October 4, 2023

"The man just loves chaos."

Said Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), quoted in "GOP tensions explode after McCarthy bows out of speaker race" (Axios).

"The man" = Matt Gaetz.

So much depends on hating chaos. What are chaos-haters to do in the presence of someone who doesn't put the fear of chaos first?

112 comments:

rehajm said...

A bunch of people had to vote McCarthy out. It wasn’t just one guy…

Kate said...

I wasn't a McCarthy fan when he was first elected Speaker, but I've grown to like his feistiness. Nothing he did was egregious enough to deserve chaos, and I respect his decision to step away from the merry-go-round.

Anyone who cultivates disorder is an evil little troll.

Humperdink said...

When I heard McCarthy say last night he made sure the troops would get paid (by passing the CR), that sealed the deal for me. That's Commie-Pinko talking point. Glad he's gone.

TreeJoe said...

Gaetz is no bueno, but that doesn't make him wrong here either.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

If chaos is the price of avoiding the $35 trillion fiscal cliff we are driving over, then I'm in.

Humperdink said...

Byron Donalds would be a great choice for speaker. The antithesis of the aforementioned Jamaal Bowman. Conservative and intelligent.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Gaetz thinks this is a good idea ... now. No - not. A huge gift to the corrupt left.

R C Belaire said...

From what I've read, McCarthy never came close to fulfilling his promise to restore "regular order" in the House during the budgeting process. Was that egregious enough for 8 pi**ed off Republicans to join with all the Democrats to fire the guy? Apparently. Perhaps a principle was involved here?

Rich said...

So the GOP members that had problems with McCarthy siding with the Democrats, sided with the Democrats.

“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves, why aren’t they fighting the radical left Democrats who are destroying our country?“ ~ Donald J Trump

Because it is radical right “Republicans” who are actually destroying the country, and that is quite obvious to anyone who read today’s news.

rehajm said...

If order brings destruction you do things to stop the destruction…and I’m sick of them seeing their primary goal being to ‘Keep Washington moving’. When Bob Dole said it all those years ago it turned my stomach. I want it to stop. Now it’s a mantra…

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

as seen on the interwebz

"Gaetz worked with the democrats to oust the speaker. Because the speaker ‘worked with democrats’."

Breezy said...

Chaos can result in a healthy reset of expectations leading to an awakening of people who were adrift just following the SOP. Gaetz was right to force McCarthy to certain things back in January. McCarthy didn’t follow through with them so he is responsible for getting voted out.

There was no reason that the budget had to get to needing a CR. They had months to ready the appropriations. Apparently a few were close to complete. Why did McCarthy stall them? Why not shutdown and simply finish them by priority need? He did seem to bend to Dems way too much.

Winnie said...

My understanding is he made promises that he was unable to keep in order to secure the Speaker position. Were that to occur more often.

Kevin said...

On the contrary, the man just loves order.

Regular order.

Clyde said...

I don't know whether this is a good thing or not, and I wonder what the unexpected consequences will end up being. I do know that our Federal government is broken. The elected officials in Washington live like kings, slurping up money from the trough while our national debt continues to skyrocket, while millions of illegal immigrants swarm across our border and then are resettled across the country by the Biden regime with the CBP acting as a concierge service, and while a wave of crime and lawlessness rolls across our country. It is sickening.

Breezy said...

There were quite a few so-called chaos-haters who created chaos in the form of a Russian collusion hoax once Trump won 2016. So I think chaos in politics is in the eye of the beholder. “Never let a crisis go to waste”.

tommyesq said...

A bunch of people had to vote McCarthy out. It wasn’t just one guy…

Of course, the vast majority of that bunch were democrats.

wendybar said...

Chaos is caving to the Progressives every time after breaking your promises to do things differently. Taking out payments to Ukraine for a later date behind your own sides back will get you Chaos.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Look on the bright side, Kevin. You lasted longer than Sam "I don't subscribe to Paw Prints Magazine for the articles" Brinton did at the DOE. No small achievement. And you're not even into pup-play or stealing baggage at airports...well at least we don't know for sure.

Cheer up buttercup!

RideSpaceMountain said...

"The man just loves chaos."

JAMAAL BOWMAN HAS ENTERED THE CHAT.

Earnest Prole said...

To an arsonist-firefighter, chaos is a feature not a bug.

Mr. Majestyk said...

If "order" means business as usual (i.e., funding Democratic Party priorities), then "chaos" is the rational alternative. In fact, unless we put a stop to business as usual, we will all eventually get a much bigger, uglier does of chaos later in the form of hyperinflation or economic collapse.

