Moronic Kevin McCarthy

[GoCubsGo]

Leader of the biggest shit show in Speaker history!

Why is your post reading "Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:41 pm"? I thought it got auto translated to my Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:41 am.

Don't really remember what time I posted it, but it was after the floor debacle and almost fist fight.

[Vrede too]

Leader of the biggest shit show in Speaker history!

Why is your post reading "Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:41 pm"? I thought it got auto translated to my Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:41 am.

Don't really remember what time I posted it, but it was after the floor debacle and almost fist fight.

Ah, that makes sense, after the 14th ballot. Your wording sounded to me like you were announcing his election, which didn't wrap up until 12:29 am EST on the 15th ballot.

Honestly, who hasn't wanted to punch Goofy Gaetz in the nose?

Jeffries' intro of McCarthy was warm and classy. Bet Nancy is glad it wasn't her task. Before that Hakeem performed the greatest alphabet ever. Pundit: "Did Lin-Manuel Miranda write that?" Article:

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ ABC of American Values: “The Constitution over the cult …Freedom over fascism… Maturity over Mar-a-Lago…”

Near the end of his inspiring 15-minute address to the 118th Congress before the formal handing-over of the gavel to the newly elected Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spelled out the values of Democrats, in alphabetical order: ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLOAQjjKJbM

[billy.pilgrim]

Leader of the biggest shit show in Speaker history!

Why is your post reading "Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:41 pm"? I thought it got auto translated to my Sat Jan 07, 2023 12:41 am.

Don't really remember what time I posted it, but it was after the floor debacle and almost fist fight.

Ah, that makes sense, after the 14th ballot. Your wording sounded to me like you were announcing his election, which didn't wrap up until 12:29 am EST on the 15th ballot.

Honestly, who hasn't wanted to punch Goofy Gaetz in the nose?

Jeffries' intro of McCarthy was warm and classy. Bet Nancy is glad it wasn't her task. Before that Hakeem performed the greatest alphabet ever. Pundit: "Did Lin-Manuel Miranda write that?" Article:

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ ABC of American Values: “The Constitution over the cult …Freedom over fascism… Maturity over Mar-a-Lago…”

Near the end of his inspiring 15-minute address to the 118th Congress before the formal handing-over of the gavel to the newly elected Speaker of the House early Saturday morning, Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spelled out the values of Democrats, in alphabetical order: ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLOAQjjKJbM

Great speech, I would have loved to have seen shots of the repugs.

[O Really]

McCarthy already being referred to as SINO - Speaker in Name Only
Idiot.

[Vrede too]

Don't really remember what time I posted it, but it was after the floor debacle and almost fist fight.

... Honestly, who hasn't wanted to punch Goofy Gaetz in the nose? ...

I nominate this pic for a Pulitzer:


Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Two lawmakers nearly come to blows — and other crazy moments from McCarthy’s final speaker votes
Friday night on the House floor was a spectacle to behold.

... Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) lunged at Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and had to be pulled away by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.). It happened after Gaetz blocked Kevin McCarthy from clinching the final vote to be elected speaker in the fourteenth round of voting — and after the rabble rouser signaled he was ready to back down and let everyone finally go home....

Several GOP members said they believed the animosity between Rogers and Gaetz reached a boiling point over talk that GOP leadership might offer Gaetz the chairmanship of a House Armed Services subcommittee.

Pork for the home district, nothing to do with ideology or Leadership.

Rogers, who is set to lead that panel, had grown increasingly angry at the holdouts during the week, and he had initially threatened to try to strip anti-McCarthy members of committee assignments.

Good luck with that. McCarthy is our modern Neville Chamberlain.

It didn’t help that Gaetz told Rep. Illhan Omar (D-Minn.) on the House floor the day before that the holdouts had gotten everything they wanted from leadership, but were still voting against McCarthy, according to a person familiar with the conversation.

As I said.

... Standing up a little while later to give a nominating speech for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rep. Dean Philips (D-Minn.) summed up the spectacle everyone had just witnessed: “Madam clerk, I rise to say, ‘Wow.’”

Some Democrats noted the presence of children on the House floor ...

