It has been a tumultuous week, with the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy removed from his seat at the instigation of the far right of his Party as represented by Matt Gaetz. It has been a struggle for him to lead since he was given the gavel due to the inability of the far right of the Republican Party to compromise. His standing up to prevent a government shutdown, instead of being lauded was instead derided by this group of people. There are those who say they don’t want to govern. I would go one better and say they don’t want to govern a democracy. Given the rule change which allowed only one person to move to vacate the Speaker’s seat it was probably a forgone conclusion that the rule would be invoked eventually. It is why it was a condition for their support in the first place.
This is just the latest in a long string of actions the far right Republicans have taken in various areas of the country. The reactions in some areas have been rather interesting.
In North Carolina:
There are other young people who are looking very critically at the MAGA Commander in Chief:
So there is a glimmer of hope that people are starting to understand that MAGA Republicans’ desire is not to govern a democracy. The reason behind our government of checks and balances was to prevent the rule of a single individual.
In the wake of the bumbling actions of those in the House the United States is ill prepared to deal with international crises such as what is happening in Ukraine and what has happened just the other day in Israel with the attack by Hamas. One of the things President Biden has been intent on in the Ukraine war was trying to prevent the spread of fighting. Now we have Israel declaring a state of war. While this is not, on the surface, connected to the Ukraine war Hamas’s backer is Iran, which is also involved in supplying Russia with weapons to use in Ukraine. No they are not connected, yet both Ukraine and Israel are supported by the United States.
Israel has been racked with division recently with the right leaning government of Netanyahu passing a law that removes the power of Israel’s Supreme Court to cancel government decisions deemed “extremely unreasonable”. Some have speculated that this distraction has led to Israel’s not being prepared for this kind of attack. It is something we should be thinking about in our own House.
It only takes a spark and the Middle East has always been volatile. The spread of the war in Israel is a very real concern.
I stand with all the innocent people caught up in the horrendous fighting in Ukraine and Israel.
90 comments:
I remember back when the Israeli elected Netanyahu in 2009 right after Obama had won the '08 election here. I was disappointed because any chance Obama might have had to work a peace deal between the Israeli and the Palestinians basically tanked when Netanyahu returned to the helm in Israel. (It was a long shot anyway.)
Long shot or not, I've never been a fan of Netanyahu.
I'm now wondering if, after this current round of hostilities plays out, and I think it will eventually…. Wondering if this massive intelligence failure will damage Netanyahu enough to finally break his grip on the Israeli voters? (Still not a fan of Netanyahu.)
I have started to wonder if Hamas chose this moment because Biden was so intent on getting Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations?
It has also pushed Ukraine news off of the front page, or just about any page. Putin is probably smiling right about now.
It is hard to know what voters will decide. Look how hard it is for us to get rid of Trump. He keeps popping back up like a bad penny. I doubt people even realize the House is without a Speaker.
Off topic: PBS's Frontline is doing a two-hour special on Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter (now renamed "X"). A brief break from the wars and Republican conflict perhaps?
I saw earlier that the Elon Musk PBS show was on tonight. Somehow I find that story rather depressing. Not as bad as the wars, no, but still depressing. I think I would need something totally different to take my mind off the wars. A comedy perhaps.
A question...I thought the US had stockpiled military equipment in Israel. Why is it that we had to fly in more? Was it just not the right kind or something?
Also, there is word that some US weapons that Russia captured in Ukraine were given to Hamas by Russia. The Russians are trying to put out the story that Ukraine sold them to Hamas. If the Russians did give the weapons to Hamas there is a good chance they knew in advance about what Hamas was planning.
"Why is it that we had to fly in more?"
Not sure. But the stockpiles were meant for us to use against probably Iran. Your quess seems plausible, not what Israel needs for use against Hamas.
"The Russians are trying to put out the story that Ukraine sold
them to Hamas."
The Middle East can be a real rat's nest of competing betrayals, but I don't think the Israeli will buy that story.