Big Mike said...

From an analysis over at Power Line blog:

The Wall Street Journal editorial board described Gaetz as “Biden’s favorite Republican,” with good cause.

Here’s what the Wall Street Journal points out about this mess:

Mr. McCarthy had worked until the day before a shutdown deadline to pass a 45-day funding bill that included a spending reduction, money for border security, and a commission on the growing federal debt. It wouldn’t have passed the Senate, but it would at least have given the House leverage in conference. The GOP’s rejectionists defeated everything.

That left Mr. McCarthy no choice but to seek Democratic votes for a funding bill that included no GOP priorities.


Which, of course, pissed off the Evil Eight even more. Apparently they’re too stupid to realize how badly a government shutdown impacts the Republican brand. And so the Evil Eight blew up their own Republican brand anyway. A few Blue Dog Democrats could have reached out to save McCarthy. But they didn’t. Because while Democrats may be evil, they are not stupid. In contrast to Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace, and five other morons.

tim maguire said...

Will Rogers once famously said, "I am not a member of any organized political party — I am a Democrat."

In this respect, the parties have flipped. The Republican Party is a big tent, and big tent parties are necessarily chaotic. It's not easy holding a lot of types of people together; people who fully agree on only a few things and disagree on many. That's just the way it is when you accept diversity of thought. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is a tightly controlled oligarchy. They can accomplish all manner of priorities because they march in lockstep, submitting to ruthlessly enforced discipline.

I'm often depressed at the wide array of people who shamelessly hold blind obedience up as a model over messy liberty.

Big Mike said...

A bunch of people had to vote McCarthy out. It wasn’t just one guy…

@rehajm, no, it was seven guys, Nancy Mace, and a bunch of evil Democrats voting as a block to help make Republicans look incapable of governing.

Birches said...

Does any normal American care about any of this? No. It's so dumb to try and make this a bigger deal than it is either way. Maybe Gaetz is wrong, maybe he's right. Congress has been really screwed up a lot longer than this year.

Gunner said...

Is this going to screw up the Biden impeachment now?

Enigma said...

If McCarthy indeed made a secret deal to fund Ukraine over the nominally clean continuing resolution, he got what was coming to him in hardball politics. You simply can't do that stuff with a paper thin majority and after a tough initial election as Speaker.

So now, will the hard right take over the Republicans or will a centrist coalition split off from the hard left and hard right? Either way, the 2017-2023 anti-Trump deluded fevers may finally break.

Birches said...

I'm trying to understand what is going to be different in 45 days if McCarthy had stayed? What's going to be different now that he's gone?

Nothing. They're never going to stop Ukraine funding or enforce the border or cut the bloated budget. Stop pretending like change is just around the corner.

Rusty said...

Kevin said...
On the contrary, the man just loves graft.

Regular graft.
FIFY

Tom T. said...

The problem with chaos is that you might not like the results. Gaetz knocked off McCarthy by making a deal with the Democrats. That means that the centrist Republicans may now decide that it's acceptable to make their own deal with the Democrats to choose a new speaker. If Gaetz would rather shiv his own side and make a deal with the left, why shouldn't they? The price of that will be an even less conservative Speaker and shutting down the inquiry into the Biden family.

There's a species of political zealot that enjoys losing, because it reinforces their sense of grievance. They don't actually want to govern, because that's hard and requires balancing competing interests. They say they're principled about their values, but since they're not willing to be part of a majority that can win, they never actually put their principles to the test, and they allow other people with different values to actually run the country. That's who brought down McCarthy, and I'm sure that whatever happens next, they'll insist is not their fault.

Big Mike said...

@tim maguire, excellent analysis.

Bob B said...

If lack of chaos lead to the federal government spending that has resulted in interest payments of half a trillion dollars a year (and increasing), open borders and crazy men identifying as women occupying top levels in government, perhaps chaos should be a goal.

fairmarketvalue said...

Sorry, but McCarthy was hoist on his own petard. His unseemly pursuit of the Speakership, through 15 rounds of voting, caused the inexorable diminution of any leverage he might otherwise have had available once he became Speaker. Gaetz didn't seek to make him do anything except keep the promises he made.

Anyone who would agree to a process based on a single member motion, gambling that no one could ever assemble a coalition to remove him, was the height of hubris. Handing out concessions like candy for votes, which evidently he had no intention of honoring, provided the fuel for the motion. My guess is there were more Republicans other than the "Hateful Eight" who would have liked to vote for the motion but could not/would not for other reasons.

