U.S. Politics January 2023: Kevin McCarthy's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Life

who is this billy goat bleating?

The hard-right maniacs should tell McCarthy they'll all vote for him if he promises to wear a red rubber clown nose at all times when on the House floor. At this point he'd go for it.

This is going to be exactly like the 4th, 5th, and 6th votes. McCarthy has already lost 7 votes to Donalds.

Yeah it's already over except for the next half-hour of roll-calling. I know they can't do this, but they should just start each round with the 20 lunatics and see if any have changed before bothering with the rest.

Donalds either missed or skipped the vote this time around, no idea if that means anything.

The Freeeeedom! caucus loves this shit. They get to make speeches in front of tv cameras, the world press, and all 435 representatives and they can say whatever the fuck they like. Why would they ever want this to end?

lol Gaetz voted for Trump

a safe choice

Sorry, I misread that as "a sane choice"

IMO the only way this ends is if they all vote to change the vote from roll call to secret ballot.

Even then I don't think it'd turn on anti-Kevins voting McCarthy, but people voting present, because nobody will know who didn't vote, and nobody will be able to see that Jeffries is going to win and potentially amend their vote

Matt Gaetz of Florida just voted for Donald J. Trump for speaker, possibly an olive branch after the former president has been encouraging the restive defectors to back Kevin McCarthy.

Why hasn't anyone voted for Reagan?

Why the fuck would you want a job like this when it's obvious that whatever Republican gets it is going to have 20 Joe Manchins subterfuging everything throughout your tenure and threaten to recall you at the first sign of dissatisfaction?

If I was McCarthy I'd tell his voters "fine, give it to Donald's", cos it's clear they don't want him, just someone to vote against

Didn't you notice the distinct chill even on the GOP side yesterday when that blowhard from Florida mentioned him? xpost

But lol that he keeps making deals and winds up only losing more votes anyway

Question: are McCarthy’s concessions binding to anyone else or just him?

I don't even think the 20 naysayers agree on that. Some I think just hate Kevin and would drop the act if he did, whereas I think people like Gibbs will put other people through this too.

I don't think it'd go well if they kneecapped the next nominee though, as that might be the one thing that makes moderate Republicans cut a tiny deal with Democrats. They'd only need to peel 5 votes really

BLOT: 20 white supremacists prefer a different white supremacist for Speaker than the current white supremacist who is running

I love the smell of GOP infighting in the morning

Lol he didn't gain a single vote that round

Sis·y·phe·an (adj): denoting or relating to a task that can never be completed

We must imagine Kevin McCarthy happy.

For the first time ever I agree with Charlie Kirk, we NEED Trump in D.C., on the ground, making it happen.

Trump needs to fly to DC today and begin brokering a deal. He gave us Middle East peace, fixed NAFTA, and forced NATO allies to pay. Pro-MAGA Reps are the key to the deal. He could negotiate this mess in 2 hours. Would massively boost his stock across the party right now.

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 4, 2023

charlie kirk is such a pathetic bastard

We must imagine Kevin McCarthy happy.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra)

https://i.imgur.com/yB8llzA.gif

trump has betrayed most members of his party at some point, and there is a 100.0% chance that he'll stab charlie kirk in the back in the future. that is going to be great, though

god please let that happen, please please let trump show up

He could pivot to a career doing Noxema commercials

Question: are McCarthy’s concessions binding to anyone else or just him?

― castanuts (DJP), Thursday, January 5, 2023 11:54 AM (thirty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I’ve been wondering this.

He gave us Middle East peace

yeah, things are pretty darn quiet in East Jerusalem these days

re: McCarthy's concessions - aren't they basically the equivalent of campaign promises? vote for me and i'll be Speaker under these terms, AND i'll make sure the cafeteria serves pizza everyday! i don't think they'd be binding to anybody else, but it may be that others find the caucus forcing them stoop to the same pathetic floor, now that it's been established.

Trump is now the first person to be impeached twice, lose the presidency and finish 4th in a Speaker of the House vote. Another historic distinction for him!

Xp: Are they even binding on him?

there is no chance we have a speaker by the weekend

i don't even think this amp is working

I suspect, to my horror, that there may well be some Frankenstein coalition created from this impasse, an abhorrent manifestation of House rule that America has never witnessed and the American people have never authorized.

— Rep. Clay Higgins (@RepClayHiggins) January 4, 2023

oh goody!

and on that day, Higgins discovered politicians from differing parties collaborating to work together on things. He saw this, and he called it "bipartisanship".

And he saw that it was bad. and then he farted.

Are they even binding on him?

Theoretically, no. But as a matter of political pragmatism, yes. As for binding any other candidate for speaker, not binding. The alternative candidate is free to cut their own deals for the votes they need to win.

https://i.imgur.com/yB8llzA.gif

Just realised who McCarthy reminds me of - the dumb normie guy who Steve Martin's Cyrano-esque character seduces Daryl Hannah for in Roxanne.

historically hilarious photo. putting it here for posterity.

https://i.imgur.com/HlDyeak.png

aoc with the vintage "problem?" face there is just *chef's kiss*

lol at thinking Trump successfully negotiated anything while in office

https://i.ibb.co/PTqyKMY/e7dd76d0-c883-494b-ae1d-bc58d050318c.jpg

who is this joker nominating Donalds this time around?

"i believe if you want to make change...you have to make change"

Change you can believe in!

xxpost Love AOC in the back of that photo... obv enjoying herself

mccarthy is pretty good at not making That Facial Expression. he makes a lot of other ones, but he keeps the edges of his mouth from turning downward

It's a face I would call the 'before' to goatse's 'after'

Just how many times does McCarthy need to beg for a belly rub from the Freedom Caucus by giving in to every single demand they can dream up, before he so completely disgusts a half dozen Republican reps from districts which aren't heavily gerrymandered in their favor that they bolt to make their own deal with Jefferies?

Rep. Hern, who got Boebert and someone else's out-of-pocket vote this go-around, has a very mysterious and isolated deet in his wiki bio:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FluzOOTWYBE8qiS?format=jpg&name=large