I have to wonder was Hamas just stupid or was the intent a suicide mission? For what purpose? They had to know what Israel's response would be. They had to know Gaza would be hit in response. And hit hard. Hostages won't stop that. Was the purpose to start a larger war?
Some of this looks like ISIS. Do they want to be hunted down one by one like AQ?
I still smell something rotten in this.
"For what purpose?"
Depends on who you're asking.
The planners who told the shock troops to bring back hostages to surround the planners and protect them from Israeli retaliation have a different purpose than the shock troops they sent in to (mostly) die in Israel.
And neither group are too awfully worried about how reprisals might effect the civilian population of Gaza.
I'm wondering what purpose the Israeli invasion of Gaza is going to serve. What do they see as their end-game here?
________________________________
The current votes for Speaker of the House stands at 211 for Hakkim Jeffries (Democrat), 111 for Steve Scalise, and 99 for Jim Jordan.
Doesn't look like the impasse is gonna be broken any time soon.
I read that Germany has now banned Hamas operations in their country. My question would be, why were they allowed to operate there in the first place?
I'm wondering what purpose the Israeli invasion of Gaza is going to serve. What do they see as their end-game here?
I wonder that myself. The last time they did that they lost a lot of people and the people of Gaza paid a heavy price. Booby traps as far as the eyes can see.
Now I could understand if they were able to locate the hostages and the Hamas terrorists. Then they could do a limited operation to recover the hostages and take out Hamas. But unless they can filter out Palestinian civilians and move them out of the way it will make it very hard to do either of those things. Because Hamas is now using the civilians of Gaza as cover. Bombing the place to rubble probably isn't helping much either. I understand the rage involved here, but the solution is far more complex. You need people on your side.
This is a totally nightmare scenario for Israel and the innocent Palestinians.
Doesn't look like the impasse is gonna be broken any time soon.
All it would take is just a few Republicans to vote for Hakim Jeffries...
"…why were they allowed to operate there in the first place?"
My guess is that Germany has not previously designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. (I suspect that failure may be remedied here soon.)
The Republicans recessed for the weekend with Jim Jordan now named as their nominee for Speaker of the House, and him no more popular than he was before Steve Scalise threw up his hands in frustration and pulled out the race for Speaker.
I don't think Jordan can get the votes.
And I don't see that they've got a backup plan in case of Jordan's probable failure.
I am hoping that Jordan can't get the votes. He is part of the problem. I think there are at least 51 people against him.
They can get the votes for a Speaker if they can find someone the Democrats will vote for. In all honesty that is the way it should be done. It may make it easier to get legislation passed in the future. Bi-partisanship works.
Meanwhile unfortunately for Russians the Ukrainians are not distracted by what is happening in the Middle East. They continue to make gains, slowly but steadily.
"I think there are at least 51 people against him."
It's being said that he's gonna push for a public vote by Tuesday. And Trump's backing his play. We'll soon 'nuff find out how many Republican Representatives are willing to publicly cross the radical right-wing faction and Trump himself.
Hakeem Jeffries said something on Sunday about seeking a 'bi-partisan' solution to the Republicans' Speaker dilemma, but I don't see that happening with Trump lurking in the background.
It sounds like Jordan has gotten some more Republicans to cave. Putting people like that in charge is how democracies die.
"Jordan has gotten some more Republicans to cave."
I figured there'd be about half of that 50 or so who'd not be able to oppose him in a public vote. (Not on the first round anyway; Jordan loses the first round and some of them will find that to be an excuse to not vote for him on subsequent rounds of voting.)
I'd still like to see some Republicans show some courage and vote for Hakim Jeffries. I would so love to see the far right get a good comeuppance. Right now they are the extreme danger, not the far left.
It looks like Biden is visiting Israel on Wednesday.