In a nutshell, McCarthy is just a feckless GOPe legislative lightweight without a strategic bone in his body whose only goal was to go along to get along. He is of a piece with those beloved Speakers, Boehner and Ryan, who also left under a cloud. He didn't even see the train coming when the MTV was threatened because he had failed in his most basic promise of bringing up appropriation bills in regular order instead of CRs. Even in that endeavor he fell short by screwing his Republican members who voted for a "clean" CR without knowledge of his secret side-deal with the dems to add Ukraine assistance "later".

This is not a circular firing squad but a warning to GOPes who talk the talk but won't walk the walk. In the long run, the GOP will be toast if GOPe politicians and consultants continue to promise and then ignore and detest their base. In my opinion, that reckoning is well overdue and hopefully will result in a new effective and reinvigorated coalition, much like the Republican party that overtook the Whigs. Sometimes things need to get ugly before they get better.

Leland said...

Matt Gaetz apparently relationship with Cassidy Hutchison lowers any respect I have for the representative. That Gaetz holds leadership accountable raises my respect. The acting Speaker is already making moves that I approve.

As for chaos, I rather have this relatively minor chaos today than to continue spending money with abandon or failing to return to regular order in Congressional spending bills. I find nothing wrong with fighting for Congress to fund individual federal departments with independent bills.

Esteban said...

Chaos is a ladder.

Friend of the Fish Folk said...

I don't really agree with the narrative that the 8 Republicans joined with Democrats. The Republicans initiated the motion to vacate. The Democrats joined with them.

Narayanan said...

so deficit spending is not result of chaos?

rehajm said...

Big Mike said...
A bunch of people had to vote McCarthy out. It wasn’t just one guy…

@rehajm, no, it was seven guys, Nancy Mace, and a bunch of evil Democrats voting as a block to help make Republicans look incapable of governing.


This batch of Republicans are certainly incapable of governing for their constituents. If you're a conservative you need to stop believing in the promise Democrats won't make you look bad if you give them everything they want.

Dagwood said...

For those who can still manage a chuckle in the face of all this:

https://x.com/Richard_Harambe/status/1709343390817468637?s=20

lonejustice said...

The dog might not have expected to catch the car:

https://pjmedia.com/columns/paula-bolyard/2023/10/03/i-dont-think-the-house-fight-worked-out-the-way-matt-gaetz-thought-it-would-n1732062

Narayanan said...

Winnie said...
My understanding is he made promises that he was unable to keep in order to secure the Speaker position.
====
so he defraud them?

Gusty Winds said...

Chaos is sending unlimited US Tax dollars to Ukraine to cover for American corruption.

McCarthy made a deal with the Freedom Caucus and broke it.

The part of the deal that was upheld was the renewal of the Motion to Vacate. Gaetz exercised it. I'm sure the Democrats would rather see McCarthy remain speaker. Lesser of two evils. But they can't vote for a GOP Speaker. The fact that McCarthy was hoping for some Dem support to survive...means he has to go.

Let's get it on, and get a REAL Speaker with some "balls".

Gusty Winds said...

Best is they kicked Pelosi out of her plush office while she was away at Feinstein's memorial.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Gaetz has done his part no doubt, but it is telling that the The Eight Idiots had to join with the party of chaos, the Democrats, to eject McCarthy with no plan at all for “then what?” The Democrats use chaos to push their agenda like Biden is doing with the chaotic border, the DEI distraction in the armed forces, the economic insecurity downstream of the debilitating Green Deal and the inflation it is powering. Those all have WEF backing and are part of their agenda.

What is Gaetz’ agenda? What other “unintended” (by the Eight) consequences will further assist the Chaos Party? Does Matt understand that “the perfect is the enemy of the good”?

Breezy said...

There will be a new Speaker soon. No need for concern. Because of McCarthy’s fall, it’s bound to be a person who can and will use their power to bring back regular order and better government oversight of finances, regulations, and behaviors. Disruptions are a good thing. If msm plays up how bad something like this is, you know it’s in fact good.

rehajm said...

In the historic context, 100 percent debt/GDP is a dangerous inflection point of gradually from the explanation gradually, then all at once. Meanwhile Democrats are asking what comes after trillions while anti-chaos Republicans abandon governing in favor of anything goes so long as Democrats promise they won't make them look bad...

Temujin said...

Chaos is what America is all about these days.

I'm struck by the howling coming from the right about the demand of a few of their fellow Congresspeople to actually stick to their promises and get the things done that we've all been asking to get done for 4 decades now. They always seem shocked when 'the people' demand it, and even more shocked that some of their own demand it.