Besides GQP Reps.

... Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a McCarthy supporter, was photograped trying to hand her phone to holdout Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.). The person apparently on the line? Donald Trump, who was also pulling for McCarthy. Rosendale waved his hand like he wasn’t interested in chatting with the ex-president.

Throughout the whole evening, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) was reading the “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" while waiting on votes.

I love Katie Porter.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

... An hour later, during his first speech as speaker, McCarthy seemed to acknowledge the pandemonium that had overtaken his workplace the past week.

“I'll be honest,” he said, “it's not how I had it planned.”

RepuQs are incapable of governing.

These people are completely out of control. As an educator of very young children with varying exceptionalities, I see adults who lack basic social, communication, and cooperative skills. One month in our preschool classroom and we could teach them these skills to be successful. Unfortunately, these individuals are so out of control we might need additional behavior support specialist (like therapist) to not only teach the skills but help them learn to apply them in their own lives without harming one another or innocent bystanders.

Realistically, it is so very disappointing to think that elected officials lack basic preschool social skills. How are they going to successfully help run our country if they cannot even successfully hold open and honest conversations without erupting in violence? Personally, I believe they all need basic humanity before they can move forward and be successful individually and for our country.

So did they come to such heated blows while debating the economy? Or balancing the budget?
Or was it how to handle the Opioid crisis?
Or anything related to their jobs in Congress?
Or ANY issue that matters to actual Americans!

Back in 2016, I keep saying that Trump was going to be the end of the GOP. But he kept winning, gaining support, etc. I thought I had been wrong - the party had changed, but he didn't destroy it. It took a while, but now I'm starting to think I may have been on to something.

Rep. Tim Burchett Accuses 'Redneck' GOP Colleague of Drinking After House Floor Fight
“People shouldn’t be drinking, especially when you’re a redneck, on the House floor,” Burchett (R-TN) said of Mike Rogers (R-AL), who lunged at Matt Gaetz.

So this is rich: Rep. Kat Cammack (R-CO) had randomly accused Democrats on Wednesday of being drunk on the House Floor amid the chaos over the Speaker vote. “They want us to fight each other. That much has been made clear by the popcorn and blankets and alcohol that has come in over there,” Cammack said.

And while the Democrats were indeed trolling Republicans with popcorn, it seems now that there may have been a fair amount of drinking on Cammack’s own side—which devolved into a physical fight on the House Floor after the 14th failed vote for speaker.

To recap: Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally, narrowly won the 15th vote late Friday night by caving to far-right insurrectionists in his party—on the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The vote followed four days of in-fighting and general humilation in which Republicans called each other narcissists and losers, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) called McCarthy an “alligator” (swamp joke) and the “LeBron James of special interest fundraising,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) suggested Gaetz was on drugs, McCarthy cussed at everyone, and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) admitted his party will get “pummeled” in 2024 if they keep acting like this. The final night of voting ended with Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL)—a McCarthy ally—literally lunging at Gaetz over his outspoken opposition to McCarthy and having to be restrained.



Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN), who found himself in the middle of the altercation, had some choice words for Rogers after the vote in an interview with CNN’s Kate Sullivan. “People shouldn’t be drinking, especially when you’re a redneck, on the House floor,” Burchett said. Ope!

“I would drop him like a bag of dirt,” Burchett continued, referring to Rogers. “Nobody’s gonna put their hands on me. Nobody’s gonna threaten me.”

When reporters later asked McCarthy what happened during the heated incident, he hilariously said, “Oh, nothing.”

Ladies and gentlemen: your 118th Congress.

I just find it rich when old, privileged, out of shape white men act like they can pull off any physical altercation.

No one wants to see these fragile men try and act like a tough guy. It’s very embarrassing.

The misplaced, unearned confidence comes from decades of being told you’re special because you have a dick.

I want to see it. I don’t even care who does it, I want to see Gaetz punched in the face. Repeatedly.

Tough guys? No, it’s Florida Man vs. Alabama Man, with North Carolina Man trying to break up the fight and Tennessee Man calling out Alabama Man (as if he was more intelligent).

