The shitshow has begun

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 6:14 pm

Biggs already has too many votes for McCarthy to be elected on the first ballot. All that ass licking and soul selling was for nought.

MajGenl.Meade · Post by **MajGenl.Meade** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 7:19 pm

Unfortunately, McCarthy is most likely to bend over further for the extreme right in order to gain the 9 votes he needs. I hope he bends so far that his other toe-kissers shriek in horror and vote for Hakeem (some hope)

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Tue Jan 03, 2023 8:21 pm

My client is sleeping so I am watching the voting instead of Gunsmoke. It’s fun watching sleaze squirm.

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Wed Jan 04, 2023 1:26 am

This could run and run and run. I can't think of an alternative candidate who will get the requisite votes. It would be a laugh if the anti-McCarthy-ites just decided not to show up and Jeffries gets the 50% of those present. Won't happen of course. We see the shitshow of Matt Goetz - and he is a shitshow all by himself - nominating Gym Jordan and Jordan nominating McCarthy.

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Wed Jan 04, 2023 8:52 pm

An even funnier possibility -- the USofA version of a coalition government. Some GOP shift and a DEM is selected speaker.

snailgate.

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:46 pm

I think Kevin McCarthy is a useless turd of no value and he has some sort of sense of entitlement.

However, Republicans have voted six times giving him 90% of their vote for speaker. In a country where 55:45 is a landslide victory, doesn't there come a point where simple democracy rules? AFAIK the Constitution just says: “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” I don't think a simple plurality - as opposed to an absolute majority - would be unconstitutional.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Wed Jan 04, 2023 11:55 pm

The House can vote (by majority) to agree to elect the Speaker by plurality. It has done so in the past.

I don't think any Republicans care for that option now, because on all six ballots so far, that would have meant electing Jeffries.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 12:20 am

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:02 am

Just who selects the Speaker? How many of those voting yesterday and today in this controversy, have not yet been sworn in as members of Congress?

The problem is not the constitution, but the power of congress to set its own rules for how it conducts its business. Each Speaker comes in with their own slate of rule changes.

snailgate

Econoline · Post by **Econoline** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 1:28 am

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:21 am

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:36 am

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 2:41 am

This is obviously voter fraud initiated by the democratic party. They are hiding Mcarthy's votes inside boxes and putting them under tables and throwing many ballots into nearby creeks.

Republicans in the House need another hero like Giuliani to take this theory to court.

Scooter · Post by **Scooter** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 3:57 am

Bicycle Bill · Post by **Bicycle Bill** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:05 am

Re: The shitshow has begun

Actually, the shitshow has been running for about twenty years now. The overture was the Tea Party faction; then came the first and second acts leading up to the rise and reign of Trump. We are now at the intermission, with act three (and possibly act four) waiting in the wings.

My only hope is that whatever the final act is, it results in the Götterdämmerung of the Republican Party as we know it today.

-"BB"-

ex-khobar Andy · Post by **ex-khobar Andy** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:16 am

Maybe it's time for some strategic voting. Next time around 20 dems vote for McCarthy. Should be enough. After all, they have made their point and there is no chance of Jeffries becoming Speaker. So McCarthy gets elected on the backs of Dem votes. So he will be eternally crippled and, to some extent and maybe under the radar, will have to appease some Ds. And of course in the eyes of Rs he will be forever tainted as the RINO Speaker. Should be fun. It beats the alternative of some Matt Gaetz / Lauren Boebert / Gym Jordan -style loony.

Joe Guy · Post by **Joe Guy** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 5:48 am

How many McCarthys does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Just one, of course. But he would need a very large light bulb and the ability to convince a woman to let him screw her in there.

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 11:53 am

No I don’t support defection from the Democrats - this is the GOP’s mess to clean up. Let a handful of moderates in the GOP defect to voting for Jeffries, he would be a fine speaker. He can agree to give them some chairmanships etc. McCarthy will be a weak and terrible speaker. The GOP will be useless at getting anything done for the next two years if they don’t get to a speaker who knows how to get the job done and has the respect of the whole caucus.

Burning Petard · Post by **Burning Petard** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:16 pm

I just got off the phone with a staffer for Delaware's congress critter. I asked, Why' s the office space set aside for the Speaker of the House now occupied--that's a good question.

Is there anything in the House rules that prevents a Dem from voting for a Repub as Speaker--NO!

How are the people voting who have not yet been sworn in--They are elected members and thus have full previlige of voice and vote. If that is so, then what is the point swearing the Oath of Office--I can't answer that; we are now in a unique situation with no historical precedent.

At that point I agreed that it is all strange and thanked her for her patience with me.

snailgate

BoSoxGal · Post by **BoSoxGal** » Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:38 pm

Burning Petard wrote: ↑
Thu Jan 05, 2023 4:16 pm
How are the people voting who have not yet been sworn in--They are elected members and thus have full previlige of voice and vote. If that is so, then what is the point swearing the Oath of Office--I can't answer that; we are now in a unique situation with no historical precedent.

That’s not correct, this is how it is always done - incoming House members have always been included in the vote for leader which precedes swearing in and any other business of the House. This same circumstance has occurred multiple times in history, most notably in 1855 and 1923. It hasn’t been an issue in the modern era because the parties were much more cohesive than ever in history - but obviously the splitting in the GOP that has been happening since the Tea Party movement has impacted profoundly the functionality of the party and Trump among other things is the result.

https://history.house.gov/People/Office ... e-Ballots/

I hope it lasts a while longer. I hope it means the GOP is going to be crippled in the House for the next two years. The bigger the mess they make, the more likely sanity will prevail in 2024.