Count me as one of those that like some good chaos in our otherwise unchecked government. One that just keeps doing the same old thing over and over again and declaring it some kind of victory, smiling behind a podium and clapping each other on the back when yet another Omnibus Bill is passed or yet another government shutdown is avoided by funding with money we don't have but what of that?

MadisonMan said...

The shutdown was pushed back by 45 days. I'm guessing the next shutdown will actually happen.

AMDG said...

Gaetz was spewing yesterday that the reason for his action was because McCarthy was unconcerned about the debt. This, of course, is a lie.

Gaetz himself, like the good little tRump Swab that he is, opposes any entitlement reform because his Lord and Savior, Donald “Ballot Box Poisonl Trump has deemed entitlements untouchable.

The problem with that is that growth in entitlement spending is the primary driver of the growth in the debt and if it is not addressed then the Republic will fall.

Anybody who complains about the debt and is unwilling to discuss entitlements is not a serious person.

McCarthy was doing well given the circumstances. There is not much you can do when you have a four seat majority and eight retards in your conference.

It is interesting that the Gaetz gang is unable,to,articulate a coherent thought when asked the question “what’s the plan”. How are things going to be different with a new speaker.

Closing question. Gaetz’s ethics issues are ongoing. Wouldn’t it be great if enough Republicans joined democrats to vote for tRump wannabe’s expulsion when the time comes?

Kevin said...

Guess who else loves chaos?

Nancy Pelosi Ordered to Vacate Her Office by New Acting Speaker, and the Tears Start Immediately

“According to McCarthy, as part of the passage of the recent 45-day clean continuing resolution, Pelosi had promised to not support Gaetz if a motion to vacate was filed. Instead, the former Democrat Speaker stabbed now former Republican Speaker in the back and actually encouraged her caucus not to save McCarthy.”

Robert Cook said...

"Because it is radical right 'Republicans' who are actually destroying the country, and that is quite obvious to anyone who read today’s news."

Moreover, the number of "radical Democrats" in Congress is meager, no more than (and possibly fewer than) can be counted on one hand.

Dude1394 said...

All McCarthy had to do was bring the 13 spending bills to be voted on. Up or down. That is ALL. Why didn’t he? He certainly could have, what was stopping him? But no, he swore he would but instead he goes back to the continuing resolution funding. The power line guys ( and Paul Ryan ) defended Paul Ryan for not doing it also thusly, — let Ryan pass this FIRST obscene omnibus bill THEN he will send the separate bills to congress, he NEVER did.

So why not? I can only deduce that it is much, much more lucrative for the politicians to have lobbyists write these spending omnibus bills and keeping prior omnibus spending levels with continuing resolutions. What other reason could there be?

BRICS de-dollarization is no joke. Having our debt downgraded is no joke. 33 trillion and project 1-2 trillion more every year is no joke.

The conservative caucus would have been happy with the first time to actually write a budget in decades.

AMDG said...

Gaetz pulled a signature Trump move. When things start to move in the Republican’s direction:

The Jamaal Bowman fire alarm incident showed that they want the shutdown,
The Melendez corruption scandal.
Falling polls for Democrats across the board.
Biden’s corruption and feebleness becoming honest to God issues across the electorate.

So what does Gaetz,do. Makes the number one issue Republican incompetence. He got what he wanted though. He is the leading political topic.

Action like Gaetz make one wonder. Is he really a Democrat plant? If he were a Democrat plant what would he do differently?

Chest Rockwell said...

He sounds pretty logical here about his aims and goals: https://x.com/ThaWoodChipper/status/1709400930482000060?s=20

Can't say I'm a huge Gaetz fan, but he makes a lot of sense.

Chest Rockwell said...

"we will all eventually get a much bigger, uglier does of chaos later in the form of hyperinflation or economic collapse."

100%. With no end to spending in sight, interest on the national debt surpassing defense spending, and higher interest rates, more chaos is pretty much guaranteed.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Now that the hidden hand of Pelosi has been revealed in the chaos it makes sense. She promised McCarthy that Democrats would not back Gaetz motions if the Speaker got the 45-day CR passed, but she lied and did have her caucus vote McCarthy out. Gaetz is not even the leader of his own rebellion. What a clusterfuck.

Tina Trent said...

8 Congressional Republicans apparently love chaos. Also, apparently, every single Democrat in Congress.

I don't like Gaetz. I don't like McCarthy. I think the jury's still out over which of them got played worse by the Dems. Hopefully Steve Scalise is well enough to take over. He's hard to kill.