So, where were Texas Man, New Jersey Man, Georgia Man and Mississippi Man in all this?

The first person to sock Gaetz in the muzzle might even swing some Democratic voters.

If this is how their first 4 days were, imagine the next two years.

Meanwhile, Democrat Katie Porter silently throws some vicious shade.

Eastern Alabama. You can’t pay me enough money to visit that part of the state. Even on a dare.

Ouch.

Hudson helped Rogers out with the old “hold me back” routine.

I’m just shocked that Rogers’ toupee didn’t jump off his drunk, bald head and continue the attack.

[GoCubsGo]

Great stuff.

The swamp is alive, well and possibly stronger than ever.

I do wonder if they'll even be able to hold together on the one bill that actually matters this year on the debt ceiling. The concessions they are looking at, cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, balance the budget etc. ain't gonna happen.
Guessing 10 or so will join with the dems to pass something reasonable before we default.

[billy.pilgrim]

Great stuff.

The swamp is alive, well and possibly stronger than ever.

I do wonder if they'll even be able to hold together on the one bill that actually matters this year on the debt ceiling. The concessions they are looking at, cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, balance the budget etc. ain't gonna happen.
Guessing 10 or so will join with the dems to pass something reasonable before we default.

Those cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be offset by dumping the so-called savings into subsidies handed out to insurance companies and big pharma through another of the GOP's long range plans to elevate profits over people.
And the same dems who can't name a single thing that the cheney/bush administration ever did for them say, oh but it's cheaper, we love our Medicare Advantage.

[GoCubsGo]

Great stuff.

The swamp is alive, well and possibly stronger than ever.

I do wonder if they'll even be able to hold together on the one bill that actually matters this year on the debt ceiling. The concessions they are looking at, cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, balance the budget etc. ain't gonna happen.
Guessing 10 or so will join with the dems to pass something reasonable before we default.

Those cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will be offset by dumping the so-called savings into subsidies handed out to insurance companies and big pharma through another of the GOP's long range plans to elevate profits over people.
And the same dems who can't name a single thing that the cheney/bush administration ever did for them say, oh but it's cheaper, we love our Medicare Advantage.

I'm going to make a concerted effort to not pay too much attention to most of this.

It's 90% posturing and pandering to the base for a bunch of shit that ain'tgonnahappen. It's highly doubtful it gets out of the House as talked about, it's doa in the Senate and vetoed in the oval.

[O Really]

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable...the art of the next best. " Otto Von Bismarck

Now it's all about the show, the clicks, the "controversy".
Why and how did it get to be that a congresscritter thinks it looks better to try something outrageous that s/he knows will fail instead of actually getting something done for his/her district or the country as a whole? Weren't "pork bills" better than meaningless outrage?

Edit: here's one guess at it... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... 7F01002359

[billy.pilgrim]

Don't really remember what time I posted it, but it was after the floor debacle and almost fist fight.

... Honestly, who hasn't wanted to punch Goofy Gaetz in the nose? ...

I nominate this pic for a Pulitzer:


Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

I love Katie Porter.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

.

Perfect

$10.74 on kindle but the much more effective hardcover is $13.99

Eastern Alabama. You can’t pay me enough money to visit that part of the state. Even on a dare.

Ouch.

Really, you haven’t learned to spot a bammer by now?

[Vrede too]

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable...the art of the next best. " Otto Von Bismarck

Now it's all about the show, the clicks, the "controversy".
Why and how did it get to be that a congresscritter thinks it looks better to try something outrageous that s/he knows will fail instead of actually getting something done for his/her district or the country as a whole? Weren't "pork bills" better than meaningless outrage?

Edit: here's one guess at it... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... rtainment/

Off the top of my head, I don't buy it.

Jim Geraghty is the senior political correspondent of National Review.

I'm not surprised that a RWer would blame youth and that perpetual con boogeyman, Hollywood. IMO “Rock the Vote” got youth to care MORE about issues, and did not diminish the issues. Geraghty column is long on whining, but starkly short on any data supporting his conclusions. Why is that?

