That Has to Chap Poor Kevin's Ass

He announces that he's quitting...

Two months after his historic ouster as U.S. House speaker, Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy said Wednesday that he is resigning and will leave Congress by the end of the year.

...and not a single mention about it on the evening news.

He sold his political soul for political power and now he's just another guy whose life was wrecked by the TOFF's wake. He could have been somebody. He could have stood up for the Constitution and the country in the wake of the TOFF's failed coup. But no, he opted to suck ass to try and get along and now he's slinking out of town with even less dignity than that of George Santos.

Kevin McCarthy Is Clearly One of the Dumbest People In Congress

Think for one moment. In every single war that America has fought, we have never asked for land afterward—except for enough to bury the Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. pic.twitter.com/XbReeVvWPX

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) November 27, 2023

Yeah, I know. That's a right-wing fiction, which that dumbbell repeated.

Let's go to the historical record, shall we?

Spanish-American War. We got the Phillipines (set free in 1946), Guam and Puerto Rico, both of which are American territories to this day.

Mexican-American War. We got territory that is now spread across seven states, territory that we had formally recognized as belonging to Spain (then Mexico) in a treaty in 1819. It is worth noting that California was part of that, which McCarthy apparently believes was completely uninhabited before 1848. Because he is a total moron. Or he believes that we needed something like half-a-million square miles of land to bury our casualties.

First Seminole War. We got Florida (OK, that was a mistake).

And then there is all the territory that the US formally acknowleded belonged to various Indian tribes, until some white folk here and there decided they wanted it, so the Army took it away from its rightful owners. And places we just took for shits and grins, such as Hawaii.

Apparently the educational system in California when McCarthy was going through school was as piss-poor as that of Texas, for he didn't learn shit.

H/T

McCarthy Insinuated That the "Freedom Caucus" is a Pack of Children

After chaotic days of turmoil in the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly abandoned demands for steep spending cuts from his right flank and instead relied on Democrats to pass the bill, at risk to his own job. The Senate followed with final passage closing a whirlwind day at the Capitol.
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“We’re going to do our job,” McCarthy, R-Calif., said before the House vote. “We’re going to be adults in the room. And we’re going to keep government open.”

OK, no shutdown...good.

A fork in the eyes of the Freedom Caucus... good. Don't be surprised if McCarthy also cut a deal with the Democrats to protect his speakership, in excange for not kowtowing anymore to the priorities of Pedo Gaetz, Gym Jordan and the rest of the MAGA terrorists in Congress.

No aid to Ukraine... bad. That only gives aid and comfort to Putin and I can't see how any rational adult in the Congress thought that was a good signal to send.

ETA: Pedo Gaetz says that he's going to try to oust McCarthy. McCarthy is saying he has no more fucks to give about Gaetz and his Band of Children.

Death in Politics

First, actual:

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a centrist Democrat who was elected to the Senate in 1992 in the “Year of the Woman” and broke gender barriers throughout her long career in local and national politics, has died. She was 90.

Three people familiar with the situation confirmed her death to The Associated Press on Friday.

Feinstein, the oldest sitting U.S. senator, was a passionate advocate for liberal priorities important to her state -- including environmental protection, reproductive rights and gun control -- but was also known as a pragmatic lawmaker who reached out to Republicans and sought middle ground.

My biggest quibble with Feinstein is that, in my opinion, she was too devoted to the maintaining the national security state, including expanding the reach of the NSA as much as technically possible. She was forever trying to expand the powers of government that would be useful to a fascist or authoritarian regime, while always trying to limit the ability of citizens to do something about that. On the other hand, she did oppose the use of torture by the CIA, which, when the history of the early part of this century is written decades from now, will be one of the deepest stains on the legacy of those those who were running things at the time, and on the nation as a whole.

Beyond that, I see no glory in staying so long on the job that one dies in harness.

Now, shifting gears to political death, the political obits are already being drafted for Kevin the Gutless.

A contingent of far-right House Republicans are plotting an attempt to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker as early as next week, a move that would throw the chamber into further disarray in the middle of a potential government shutdown, according to four people familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks.

Some members of the far-right faction of the party are coalescing around nominating a member of McCarthy’s leadership team, Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), to be the next speaker if they can successfully oust McCarthy, according to those people. The members think Emmer is more attuned to their concerns and will better deliver conservative results.

McCarthy has been engaging in full-blown appeasement since he got the job and, as he should have learned from history, appeasement ends with the bullies eating your lunch. Whores eventually get beaten and/or murdered, both on the street and in politics.

At this point, he ought to bring the Senate's bill up for a vote to keep the government open. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory.

Whoever the Fascist Caucus eventually gets in as Speaker, the outcome will be even more deadlock and bullshit evidence-free "investigations" from the likes of Gym Jordan.