Aggie said...

I'm not sure how I feel about this, to be honest. I didn't dislike the Speaker but when he negotiated out of earshot for Ukraine funding, he crossed a line for inter-party dishonesty. I for one would be grateful for someone to point out what this rejection actually means. You know, past all the drama, outrage, and shame that is raining down and doing nothing to lend understanding.

So far nobody has pointed out where the process is broken, and how it should be fixed. Nobody has offered a roadmap to a more sane budgeting process. Nobody has shown a way to leave Continuing Resolutions behind us and steer a course that points toward a balanced budget. Nobody seems interested in any change at all - except the 8 that voted to oust.

The Democrats that unanimously voted to oust the Speaker didn't vote for anything more than their status quo. I know it might sound naive to expect a clear answer, but there it is. I want one.

West TX Intermediate Crude said...

The true Chaos is the way DC has been (mal)functioning for my entire lifetime.
It can't go on indefinitely, and it won't.
We can either get DC under control bit by bit, or our nation will run out of "Ruin."
A choice between a bad option and a worse one.

Gusty Winds said...

The GOPe is chaos. They hate a majority of their voters.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

8:20 AMDG -
That's the reality. The focus is now the clown-show - instead of the Democrat's failures.

I agree with Geatz on principle- but he and his gang of 8 (ooo plus democrats) need more than a show - they need a plan. What is the plan?

Big Mike said...

This from Stephen Kruiser at PI Media:

Only a Republican could come up with the idea to team with Democrats to punish a Republican for teaming with Democrats.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Open borders are destroying our nation.
Democrat Debt is destroying our nation.
A corrupt old man named Biden is destroying our nation.

Get real - you radical mind-numbed hivemind loyal Maddowists.

Rocco said...

"Because it is radical right 'Republicans' who are actually destroying the country, and that is quite obvious to anyone who read today’s news."
- (That's) Rich said

"And the Jews, too!"
- Former NY Rep Mondaire Jones

Iman said...

Look how upset House Republicans have become over this. Almost like someone lit a fire under their collective ass. $33T in debt, wide-open southern border and attendant invasion… and many other disasters never stirred them.

Iman said...

Democrats just do what comes natural to them: lie their asses off, dealing in bad faith, ruin the country through their general malevolent idiocy.

Maynard said...

Does any normal American care about any of this? No. It's so dumb to try and make this a bigger deal than it is either way. Maybe Gaetz is wrong, maybe he's right. Congress has been really screwed up a lot longer than this year.

That pretty much captures my thinking.

Buckwheathikes said...

Traitors get shot.

Democrat Kevin McCarthy has been working WITH the Democrats to enact the Democrat Party's agenda and to fund them with borrowed money my grandkids will go broke trying to pay back. It was Kevin McCarthy who gave Joe Biden $4 Trillion more BORROWED DOLLARS. He is a turncoat imposter Democrat plant in the GOP and he should be kicked entirely out of the party.

Most people didn't even know that Nancy Pelosi still was officed in the Speaker's office at the Capital. She has been running the House, not Kevin McCarthy, the Fake Republican. Steny Hoyer has been dumped from his office space today as well.

We are not in govern mode. The country has been lost. We are in BURN IT TO THE GROUND AND START OVER mode.

We are in the "Find New Guards For the Defense of our Lliberties" mode. And there is no place in our political party for those who cross the aisle.

Bob Boyd said...

McCarthy promised to allow congressmen to read an appropriations bill and wait 72 hours before holding a vote. He broke that promise.

Is it really chaos, what's happening? Is it actually outrageous to hold a leader to his promises? Is it really beyond the pale to want to be able to read a bill before you vote on it? Why do they have to vote right this minute over and over again. That sounds like chaos to me. Maybe this move is anti-chaos. Maybe the true agents of chaos are opposed to establishing order.
"Republicans represent chaos" has been the Dem narrative for a long time. It scares the womenfolk.

I don't like McCarthy or Gaetz. They both have con-man hair. But the last thing we need is business as usual.
Hope and Change!

Rich said...

Matt Gaetz, that arch critic of the swamp, the elites and government is the son and grandson of politicians and has been a professional politician for the vast majority of his working life. To be fair he has moved onto a career as a performance artist on social media.

Kai Akker said...

--- "Gaetz worked with the democrats to oust the speaker. Because the speaker ‘worked with democrats’." 10/4/23, 6:03 AM

Don't be silly. This sounds clever but it's stupid. McCarthy could have done what he committed to do. He didn't. The Democrats still run the show in almost every respect.