Looks like Biden had MGM-140s (a/k/a 'ATACMS') shipped to Ukraine on the down-low so's not to spoil the surprise. The Ukrainians successfully sprang the news against Russian air assets this morning. Politico
________________________________
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Jim Jordan has already failed to win the Speakership on the first ballot. He appears to be settling in for multiple ballots. His detractors appear willing to do the same. Politico
And, turning to Hamas vs Israel…
It appears that no journalist wants to come right out and actually mention this, but I'm getting the impression that neither Egypt nor Hamas wants that Rafa crossing opened up for use by the people of Gaza. They neither one seem to want to have Palestinians fleeing to Egypt.
A visual on those burning helicopters.
He appears to be settling in for multiple ballots. His detractors appear willing to do the same. Politico
I'm hoping his detractors stand firm. I still have some hope that there are some real patriots in the House who understand what is at stake if they let the extremists, like Jordan, have control.
They will take another vote on Wednesday.
I'm getting the impression that neither Egypt nor Hamas wants that Rafa crossing opened up for use by the people of Gaza. They neither one seem to want to have Palestinians fleeing to Egypt.
I understand Hamas, but Egypt is rather a sad turn of events. So much for Arab brotherhood.
The summit with Biden and the Arab leaders has been cancelled because of the bombing of the hospital in Gaza which killed hundreds of people. I understand Arab leaders concern about angering their own populations, but communication is very important now. This whole thing could so easily escalate out of control. And getting the innocent people out of harms way should be the priority.
"So much for Arab brotherhood."
Jordan (the country, not the Republican Jim Jordan), in the person of their King Abdullah II, has made a public pronouncement on behalf of both Jordan and Egypt (where they've been a little bit more circumspect 'bout it; not sure this statement was authorized in Cairo, but I am sure Abdullah's right.) No Palestinian refugees will be accepted in Jordan nor in Egypt! The 2.1 million Gazans will soon find their living space shrunk by 30-35% or so as their ever increasing numbers are further crowded into the area south of the Wadi Gaza with no place else to go.
(Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States don't want to take in Palestinians either, and won't. In general, other Arabs don't want Palestinians gettin' anywhere close to them. All that talk about the Muslim "Ummah" is politically inspired bullshit and always has been.)
________________________________
Returning then to the Republican politician Jim Jordan….
As I wrote earlier (Lee C. @ Mon Oct 16, 03:30 pm ↑↑) I still expect Jordan to lose by an even larger margin today, if he allows a vote today. Trump may even abandon him soon, may declare his efforts to have been 'not smart'.
That'll be the final kiss of death, if Jordan's candidacy lasts that long.
I note that Egypt has now made it explicit by publicizing their justification for refusing refugees from Gaza (which inherently admits their refusal to accept refugees from Gaza). According to Egyptian President Sisi the Palestinians would bring embedded terrorists with them who might then attack Israel from their new bases in Egyptian territory and spark a counterattack by Israel against the terrorists and terrorist bases in Egypt. Risking renewed war between Egypt and Israel.
They suggest that Israel should house and support the anti-Israeli terrorists inside Israel instead. (Yeah, right… Like that's gonna fly.)
Yes, you were right Jim Jordan did lose by a larger vote the second time around. Not a lot more, just 2 more, but still he did not make it over the top. He has not thrown in the towel, though. Unfortunately.
Both Egypt and Jordan are already afraid that their Palestinian populations are enough to destabilize their governments. They don't want more.
Humanitarian aid should be let into Gaza, though. I don't know if that is Israel, Hamas or Egypt that is the sticking point for that.
The 2.1 million Gazans will soon find their living space shrunk by 30-35% or so as their ever increasing numbers are further crowded into the area south of the Wadi Gaza with no place else to go.
They are in an untenable position. They are held hostage just as surely as those people Hamas kidnapped and dragged into Gaza.
Just a passing thought regarding the ATACMS that the US sent. These contain cluster munitions instead of the regular kind that would aide in the destruction of the Kerch bridge. Cluster munitions seem ideal for use in destroying things widely dispersed.