Well, Randy apparently won't have to eat his MAGA hat.

One Thing That is Obvious: We Ask People in the Military and Federal LEOs to Put Their Bodies on the Line, But Kevin McCarthy Won't Risk His Fucking Job.

If McCarthy brought up a bill that could pass the Senate and keep the government running, the self-styled "Freedom Caucus" would move to sack him as Speaker. He'd still be a congressman, but he wouldn't make as much money and he couldn't whistle up an Air Force Gulfstream to fly back to California on weekends. And he'd have to move into a less-posh office.

For the good of the country, a bunch of privates, led by a corporal or a sergeant, will storm a building under enemy fire. Some of them might be killed or lose limbs. Pilots fighting forest fires fly low in horrible conditions to drop fire retardant. Fire crews will jump out of airplanes to fight such fires in remote country. Some of those guys pay with their lives.

But Little Kev won't risk his fucking leather chair in the House chamber to keep the government running and to pay those put their bodies on the line for us.

Even a Doormat Can Get Tired of Being Trod On (Updated)

Angry, frustrated and unable to lead a fractured and unruly Republican majority, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday told the colleagues threatening to oust him: Do it.

The embattled Republican leader essentially dared his hard-right flank to quit holding the risk of a vote to remove him from the job.

If you’re going to do it, go ahead and try, McCarthy told the Republicans behind closed doors.

“File the f——- motion,” McCarthy said, using a profanity for em phasis, according to those in the private meeting.

Kevin grew a spine. Maybe.

Or this could just be an act. Especially since McCarthy started an evidence-free impeachment inquiry in order to appease those who are holding the keys to his 'nads.

We'll now see if Matt the Alleged Child Predator has the balls to pull the trigger, if his little puppet has indeed cut his strings.

(My apologies to those who commented on the earlier post on this topic. In updating it, those were lost.)

Another Move to Guarantee the Re-Election of President Biden

Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday he is directing the U.S. House to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family’s business dealings, launching historic proceedings ahead of the 2024 election.

McCarthy said that House investigations so far “paint a picture of a culture of corruption” around the Biden family as Republicans probe the business dealings of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, from before the Democratic president took office.

Four years ago, he was singing a different tune about the power of a Speaker to open an impeachment inquiry.

And

It's nothing but pure vengeful politics. Their guy, as president, pressured a foreign nation to manufacture dirt against Biden. He orchesterated and egged on a violent coup attempt. Those things not only were not impeachable offences to Republicans, someof them allegedly cooperated with the coup attempt.

Speaking of corruption, the Republicans had no problem with the Spawn of the TOFF going all around the world when he was the president, complete with their Secret Service detail, to try and score deals that would enrichen the TOFF family. Not a quibble when foreign governments books large blocks of rooms in the TOFF's failing hotel. They uttered not a peep when the Daughter That The Toff Wants to Bang managed to score a raft of Chinese patents on her handbag designs in rcord time. Not a discouraging word was heard from the QAnon Party when the TOFF's son-in-law amassed a four billion dollar slush fund from Persian Gulf Arabs (half of that from Effendi Bone Saw).

For the 2024 general election, this shit is gold for the Democrats. Nothing about this bullshit will translate into support from independents, let alone democrats. Regardless how people feel about Biden's age, it's clearly obvious that they are far more disquieted about the griftiness and autocratic tendencies of the Party of Treason's leading candidate, with his string of court losses and ninety-one pending felony charges.

And then there is the extremism of the Forced Birth Party, which is a gold mine of attack fodder for the Democrats.

Why the Dems Aren't Freaking

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says Republican lawmakers may consider an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden over unproven claims of financial misconduct, responding to enormous GOP pressure to demonstrate support for Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

For one thing, compared to the grifting of the TOFF's family (see, $2 billion slush fund given by the Saudis to Jared the Wonder Boy), whatever Hunter may or may not have done is going to look like pretty small beer. Which the Democrats will happily point out. The Democrats will also happily point out all of the pressing issues confronting the country, but the MAGA Morons are laser-focused on bringing down Biden's son, who has had no role in his father's administration. Unlike Jared the Wonder Boy.

Oh, sure, all of that plays well for the MAGA Traitors. But as for indpendents and the non-MAGA Republicans, it won't play so well.

Speaking of MAGA Morons, Bozo Rudy had to concede, in court, that he has been lying though his teeth about election fraud.

Rudy Giuliani has conceded that he made public comments falsely claiming two Georgia election workers committed ballot fraud during the 2020 presidential race but is arguing that the statements were protected by the First Amendment.

That assertion by Giuliani, who as part of Donald Trump’s legal team tried to overturn results in battleground states, came in a filing Tuesday in a lawsuit by Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss. Their lawsuit from December 2021 accused the former New York City mayor of defaming them by falsely stating that they had engaged in fraud while counting ballots at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

They're going to still have to prove damages, but I suspect that won't be a difficult lift.