Get a backbone, you and the DCicans.

Bob Boyd said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jim said...

Chaos haters are usually the one's who have to clean up after the fun is over.

Kai Akker said...

Maybe the nomination of Trump for Speaker is a stunt. But I hope it happens. I want him in a leadership position in our government, and this is one. It would help him cut through the Gordian knot the Pelosicrats think they've imprisoned with.

We are in a civil war in which only one side is fighting. Time to change that.

Eva Marie said...

This is what happens when you let young people at the reigns of power! Bring in more octogenarians to stop the chaos.

Birches said...

Oh brother, I know people are full of it when they criticize Gaetz on the entitlement debt. You can't have it both ways: "Republicans are about to win, but Matt Gaetz snatched defeat from the jaws of victory" and also "Matt Gaetz is unserious because he's not going to cut Social Security!"

Yes surely the American people will welcome a Republican party that touts entitlement cuts before they even think about stopping Ukraine funding or defense cuts or ...

Once again, this is all performative. Nothing will change.

MikeR said...

I vote for chaos.

Drago said...

jim: "Chaos haters are usually the one's who have to clean up after the fun is over."

Biden Open Borders and Soros DA's Dont-Prosecute-Violent-Criminals fanboy sez wut?

rcocean said...

If people like McCarthy and GOPe had simply done what they promised, there would have been no chaos.

Why are these establishment Republicans types constantly lying to their voters? Why cant they keep their promises? Why are they always "reaching accross the aisle, and refusing to fight?"

McCarthy promised to release the J6 tapes, start investigations and issuing supenas (sic), and bring up the spending bills one at a time so we didn't end up in a Sept 30th budgetary crisis. Republicans were to be given a chance to vote on term limits and all kinds of conservative legislation.

He didn't do any of that.

The republicans in the House (most of them) chattered about reigning in Biden's stalinist DOJ, controlling spending, securing the border, and getting an accounting for all the Billions and Billions spend and wasted in Ukraine.

They did none of that. And McCarthy had to be threatened over and over before he would reluctantly NOT sign off a Joe Biden Omnibus bill that gave the D's everything they wanted. He threw the conservatives a bone, and allowed them to vote on border security and ukraine spending.

Now, like Paul Ryan he's bailing out. No doubt headed for a job with Goldman Sachs. Or a Defense industry gravy train job.

rcocean said...

You have the same ol' conservative inc. pundits supporting McCarthy because 'we need to be responsible and govern".

These "Washington Generals" always want to give in and not fight. Or they want to fight and lose. The problem is never Joe Biden and the radical Democrats, no its MAGA or TRump or someone on Right who actually wants to do something conservative.

Too many Republicans are just fakes. They are Democrats who like lower taxes. These people need to either know their place, or they need to become Democrats. Follow the example of Bill Kristol or Dispatch Gang. Just leave.

Drago said...

How can this latest action by Gaetz be causing chaos and destroying the republican party and the nation when we were told authoritatively by all the same people that the drawn out speakership vote battle in Jan of this year had already caused chaos and destroyed the republican party and the nation?

Is this like Biden's ever recurring "Summer Of Recovery"?

Is Gaetz just the House equivalent of Texas AG Paxton and GA State Senator Colton Moore?

Sure seems that way as Team GOPe Sellout goes into overdrive to protect the pro-dem grift train.

Tom T. said...

"I hate being asked for loyalty and unity, and I can't understand why the Democrats keep winning! But hey, Steny Hoyer lost his office space; that'll win us a lot of public support when the government shuts down!"

Drago said...

LLR AMDG: "Gaetz was spewing yesterday that the reason for his action was because McCarthy was unconcerned about the debt. This, of course, is a lie."

Your summary is a lie.

But go ahead and go Full Gadfly.

Sounds like a bold strategy. Lets see if it pays off.

Rich said...

Kai Akker wrote: “Maybe the nomination of Trump for Speaker is a stunt. But I hope it happens.”

You should do stand up comedy.

Rocco said...

Robert Cook said...
"Moreover, the number of 'radical Democrats' in Congress is meager, no more than (and possibly fewer than) can be counted on one hand."

Must be hell trying to find a glove to fit that hand with all those fingers on it.

Rich said...

The $6bn for Ukraine was an easy target for Gaetz on political grounds. It again points towards “help ourselves before helping others”, which riles up the right wing base.

No doubt the US military loses more than $6bn a month (in a budget of $800bn a year) but I don’t see him jumping up and down about this wasteful spending.