My thought is that perhaps it isn't such a bad thing to leave the Kerch bridge intact and go after the equipment, munitions and soldiers that are brought over it instead. Destroying the supply route leaves those assets intact, to be used somewhere else or brought in via some other route. Eliminating them rather than the route means they are no longer available for the Russians to fight with. Leaving the bridge intact will also allow for the withdrawals of Russian soldiers or civilians from Crimea. The Ukrainians could always destroy it after they leave.
"Not a lot more, just 2 more…"
It'll grow again come the third round.
"The Ukrainians could always destroy it after they leave."
Could leave it up as well, get access to Russian tourist money.
Or Russian refugees...
Biden's supposed to deliver a 'prime time' foreign policy address to the nation tomorrow night, concentrated on supporting both Israel and Ukraine. NBCNews
It remains to be seen which broadcast networks will carry his remarks, but I'll be hoping something I can pick up will carry it. (PBS may be my best bet.)
Given it's a serious war situation my bet is we will see it on all the major networks, unless there is football on...
Btw, the ATACMS are getting good reviews from the Ukrainians.
Thursday night football has been locked up by Amazon Prime--they're trying to get into the streaming video business with a big footprint, and they thought buying up Thursday night football would be a good opening move. (Turns out it wasn't.)
Time to vote for Speaker of the House again. No vote held. Instead Jim Jordan "suspended" his bid for the Speakership and is supporting a temporary expansion of powers for Speaker Pro Tem, Patrick McHenry. (Jordan didn't want the new count publicized.)
Judging by some of the leaked inside information coming out of that House Republican conference room I would dearly have loved to be a fly on the wall during that debate.
I have a really easy solution for Republicans, take another vote and vote for Hakeem Jeffries.
Thursday night football has been locked up by Amazon Prime-...
I thought someone told me that they would still broadcast the local games on the regular channel, in our case ABC channel 5, if the Vikings are playing. Not sure, though.
Well it looks like at least channel 5 is showing Biden's speech live.
It was a good speech.
In general it was a good speech, but…
I think Biden would have been well served to put off his address for another day and get a full night's sleep. His speech impediment was noticeable, although it manifested as more of a lisp, a failure to always get all the consonants clearly enunciated rather than a full on stutter. (Most of the time--the stutter showed up on occasion.) And he could also have used some time to work on his cadence.
Yeah, I know that sounds petty, but let's face it: It's election season already and it's real important that he beats Trump one more time.
________________________________
They'd need five (5) Republican votes to elect Jeffries as Speaker; ain't gonna get 'em any time soon, if ever.
________________________________
The Vikings don't have another Thursday night game scheduled for this year (although they've got a couple of games that are "TBD", i.e. exact time and date yet to be determined, but that's awaiting decision on whether they get another Monday Night Football slot, not a Thursday night slot.) And, yeah, limited local coverage is allowed, but 'local coverage' is strictly defined. There will only be the one station allowed to qualify as 'local coverage'.
It's probably better if the Vikings do not have a Thursday or a Monday night game this season. They are not looking their best so far.
It looks like one if our ships ship down some missiles and drones sent from Yemen by the Houthis. No exact determination of their intended target.
Yes, Biden did have a few slips, but the content of the speech was good. I am sure the Republicans would attack him no matter what his delivery.
Jim Jordan is going to hold another vote on his bid for Speaker of the House at 9:00 am CDT. That's the schedule anyway; we'll have to wait and see if he allows that vote to go forward.
Yup, lost again. This time Jordan lost 3 more votes. Still going backwards.
He lost five votes. Last time he got 199 votes; this time he got 194. (There were increased numbers absent; they didn't think it necessary to stay in D.C. on a Friday just for Jordan's ego.)
You would think after losing 3 times he would get the message. I hear the Republicans are taking a vote to see if he should drop out. If I were him i would have done that after the first vote.
They voted he should drop out.
"They voted he should drop out."
They voted to pull his nomination is what they did. They de-nominated him. I don't think there's a rule for that, but they did it anyway. And he didn't fight it.