He blames the 90s, yet entirely neglects to mention that they followed POTUSes that included movie star RayGun, wildly unpopular Carter, inept Ford, Tricky Dick Nixon, baby killer LBJ and the original rock star POTUS, JFK. Our politics wasn't doing so hot before Clinton.

... Yes, more Americans follow and are interested in politics now than a generation ago. The turnout in the 1988 presidential election was 52.8 percent of the voting eligible population; that figure rose to 58.2 percent in 1992 and dipped to 51.7 percent in 1996. By comparison, we haven’t been below 58 percent since 2000, and hit nearly 67 percent in 2020....

Only a con could spin that into being a bad thing.

Note that the column is entirely devoid of any condemnation of the obscene piles of money in politics, largely courtesy of con fat cats, and the gutting of McCain-Feingold and then Citizens United thanks to con judges. Ya' think all this cash has benefited National Review in the process? Geraghty also avoids all mention of largely GQP gerrymandering and its contribution to our severe polarization.

The whole point seems to be to deflect from the obvious. MTV, really? We've got bigger problems than inspiring youth to care, much bigger.

[Vrede too]

Eastern Alabama. You can’t pay me enough money to visit that part of the state. Even on a dare.

Ouch.

Really, you haven’t learned to spot a bammer by now?

I just included that to tease you, especially since AL3 includes Auburn. Tbh all of those "drunk redneck" pols look alike to me . Plus, I endorse all Goofy Gaetz fish slapping and attempted fish slapping. Funny that he and Rogers are political neighbors.

If you mean the school, it's actually Jacksonville State University (BA, MPA) and Birmingham School of Law (JD).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Roge ... olitician)

[billy.pilgrim]

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable...the art of the next best. " Otto Von Bismarck

Now it's all about the show, the clicks, the "controversy".
Why and how did it get to be that a congresscritter thinks it looks better to try something outrageous that s/he knows will fail instead of actually getting something done for his/her district or the country as a whole? Weren't "pork bills" better than meaningless outrage?

Edit: here's one guess at it... https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... rtainment/

Off the top of my head, I don't buy it.

Jim Geraghty is the senior political correspondent of National Review.

I'm not surprised that a RWer would blame youth and that perpetual con boogeyman, Hollywood. IMO “Rock the Vote” got youth to care MORE about issues, and did not diminish the issues. Geraghty column is long on whining, but starkly short on any data supporting his conclusions. Why is that?

He blames the 90s, yet entirely neglects to mention that they followed POTUSes that included movie star RayGun, wildly unpopular Carter, inept Ford, Tricky Dick Nixon, baby killer LBJ and the original rock star POTUS, JFK. Our politics wasn't doing so hot before Clinton.

... Yes, more Americans follow and are interested in politics now than a generation ago. The turnout in the 1988 presidential election was 52.8 percent of the voting eligible population; that figure rose to 58.2 percent in 1992 and dipped to 51.7 percent in 1996. By comparison, we haven’t been below 58 percent since 2000, and hit nearly 67 percent in 2020....

Only a con could spin that into being a bad thing.

Note that the column is entirely devoid of any condemnation of the obscene piles of money in politics, largely courtesy of con fat cats, and the gutting of McCain-Feingold and then Citizens United thanks to con judges. Ya' think all this cash has benefited National Review in the process? Geraghty also avoids all mention of largely GQP gerrymandering and its contribution to our severe polarization.

The whole point seems to be to deflect from the obvious. MTV, really? We've got bigger problems than inspiring youth to care, much bigger.

wow, and I bet he was never one of the cool kids, pretty much sums this guy up. What's he talking about: it's bad to know how to play a musical instrument, or to become attracted to politics through MTV? I reckon he thinks it's better for our uneducated voter to learn who to vote for from the fox gop infomercial.
Why didn't he condemn TV in politics; after all, TV is likely why JFK beat nixon.
Teddy Roosevelt went on extended hunting trips while in office and indoctrinated kids with teddy bears.
Washington even led troops into what could have been a battle while president, other than spook bush, Geraghty's heroes have all hid from military service.
Haven't our best presidents always been more than just politics.
Lincoln’s athleticism was well known during his campaign, should that have disqualified the voter who saw that as a reason to vote for him?