You don't get much better value for the Pentagon budget than helping the Ukrainians decimate your main adversary with equipment marked for obsolescence. Cutting the support would be the biggest strategic own goal in American history from what I can recall.

Rocco said...

Buckwheathikes said...
"Traitors get shot. Democrat Kevin McCarthy has been working WITH the Democrats to enact the Democrat Party's agenda and to fund them with borrowed money my grandkids will go broke trying to pay back. It was Kevin McCarthy who gave Joe Biden $4 Trillion more BORROWED DOLLARS."

15% of the budget goes to servicing the debt on that borrowed money. And that's at 2.07% interest rates, which are set to rise.

AMDG said...

Blogger Kai Akker said...
Maybe the nomination of Trump for Speaker is a stunt. But I hope it happens. I want him in a leadership position in our government, and this is one. It would help him cut through the Gordian knot the Pelosicrats think they've imprisoned with.

We are in a civil war in which only one side is fighting. Time to change that.

10/4/23, 9:51 AM

—————

How cute! You think that Donald “The Fat Tub of Goo” Trump is competent.

What brought you to that conclusion? Was it his purchase of the Plaza Hotel at such a high price that it was destined for bankruptcy the second he signed the purchase agreement? Was it his bankrupting of 3 casinos multiple times? Was it his failure to drain the swamp in his term as President?

A key qualification to be Speaker is to no something about the ins of outs of legislation. Donald Trump does not know the first thing of legislation. But tRump Swabs don’t care about things like competence. They only care about satisfying the ego of their Lord and Savior, Donald Trump.

Butkus51 said...

Every democrat voted the same as every "radical right-wing" republican.







chuck said...

>What are chaos-haters to do

Fund and train legions and conquer the world.

Mason G said...

"These "Washington Generals" always want to give in and not fight. Or they want to fight and lose. The problem is never Joe Biden and the radical Democrats, no its MAGA or TRump or someone on Right who actually wants to do something conservative."

When Democrats are in charge, it's 10 steps to the left, who cares what Republicans think. When Republicans are in charge, in a compromise with Democrats, it's only 5 steps to the left while Democrats wail about far-right extremists creating chaos.

Butkus51 said...

AMDG has it bad. Vaxxed, graded, stamped "Bidenette"

Liking the BIG guy, right?

Kai Akker said...

Look at that. The thought of Trump as Speaker got to both Chuckie Rich and AMDG. Then there might be hope, after all. Thank youse!

Iman said...

Look… if you’re not going to fight for the survival of this country - with every fiber of your being - don’t run for the position.

Democracy Dies in Democrat Idiocy.

Rich said...

Gaetz is another blowhard that fails to realize that good governance means reaching agreements. He, like so many of his type, just break things. He and his mentors are not fit for purpose.

A wealthy father paved the way for Gaetz. He never had to work hard to reach agreements in his life.

Rich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kai Akker said...

---I don't like McCarthy or Gaetz. They both have con-man hair. But the last thing we need is business as usual. [Bob Boyd]

One of the arguments for electing Trump as Speaker. Would he be a normal Speaker? No, he would be bored by most of the minutiae. But as one of a group of Congressional leadership, he would set an agenda that would matter. God knows Republican leadership needs a lesson in Mattering.

Take that role for six months, make something happen or make it painfully obvious even to the dim why it is being prevented from happening, and then run your Presidential campaign off that visibility and the clarity you have brought to major issues. There is a lot of power in those purse strings, just to name one viable route.

Yes, there is some downside risk, LOL. And if he does himself in politically, so be it. But we need a man that fights. The other side is desperate to keep him out of everything -- they love being the only active side in this civil war. It's really past time to fight back. Think outside the box a bit.

Brian said...

You don't get much better value for the Pentagon budget than helping the Ukrainians decimate your main adversary with equipment marked for obsolescence.

Except it's not going to decimate the main adversary. First of all our main adversary is China, not Russia. Weakening Russia just makes China feel safer.

Second, we're not sending "equipment", we're sending cold hard cash. As 60 minutes points out we're spending it on subsidizing Ukrainian payrolls.

Rich, how many years should the US government continue subsidizing little old lady clothing shops in Ukraine?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

When Democrats are in charge, it's 10 steps to the left, who cares what Republicans think. When Republicans are in charge, in a compromise with Democrats, it's only 5 steps to the left while Democrats wail about far-right extremists creating chaos.

Well said Mason.

Iman said...

Let’s face it folks… there’s a wealth of Rich’s in the Democrat Party and the country is the worse for it.