The House Trumpkans/Republicans are scheduled to select their new nominee for Speaker of the House by secret ballot on Tuesday morning, 8:00 am CDT. There will be rumors flying thick and fast--spinning like bats coming out of a cave at dusk--until Tuesday morning, when all Hell may break loose. (An actual floor vote on the anticipated nominee is not yet scheduled.)
________________________________
I notice that public demonstrations are breaking out all over the Arab world demanding that what they've long described as 'an open air prison' for Palestinians must be continued at all costs. The Palestinians must remain prisoners in that prison they call Gaza.
And they must certainly not be asked to make room or welcome for Muslim Palestinian refugees. Can't have that, no.
This bullshit we been hearing 'bout a Muslim community, a Muslim 'Ummah' as they call it, is precisely that--bullshit, politically inspired bullshit--nothing more.
Meanwhile, back in Ukraine, the fight goes on. Apparently the Russians incurred some severe losses around Avdiivka, losing up to 1,400 men and 175 fight vehicles. That's what you get for attempting to attack an 85 foot artificial mountain controlled by your enemy.
It appears that Ukraine has crossed the Dnipro again. This time advancing farther in from the river crossing. It seems that area was lightly populated with Russian forces. They had been moved elsewhere. Oops.
I notice that public demonstrations are breaking out all over the Arab world demanding that what they've long described as 'an open air prison' for Palestinians must be continued at all costs.
It sounds like many of them are supporting Hamas. They seem to think that Israel shouldn't exist. Doesn't bode well for any kind of solution.
I'd heard those tales of Russian woe in Ukraine just yesterday, but they weren't being carried on what I'd call 'most credible' news sources. So I was waiting for some more confirmation (which appears to be coming out of Ukraine now.) Some sources were even calling the push in Kherson Oblast an actual, real 'breakthrough' of the Russian lines east of Kherson. (I'm waiting to see if that was hyperbole.)
Mainstream media newsites are all concentrating on Hamas vs Israel and seem to have lost track of what's happening in Ukraine.
________________________________
"Doesn't bode well for any kind of solution."
Don't think there's gonna be quick solution. Israel's gonna invade northern Gaza--boots on the ground--Palestinians fleeing south. Gonna take awhile. The Palestinians will be piling up at the Rafah gate and demanding sanctuary in Egypt. Egypt will refuse them entry. Gonna get ugly at that border crossing. (Related: French intelligence has come out with an assertion that the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was not hit by an Israeli air-strike; backs up our separate intelligence conclusion.)
On the other hand:
"Oct 22 (Reuters) - Russian forces have foiled several attempts
by Ukrainian units to cross the Dnipro River in the southern
Kherson region over the past day, Russia's defence ministry
said on Sunday.
"According to the ministry, Ukrainian 'sabotage and
reconnaissance' teams were stopped while trying to cross the
river near the villages of Pridniprovske, Tiahynka and Krynky.
"Russia also said it had destroyed Ukrainian personnel,
water-crossing equipment and vehicles near the village of
Stanislav.
Reuters
They make mention of the contrary claims to the effect that the Ukrainians had finally achieved that much reported 'breakthrough' of the Russian lines. But note that Russians are flatly denying that.
Gonna get ugly at that border crossing.
Yes. I have been wondering about the seeming indiscriminate bombing of Gaza by Israel and the shutting off of water and electricity. I was just listening to a survivor of the festival attack. She was saying that it wasn't just Hamas fighters, or "soldiers" as she called them, that took part in that attack. She also accused "civilian" Gaza residents of being there. If true it might explain the Israeli actions.
In any case it will not matter to the Arab "street". They will always side with the Palestinians. They will only see the pain and suffering in Gaza. They will not see the pain and suffering in Israel.
(Related: French intelligence has come out with an assertion that the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was not hit by an Israeli air-strike; backs up our separate intelligence conclusion.)
An independent CNN investigation draws the same conclusion.
But note that Russians are flatly denying that.