What is this guy's problem?

[O Really]

You guys have good points, and I don't usually defend right-wing originated commentary, but I think the idea of politics IS (not as) entertainment is relatively new. Sure JFK was a rockstar with his youthful Camelot life and gorgeous wife, but he was also a serious and well-prepared politician who did very well in his short time in office. And sure, TV got him elected because Nixon sweated in his 5 o'clock shadow, but the debate didn't involve trash talk and personal insults https://www.debates.org/voter-education ... ranscript/

And sure Reagan had been an actor as well as president of SAG before being California governor, but other than the name recognition, that was more a negative than a positive, generating a lot of what now would be memes about Bedtime for Bonzo and winning for Gipper.

But now, people who are essentially social media influencers can get elected to office and a handful of them can hold the government hostage not through their earned political power but through sheer notoriety and "Jackass" acts. And the public "follows" these clowns and considers it news when one of them trashes another. EmptyG and Bobobert have a cat fight? Big news!

Doomed we are.

[billy.pilgrim]

So, not MTV, but Twitter and Tik Tok and not Clinton, but trump?

[Vrede too]

So, not MTV, but Twitter and Tik Tok and not Clinton, but trump?

Exactly. I don't disagree with O Really about how fucked up things are now, I just object to blaming Hollywood, “Rock the Vote” and Clinton. Lots of things have contributed to the mostly GQP superficiality of American politics. AOC, Bernie!, Warren, Katie Price, Joltin' Joe, Kamala, etc may be the lefty rock stars with millions of followers, but they're all also intelligent, honest and patriotic. The GQP, otoh . . .

[O Really]

Well it certainly isn't a simple answer, and it's not just one reason, but when Clinton got asked about his underwear on MTV, I think we could agree some lines were crossed.

Long before America’s mass preoccupation with Bill Clinton’s crotch area, one high school student had the nerve to ask about it on national television. “Mr. President, all the world’s dying to know,” said Laetitia Thompson, 17, of Potomac Md., at an MTV-sponsored forum of 200 young people in April 1994. “Is it boxers or briefs?” When the laughter died down, Clinton didn’t duck the question: “Usually briefs,” he said. “I can’t believe she did that.”

[billy.pilgrim]

Well it certainly isn't a simple answer, and it's not just one reason, but when Clinton got asked about his underwear on MTV, I think we could agree some lines were crossed.

Long before America’s mass preoccupation with Bill Clinton’s crotch area, one high school student had the nerve to ask about it on national television. “Mr. President, all the world’s dying to know,” said Laetitia Thompson, 17, of Potomac Md., at an MTV-sponsored forum of 200 young people in April 1994. “Is it boxers or briefs?” When the laughter died down, Clinton didn’t duck the question: “Usually briefs,” he said. “I can’t believe she did that.”

Do you also consider JQ Adam's skinnydipping every morning in the Potomac to be slightly more scandalous than truthfully admitting your preferred underwear type? But yeah, Bill should have passed on the question.

Here's Obama's much better response to Seinfeld

He (Seinfeld) found out the leader of the free world wears one single brand of underwear — and they're all the same color. (He didn't discover which brand or which color though!)

[Vrede too]

... I endorse all Goofy Gaetz fish slapping and attempted fish slapping. Funny that he and Rogers are political neighbors....

The purge begins.

Rogers plans to step aside from plum House GOP post

Rep. Mike Rogers is preparing to step down from a powerful House Republican panel that decides committee assignments for conference members after a series of confrontations with conservatives who prolonged Kevin McCarthy's speakership fight....

A longtime critic of certain conservative members, particularly the House Freedom Caucus, Rogers made his frustration plain on national TV late Friday night as McCarthy's push for the top gavel faltered in the final moments of a dramatic 14th ballot. As the GOP leader fell one vote short of the speakership, Rogers approached Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) on the House floor — in what some viewed as a menacing manner — pointing in the conservative duo's direction....

[Vrede too]

If McCarthy meets with Biden is that an example of SINO-American relations?
If the House GQP slashes Ukraine funding is that an example of SINO-Russian cooperation?