Much worse.

Iman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Moondawggie said...

So Pelosi promised McCarthy that she'd back him against any vacate the speaker vote, and when the vote went down, she broke her promise and Kevin got shivved.

To quote Otter (firmly placing blame where he felt it belonged) in Animal House: "Face it. You screwed up. You trusted us!"

But seeing 8 conservative R's line up with Pelosi's 208 D's kinda reminds me of the 1939 "Non-Aggression Pact" between Germany and the USSR. Initially they got to divvy up Poland at minimal cost.

But how'd that work out for everybody involved in the end? I suspect that the long term results from yesterday's "bipartisan" vote will be just about as ugly.

walter said...

Chaotic, loudmouth Gaetz is repeatedly baiting mainstream news into airing concerns over the debt and the border.
Yeah, that's great for Democrats.

Readering said...

Back in the real world a race is unfolding between Scalise and Jordan.

Breezy said...

Let’s hope the Pelosi+Dems regret not backing McCarthy because the next Speaker won’t dilly dally and has a backbone of steel.

Rich said...

The Clown College of America is considering suing the Republican Party for copyright infringement.

Republicans should cut to the chase and ask Putin who he wants as Speaker. Once that is clear, they will all fall in line.

walter said...

Clown grad Rich,
With moves toward de-dollarization, I'm sure Putin preferred can kicker McCarthy.

Big Mike said...

@rehajm, I've been a conservative Republican probably since before you were toilet trained. People who are conservatives first and Republicans second are a bigger enemy than the most extreme lefty Democrat because I can usually count on folks like you to make one or more of the following mistakes:

(1) If you cannot get a big win then you will willingly lose. The reason why lefties have eaten conservatives' lunch for fifty or sixty years is that they never leave the table with nothing to show for it. If, metaphorically speaking, they can't get a 14 pound turkey roasted to golden perfection with sausage stuffing and all the trimmings, they'll settle for what they can get (even if it's only a cold turkey sandwich), but they never stop coming. A nibble here, a bite there, a gulp, another nibble, next thing you know the turkey's gone. And they've won. Which means you lost, and you dragged me down with you.

Do you seriousely think that more than 50% of the US population are fans of the Left's policies? Of "aborting" babies born alive (see the Democrats in Virginia under Ralph Northam as governor). Do you think that more than 50% of the voting public want biological boys sharing their daughters' locker rooms and toilets? They've won (so far) only because conservatives accepted defeat.

(2) The way the US has been structured since the days when George Washington was President, you can only succeed as a member of one of the two major parties. Since 1860 that has meant the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans are the natural home for conservatives, and in fact there's no way a true conservative would even be allowed to run as a Democrat in any congressional district. But! If you're in a party then you are going to have to agree to support some things other members want in order to get their support for things that you want. You don't get bills passed by virtue of your conservative credibility, you get them passed by lining up 218 votes.

Why am I explaining this? Because I'm pretty sure you don't get it. And I 100% know Gaetz doesn't

(3) Take a look at this chart. Between Joe Biden's policies and the strange notion the Democrats have that they can fly with only the extreme tip of one wing*, the GOP's polling had pulled ahead of the Democrats in topics like "Is capable of governing" and "Will keep the country safe" and "Can tackle the big issues." Gaetz, with your support, undermines all those gains, which will make it more difficult to win back the Senate, win back the White House, and enlarge the Republican majority in the House. For what? So he can get Jeffries as the Speaker?

___________
* The reference is to the days when Democrats taunted Republicans that we tried to fly with only a right wing. Today they fly with on the extreme tip of the left.

walter said...

Big Mike said...
@rehajm, I've been a conservative Republican probably since before you were toilet trained.
--
See how we got here.

Kirk Parker said...

Big Mike,

In your little history lesson #2, you're correct that the US electoral rules result in a 2-party system, but in your desire for brevity you left out one very significant name: The Whigs!

Yep, one entire party of the two then-majors refused to come to grips with the major issue of the era, and so they went extinct. And in a surprisingly short timespan, too.

rehajm said...

Big Mike said...
@rehajm, I've been a conservative Republican probably since before you were toilet trained


…back when you were still toilet trained Tip and Ronnie made deals for unsustainable spending they both knew would blow up but no matter, it would happen long after they were both dead. They’ve been dead for quite a while and now they’re spending promises are coming back to haunt us. We can’t rubber stamp multi- trillion dollar CRs full of crap anymore and we need the business as usual Republicans who bray to Gaetz we never have to pay it back to step aside…