belief that Radical Libertarians are always looking for ways to torpedo every institution that keeps a democratic republic afloat, then it makes more sense.

"Why not leave the tools of destruction in the hands of the Democrats, and let them do what we need never to admit to doing?"

paranoia strikes deep

into your life it will creep

it starts when you're always afraid

step outa line, men come and take you away

Fact Check: Can House Democrats Bring Motion to Vacate House Speaker?

After a protracted battle between House Republicans, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has finally begun settling in as Speaker following a series of concessions to a faction on the right of his party.

McCarthy, whose ascension above the dais was halted for several days by representatives from the GOP's Freedom Caucus, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), has spent his first week in the role introducing committee and rule changes following his deal with party colleagues.

One important concession included reducing the threshold for triggering a vote to remove the Speaker at any given time. However, social media posts now suggest that this new change might make him vulnerable not just to fellow Republicans, but even to the minority opposition.

The Claim

A post published on Reddit on January 11, 2022, which received more than 45,000 engagements, highlighted that under new House rule changes, a Democratic representative could initiate a "recall vote" for House Speaker.

The post included a tweet about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA), claiming she opposed the "compromise to allow one House Member to bring a Motion to Vacate to remove the Speaker because even one Democrat can do it, and she heard Democratic Rep. Al Green is getting ready to do it already."

The Facts

It's true that under rules changes made for the 118th Congress, it will now only take one member to motion for the Speaker to vacate their seat.

The privilege was introduced under early House rules set out in Jefferson's Manual, a book of parliamentary procedure written by Founding Father and former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, stating: "A Speaker may be removed at the will of the House."

Jefferson's Manual didn't stipulate the number of members required to begin a motion. This remained the case until 2018, when changes enacted by Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lifted the threshold requiring "that a resolution causing a vacancy in the Office of the Speaker will be privileged if offered by the direction of a major party caucus or conference."

The motion to vacate has rarely been used. But the changing of its wording back to what existed before 2018 may remind McCarthy of the House's tools of accountability.

And it's not just the Republican House members that pose such a threat. As pointed out on social media, the re-wording of the 118th House Rules does not prohibit a minority party from bringing such a motion.

The likelihood of any such motion succeeding is another matter, but, in principle, under the current wording, the Democrats could begin a motion to vacate (without any restrictive threshold) and then with a simple majority (requiring some Republican rebels) remove McCarthy.

As Dr. David Andersen, assistant professor of United States Politics at Durham University, told Newsweek, the new rules put McCarthy in an "awful position," leaving it a possibility that Democrats would only need five Republicans to pass a motion to vacate.

"The really interesting scenario is whether five Republicans will get so frustrated with McCarthy that they would do the unthinkable—work with Democrats to oust the Speaker," Andersen said.

"If just five Republicans in the House join together with a united Democratic caucus, the Speaker will be ousted and nothing can be done until a new Speaker is elected.

"Given that 20 Republicans worked to deny McCarthy the seat, once the GOP starts attempting to legislate—and more importantly, once certain members start competing for media attention—this possibility will become very interesting to watch.

"McCarthy can't change the rules now that they have been passed so this is something that he will have to live with for the next two years.

"Honestly, the one person rule doesn't matter too much other than for grandstanding by individual legislators. It is the risk of a 5-member GOP defection that is more interesting."

How long it might take for such an alliance to form is another matter.

For now, McCarthy appears to be meeting some of the wishes of the Freedom Caucus, with Gaetz saying that he had nearly run out of "stuff to ask for" from the Speaker during the negotiations.

This suggests McCarthy may face less pressure from his party, at least in the short term.

Furthermore, the vote for Speaker took so long to pass—a situation described as "embarrassing" to CNN by Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT)—that it may be some time before any Republicans would side with Democrats, in fear of the political repercussions.

But Boebert told Fox News: "I'm proud that we took a few extra days to make sure that we get this right. It may look like chaos and dysfunction, but I'm a mom of four boys that's a part of my everyday life.

"And really last week was the most productive week I have experienced in Congress."

Given the disruptive power motion to vacate could wield, why hasn't it been used more?

A 2015 fact check by Ballotpedia found that the rule has only been used in 1910, to remove Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon, and in 2015 against Republican Speaker John Boehner (although in Boehner's case, he retired before the motion could even reach a vote).

As mentioned, a motion brought by the Democrats, unless orchestrated with support from a sufficient number of Republicans, would be unlikely to succeed. As for Republicans, McCarthy still has the majority of support from GOP House members.

In theory, there may be little to stop a series of motions to vacate (particularly now the privilege is fresh in the mind of House members), perhaps as a way to frustrate the GOP's legislative efforts.

Notably, there is little indication at the moment that this strategy is being explored by the Democrats, including Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who was mentioned in the original comment.

A representative of Green told Newsweek by email that the congressman "has no such plans and has never discussed any aspect of such plans with anyone," adding that this publication's inquiry "is the first time Congressman Al Green has ever heard of this."

Still, if that were to change, such a move could trigger the introduction of rules or changes to better protect the Speaker (including altering or reversing rules on the motion to vacate). This might make it harder for Democrats to change the Speaker (should they wish to) and weaken the hand of McCarthy's opponents.

"We are sailing into uncharted waters. The reversion to former institutional rules takes place amid unprecedented partisanship and bitter intra-party divisions within the GOP," Morgan said. "No one knows for sure what may happen, but we can speculate.

"McCarthy is between a rock and a hard place. Whatever procedural maneuvers he comes up with, the bigger picture remains the same in terms of the dilemma he faces. He has to keep his far-right Republicans on side, but this may cost him any hope of cutting deals with the opposition Democrats to keep government going.

"GOP right-wingers tend to target the deficit and the public debt when they face a Democratic president (less so when one of their own is in the White House) and may demand huge spending cuts. If McCarthy bowed to their demands, the Democrats would come out swinging.

"Such cuts would have little hope of getting through the Senate, of course, and would face a presidential veto if they did. So, we may get into a position of government shutdowns early in the Congressional year.

"We could be back into Clinton-era standoffs over the budget as in 1995-96, but then it was the GOP Congress vs. a Democratic president. This is a much more complex political situation and therefore harder to resolve."

Newsweek has contacted the House Conference Chair, House Republicans, House Democrats and Kevin McCarthy for comment.