Elsewhere, another Republican candidate for president has been engaging in financial fuckery, with possible foreign funding.

A government watchdog group is asking federal regulators to investigate a $500,000 contribution to a super PAC backing Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s presidential bid, citing possible campaign finance laws violations.

The nonpartisan group Campaign Legal Center said it filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. The complaint says the business PassionForest, LLC, which sells artificial flowers on Amazon.com, did not have the financial means to make such a large contribution and was instead used to hide the identities of the true contributors to the political action committee America for Everyone, now called SOS America.

Campaign Legal Center also says the artificial flower shop accused in the scheme filed a trademark application listing a Chinese address and the seller information listed by Amazon.com shows a ZIP code in Shenzhen, in southeastern China. The group says the scheme could have been meant to hide foreign contributions, which are prohibited.

Suarez's superPAC wasted no time in throwing down the race card. Which one can take as a tacit admission of "OK, ya got me", if one is so inclined.

Finally, DeSantis's campaign got caught flirting with Nazi themes and had to do a ritual firing. Which should surprise nobody.

Of Course the MAGA Republicans Are Going to Put Their Twisted Pet Culture War Issues Ahead of National Defense

It's what they do.

The House passed a sweeping defense bill Friday that provides an expected 5.2% pay raise for service members but strays from traditional military policy with Republicans add-ons blocking abortion coverage, diversity initiatives at the Pentagon and transgender care that deeply divided the chamber.

Note that one of the MAGA congressmen used the term "colored people", probably because he caught himself at the last minute and didn't use the word that he really wanted to use. On a separate note, it would seem that Matt Gaetz hasn't yet gotten up the nerve to try to lower the sexual age of consent to age ten.

The Pro-Putin MAGA congressmen tried to pass a bill that would make their Uncle Vladdy proud, but even that was a vote too far for a majority of Republicans. You can see a list of the mouth-breathing, low-wattage, pro-Putinites, here. Most of them are known to be too stupid to be allowed to go outside in an electrical storm.

But it's what one might expect from a political party that is so, so enamored with having named Army bases after traitors.

McCarthy Falls to His Knees, Gives Matt Gaetz a Hummer on the House Floor and, In Turn, Is Elected Speaker of the House

Well, OK, it didn't happen exactly that way. But it was close to that.

Since he gave away a lot of power and about half of his spine, one wonderswhat is going to happen.

Here is my prediction: We are going to be in for two years of Leglislation by Terrorism. The spoiled children of the Trumpanzee wing of the GOP will thraten to shut down the government at every turn. There will be a default on the debt, leading to a massive downgrading of the creditwortiness of the U.S., which will greatly increase borrowing costs, which we will have to pay. Weapons, roads, you name it, all of that will need to be reduced because the government will have to pay more to service the debt.

Kevin McCarthy’s “Official” Portrait

As rendered by an AI, according to Stephen Colbert. Skip to 5:35 if you don't want to watch the entire monologue.

Dumpster Firing These Down, Here

Quote of the Day

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall lose his own soul, and still not gain enough votes to become speaker of the House?

--Paul Krugman

There's a Real Difference Between Being in a Minority and Carping and Being in a Majority and Having to Do Shit

But the Republicans in the House can't seem to grasp that.

Pressure mounting, divided Republicans left the speaker’s chair of the U.S. House sitting empty for a third day Thursday, as party leader Kevin McCarthy failed anew in an excruciating string of ballots to win enough GOP votes to seize the chamber’s gavel.

McCarthy lost a seventh round and was gaining no ground in an eighth. With his supporters and foes seemingly stalemated, feelings of both boredom and desperation seemed increasingly evident, with no end in sight.

Basically, 1/11th of the GOP Congressmen are driving this bus. So far, McCarthy has offered up enough to the crazies that he would be Speaker-in-Name-Only. Any one of them could cut him off at the knees if they so choose.

It would not be a suprise if, sooner or later, the others do something to stop it. But probably not, as they don't have the courage to do more than to whine anonymously to the press.

ETA: Eleven failed votes for McCarthy, so far. MAGAfreude, as Paul Krugman puts it.

The MAGA Klown Kar rolls on.

Surprise, Republicans! You Elected a Bunch of Clowns and Now You Have a Circus

House Republicans flailed through a second day of multiple balloting Wednesday, unable to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy as House speaker or to come up with a new strategy to end the political chaos that has tarnished the start of their new majority.

For a fifth time, Republicans tried to vote McCarthy into the top job as the House plunged deeper into disarray. That came moments after the fourth vote showed 20 conservative holdouts still refusing to support him, unchanged from the previous time around and leaving him far short of the 218 votes typically needed to win the gavel.

