Sunday, October 15, 2023

People are dying in Israel and the US federal government is about to stop paying its debts. So the House GOP is running an ideological purity test.

And they've deemed that the person best suited to drive their clown car is someone with a track record of looking the other way at sexual predators

From KATU (OR) -

Speaker-designate Jim Jordan seeks to schedule election vote on Tuesday, despite lack of full House GOP support

Rep. Jim Jordan, the designated candidate for Speaker of the House by the House Republican Caucus, is attempting to force a vote in the speaker election Tuesday, according to multiple sources.

Jordan, a hard-right conservative Republican that serves as the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and was the first chair of the House Freedom Caucus, was voted by a majority of his fellow House Republicans to be their pick for the speakership Friday after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise wit8reallyhdrew his name from the race Thursday night.

He *really* wants the gig, maybe to the point of waging a "scorched earth" campaign for it.

From Politico -

Will Jim Jordan bully his way to the speakership?

Back in September 2016, Rep. Jim Jordan was on a crusade: He wanted the House to launch impeachment proceedings against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen over allegations that the agency had targeted conservatives.

But Jordan (R-Ohio) had a problem: GOP party leaders saw impeachment as a political loser and refused to even haul Koskinen in for questioning.Jordan wasn’t about to back down, however. He cornered then-House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) on the House floor and presented him with a choice: Either you summon Koskinen to the Hill or the Freedom Caucus forces a vote on his impeachment a few weeks before Election Day.

Jordan got his hearing.

That is one of many instances where the Ohio Republican used hardline tactics — or what some of his colleagues would call bullying — to get his way. He was so good at it, in fact, that POLITICO dubbed him the “other speaker of the House” at the time.

Jordan has his critics within the GOP caucus but he and his supporters plan to coerce/force his detractors into supporting him.

From The Hill -

Crenshaw says pressure campaign by Jordan is ‘dumbest way’ to support GOP nominee for Speaker

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) blasted some of his fellow Republicans for planning an online pressure campaign on behalf of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying that they will not get more votes backing him that way.

“So what I would really recommend to Jordan’s allies too, is a lot of them have mounted this high-pressure campaign,” Crenshaw said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They’re going to whip up Twitter against the people who are against Jordan.”

Crenshaw is pretty extreme himself but may be what passes for a decent human being in the modern GOP.

The Democrats is Congress are not the party of chaos.

However, they're not going to bail the Rs out of a mess of their own making.

Also from The Hill -

Jeffries suggests Dems won’t help nominate ‘extremist extraordinaire’ Jordan as Speaker

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Friday reiterated the need for bipartisanship amid the race for Speaker — but suggested the Republicans’ most recent choice wasn’t the answer.

House Republicans delivered Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) the second GOP nomination for the leadership role on Friday — a day after first choice and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew from the race.

The way that I see it, there are two possible ways for Democrats to vote in favor of a speaker candidate.

1. Gym Jordan (or whichever extremist will be nominated by the R caucus after him) stands in the well of the House and publicly kisses the butt of any Democrat who pledges to vote for him.  Or, if that doesn't happen (and it won't)

2.  Get behind Hakeem Jeffries, as in a few of the Republicans and all of the Democrats vote to make him Speaker.  While the Rs wouldn't like him, but they'd all dislike him, and the Rs are unable/unwilling to find someone they all like.

Dislike seems to be the best solution.


No comments: