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

tell me he's in jail still

The NYT reporters should never describe Matt Gaetz as "gesticulating with great force."

lol one GOP voter voted present, so as a result, Jeffries only missed by 5 votes this time

like McCarthy keeps saying he's close but he's lost a vote since yesterday and that's the extent of his progress.

Kevin's on track. going backwards is what the Republican party is all about

the next pivot is "do we really need a House of Representatives"

here we go again. round 5.

mccarthy is nominated. his nominator describes himself as "an army ranger and business guy", starts with "why would i nominate mccarthy?" and then talks about the dangers of dehumanizing opponents (in his own party). now he's talking about americans sending in reinforcements. he needs to learn about football as well, get the ball deep into the red zone and then go for 2. fuck going for one. go for 2.

not having a rule reducing the number of candidates each time is the problem, like if you could nominate an unlimited amount of people in round 1, then top 3 go to round 2, then top 2 from then on, that would probably solve this thing, but the way it is, I think we're headed for 735 rounds.

describes himself as "an army ranger and business guy"

that won't fly with QAnon. they know that the army and business are in cahoots to groom young men and pretend to sell pizza

this nomination speech for mccarthy has, at least twice now, spoken of people in his own party "cannot trust mccarthy". i like this message, he should keep repeating it

xp follow the pepperoni trail!

McCarthy told CNN earlier that he was not worried if his opposition grew on the fourth ballot. “It doesn’t matter — I have the most votes,” he said.

second-most

Boebert with the nom!

Meanwhile I just saw a clip of Jeffries speaking, which I guess I'd never seen before, and man his hand gestures are super annoying and distracting. Another one of these guys who studied the Bill Clinton Body Language book and just repeats it robotically. (Small complaint, I know, but I hate when politicians can't even seem human in front of a camera.)

I thought he spoke well while noticing his gesticulating with great force.

lol boebert nominates Donalds. she is wondering why the freedom caucus had to "fight so hard" in the negotiations for the house rules with mccarthy. uuuuuuuuuhhhhhh because you were in a fucking negotiation in which you had 20, they had 200, and they already caved to your demands? then she gets jeered at the end

https://i.imgur.com/nuB7dAi.png

she also took aim at trump (heavily recommended tactic) by saying that he should be supporting the freedom caucus.

Boebert says Trump needs to call McCarthy and tells him he should withdraw. Boos.

xpost

New York Times keeps repeating this stupid line:

Mr. McCarthy could win the speakership with fewer than 218 votes by persuading lawmakers who do not want to support him to instead vote “present” or to not vote at all.

that would only work if DEMS also voted present, ya dumbfux. if McCarthy's Republican detractors all voted present, Jeffries would win a majority of the votes cast.

and so far it doesn't seem like Dems are gonna do that.

I think Boebert's nom speech was the only one so far to get no applause

Who is that to Boebert's right/our left? That's an awesome dress, she looks like a superhero.

I thought he spoke well while noticing his gesticulating with great force.

He did speak well, I agree. Was just distracted by the theatrics.

Dunno, but I'm having fun trying to interpret the expression on her face. xp

Matthew 10:36: And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

(the only bible verse I know)

Going to be weird if this continues on January 6.

unless some Dems vote present, McCarthy has already lost on this ballot as well

Man this thread title is really delivering.

it's like fish in a barrel with these guys

mccarthy starting to remember that old saw about wrestling with a pig

Should I watch the NYT livestream like I did yesterday afternoon? These charlatans enervate me and this thread's funnier.

lol you clueless bimbo

Justin Amash, who left the Republican Party and the House a couple years ago, arrived and is floating himself as an alternative. "If they can’t decide on someone from their own conference, and they’re hesitant to pick someone from the other caucus, I’m an independent option."

Looks like McCarthy's strategy is to just keep having votes until everyone is bored and wants to go home

cant recommend livestreaming but the NYT live blog has been generating some chuckles:

I’m in the speaker's lobby peering into the chamber, and I can see a Republican member who is doing some shoe shopping on their phone.

The NYT live tally has been useful:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/01/04/us/politics/house-speaker-vote-tally.html

shit, Donalds got the memo that you're supposed to want the job, like george washington and jim jordan

GOP lawmaker Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), who voted for himself after he was nominated for speaker, just told reporters he never really wanted to be speaker and didn’t come to Washington with that goal.

that you're ^not^ supposed to want the job. obviously

"Me? I'm no hero . . . "

summer's not too far off, let's just call a recess and come back in the fall

same vote again. lol

feel like they should consider coming up with a plan

nah. One more vote should do it.

i feel like there are probably several million americans who are paying no attention at all and are getting very annoyed at phone notifications going off every 30 minutes informing them that mccarthy has not been chosen

We've had the losingest time

After so many rounds of voting and hearing the same couple of names, a slip-up was bound to happen. Democrat Dina Titus (Nev.) said “McCarthy” when her name was called before immediately saying “Jeffries” and laughing it off. Fellow Democrat Veronica Escobar (Tex.) almost did the same thing earlier on the fifth ballot but caught herself and awkwardly paused before saying “Jeffries!”

mccarthy's only winning scenario, at the moment, is for 17 democrats to accidentally say his name

its crazy they didnt whip the votes before all this what did they think would happen

this is like some version of purgatory, but with Subway

If you stand in front of a mirror and say his name 3 times do you get a result?

Can’t they vote by holding up auction paddles?

Kevin thought he had earned it

Pelosi would have made sure she had the votes