democrats unite while republicans squabble

Overcast and very windy Monday, the kind of wind that moans with a little rain now and then. Definitely not the kind of day that calls you outside. Yesterday was lovely though, sunny and warm and most importantly not humid and our nights getting cooler. Today is looking to be as nice as yesterday.

Speaking of yesterday, did we all enjoy the chaos?

Republicans with their majority of 10 were to take control of the House and elect a Speaker. And they failed, they failed three times, and until they elect a Speaker they cannot begin the business of the House. Minority Leader democrat Jeffries consistently got more votes than any of the republican nominees and that's because the democrats stood firm and united, 212 to McCarthy's 203. The republicans, on the other hand, are in total disarray.

There are nineteen or so far right MAGAt wackos, all insurrectionists that helped plan the attempted J6 coup, determined to take the party even further right in their attempt to disrupt and destroy the government. They want to gum up the works until the government fails and they can step in and turn our democracy into authoritarian rule with them being the authorities. They blame McCarthy, seen as too moderate by the right wing, for their poor showing in the midterms. They have demanded concessions from him pre-vote like promises of positions on committees, conducting their bogus investigations, gutting the Office of Congressional Ethics, and most telling, allowing only five votes to remove him from the speakership which will make him beholden to them, give them more power over what happens in the House than the other House members. Still they refused to vote for McCarthy, rallying behind Jim Jorden, a man who has never authored a single bill, overlooked the molestation of boys in his care, and was a leading figure in the 2021 insurrection. They are just fine with the chaos they are engaging in. Generally though, McCarthy, who by the way was so certain he would win that he had already started moving into the Speaker's office before even a single vote, is not well liked, seen as untrustworthy, but has the support of the republicans tired of the theatrics and disruption of the MAGAts.

Whoever becomes Speaker needs 218 votes to win. I hope Democrats are wooing the most moderate of the Republicans who are tired of the shitshow the GOP has become and would like to get back to the business of governing. Jeffries only needs 6 more votes to win and forming a coalition governing body would show Americans that Republicans are capable of having the country's best interests at heart and are capable of compromising now that Trump is losing his grip on the party. There are 12 Republican representatives that narrowly won in states Biden won and Jeffries can also promise plum committee assignments. A nice dream, right? I think it's more likely that shots will be fired on the floor of the House now that the metal detector has been removed, the very first thing they did yesterday. The far right gun nut contingent does not believe in compromise and the moderates are the very people they want to get rid of.

Meanwhile the BFFs Boebert and Greene have turned on each other in grand mean girl style and the pariah liar extraordinaire George Santos sat in the back of the room while everyone else shunned him. McCarthy won't sanction him because he needs Santos' vote.

They adjourned last night at 5:30, and needed democrat votes to do so, giving McCarthy time to canvass for more votes to reconvene today at noon. Rumor had it that McCarthy would ask for a vote to adjourn til tomorrow giving him more time. If the motion was put forth, it didn't pass and McCarthy has lost a fourth vote today so far.

Another trip in the Way Back machine, this one from 2011.  I picked it because it was published on the 4^th and has nothing to do with politics. Well, it is about a fire but not a political one.