What did people expect, when they elected jackasses like Boebert, Gaetz, MTG, Gosar, Issa, Clyde and the rest of the Caucus of Bozos? None of them are there to govern, to try to do the people's business. They're bomb-throwers, nothing more. And because the GOP shanked the midterms, McCarthy needs the support of the lunatics to gain the speakership. McCarthy isn't giving up. He's measured the drapes, he believes that he's entitled to the job. So, for the time being, the locked-ward lunatics have the keys to the madhouse.

What's it going to take for McCarthy to realize that he can't pander enough to the crazies to win, and that, if he does win, he will be so neutered that he will be a speaker-in-name-only?

His other course is to freeze out the crazies, go full-moderate and cut a deal with enough Democrats to get to 218. Which should be a deal that cuts out the crazies altogether. And that will so enrage the base that the GOP will implode in 2024.

Or enough of the Democrats and the non-crazy Republicans pick someone who is not in the House to be Speaker. But that's a high-odds bet, in case you're gambling on this insanity.

Roll Out the Clown Car; McCarthy Ed.

Failing to elect party leader Kevin McCarthy as the new speaker of the House, Republicans adjourned in disarray Tuesday night, ending a raucous first day of the new Congress but hoping to somehow regroup on Wednesday from his historic defeat.

The abrupt end to a long, messy Day One showed there is no easy way ahead for McCarthy who promised to fight to the finish to claim the gavel despite opposition from the chamber’s most conservative members. Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy got just 203 in two rounds — less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber — and fared even worse with 202 in round three.

The question is how much of his soul McCarthy will have to trade away to get the job. He's already given away his balls to the QAnon wing of his party.

What could be interesting is if a number of Republicans decide to end this shit show and vote for Jeffries.

We'll see.

Putin’s Poodles in D.C.

Russian state TV sought to downplay the military and political support Zelenskyy received in Washington, stressing in a news segment that not all members of Congress showed up to listen to Zelenskyy’s speech.

It was completely foreseeable that the Russians would take comfort in GOP childishness. The Party of Treason keeps committing treason.

Different GOP House, Same Old Shit

In just 47 days, House Republicans will have the gavel, and we will be prepared to hold the Biden administration accountable from day one.

Our investigations are just getting started.

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) November 17, 2022

There are a lot of problems facing this country, but Gruppenführer McCarthy is laser-focused on Hunter Biden's laptop, the latest fetish for the Party of Stupid.

GOP to Putin: "Hold On, Vladimir, We've Got Your Back."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy expressed skepticism about sending more aid to Ukraine if Republicans take back the House in the upcoming midterm elections.
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The comments signal that bipartisan support for funding to Ukraine against Russia's invasion could be waning.

No matter how McCarthy quibbles about what he said, Putin is going to take his comments that all he has to do is hang on anf force his people to endure the war. Regardless of how much the Ukrainians desire to take back their country, the Russians plan to grind them into powder because the Ukrainians will run out of advanced arms.

And they will, if Putin's Poodles in the GOP manage to choke off supplying Ukraine.

Funny thing about the GOP and the Right: They always bleat about being strong and such, but when the rubber hits the road, they run away, screaming like a bunch of little kids.

I would say that we can either give Ukraine the tools they need to win or we can fight the Russians when they attack a NATO nation, such as the Baltics.

But I can't say that. The Republicans will run away from our treaty obligations to NATO. For like their Exalted Leedur-in-Exile, the word of Republicans are as long-lasting as a promise that was written on damp rice paper.

Republicans are Either Stupid as Fuck or Hypocrites. There is no Third Choice.

Over eight hours last Thursday night and into Friday morning, Representative Kevin McCarthy of California hit on many issues as he spoke on the House floor in an unsuccessful effort to thwart House passage of President Biden’s social safety net and climate change bill. But among his most audacious assertions was that Mr. Biden was to blame for the country’s failure to quell the pandemic.

Mr. McCarthy used this line of attack even as members of his own Republican Party have spent months flouting mask ordinances and blocking the president’s vaccine mandates, and the party’s base has undermined vaccination drives while rallying around those who refuse the vaccine. Intensive care units and morgues have been strained to capacity by the unvaccinated, a demographic dominated by those who voted last year for President Donald J. Trump.

Republicans are against getting vaccinated. They are against mask mandates. They are against social distancing. They are against every possible measure that can be taken to fight the pandemic.

But it's Biden's fault that the pandemic isn't over? Any Republican who buys that line of shit has to have an IQ significantly below room temperature.

Republicans are the sort of people who would jump off a cliff and then blame the Democrats for their foolishness (before they were dashed on the rocks below).

More than 90% of Democrats have been vaccinated. Less than 60% of Republicans have been vaccinated. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the polical affiliation of most of the people filling the COVID ICU wards these days.