I suspect the Russians are lying.
"She also accused 'civilian' Gaza residents of being there."
I imagine a fair proportion of the fighters who came across were what we'd call 'irregular' forces, i.e. local supporting militia. Who's a native hero and who's just a brutal killer often depends on who's telling the tale. (Think Davy Crocket, fighting at the Alamo.)
So, yeah, some of the Gazan population could be quite eager to join Hamas in the slaughter of Jews (not all of them, but quite a few).
I'm afraid that years, decades even, of fairly brutal conflict has created a substantial cadre of Israeli Jews who'd be overly pleased to return that treatment to the Palestinians. (They've elected and reëlected Netanyahu for years now. They ain't committed to being gentle either.)
________________________________
"I suspect the Russians are lying."
Gonna havta keep a longer watch to know for sure. But, in general I think the Russians lie more than the Ukrainians do 'bout these things.
________________________________
The Trumpkan/Republican party has nine (9) declared candidates for the position of Speaker of the House. Somehow one (1) of these guys (they're all guys), one of these guys has to get 217 votes from the Trumpkan/Republican caucus which consists of a grand total of 222 members--gotta get 217 out of 222--split nine ways. That math ain't lookin' good; the odds don't seem to work out. I ain't bettin' on any of 'em.
I'm afraid that years, decades even, of fairly brutal conflict has created a substantial cadre of Israeli Jews who'd be overly pleased to return that treatment to the Palestinians.
Yes, there are extremists on both sides. The Hamas attack will only create more. It will always be the moderates who are caught in the middle.
At the moment there is really no good solution to this. We will be lucky if it doesn't become a regional war. That only benefits Vladimir Putin.
The Trumpkan/Republican party has nine (9) declared candidates for the position of Speaker of the House.
Otherwise known as the thundering herd. McCarthy has endorsed Tom Emmer, from Minnesota. Emmer made a phone call over the weekend to Trump. Gotta kiss up to be eligible, I guess. You may not recall, but Emmer was one of those who signed the brief for that Texas lawsuit that tried to overturn the 2020 election.
I have not liked Emmer since then. He did subsequently vote to certify the election results, though. But given the phone call he is still firmly in Trumpkin territory.
Perhaps it is time to look outside the House for a Speaker. Just not Trump.
There is the other problem for the residents of Gaza and other countries that have coastlines.
That is melting in Antarctica.
Gaza may become even thinner than it already is.
"Perhaps it is time to look outside the House for a Speaker."
Little early I think. They don't even vote on the current crop until tomorrow (assuming they actually get to it tomorrow)
One of the strivers for the Republican nomination for Speaker of the House (Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania) has withdrawn his name from consideration. So now the gaggle is down to eight (8). That'll help some but not 'nuff.
I think it's likely gonna be a real mess when, as is most likely, their newly chosen fourth nominee can't get to 217 votes.
The gaggle is now down to seven (7); Gary Palmer (Alabama) has withdrawn; voting is still scheduled to begin in five minutes.
The Trumpkan/Republicans are gonna try again to select a nominee for the position of Speaker of the House, tonight, yes, tonight. This time they've got six (6) applicants, some of whom have made the run before, but none of whom are McCarthy, Scalise, Jordan, nor Emmer.
(Goin' with the second stringers; not a good sign.)
Yup, Emmer went down in flames, losing 26 votes. Trump made sure of that. The far right is continuing the pressure campaign to get a Speaker of their choosing.
There was an article in my paper suggesting that Liz Cheney be nominated.
If I were a Republican now I would be wanting to make the Trumpkins pay and pay big. I'd vote with the Democrats for Hakeem Jeffries. Or at least make a deal with them for a more moderate Republican Speaker.
The Trumpkan/Republicans are gonna havta fail spectacularly a couple more times before either of those things become possible.
First they fail again--couple of times at least.
Then they get vicious and loud to go along with the fast spreading plague of the crazies they're slipping into already.
Then maybe…. Not before sometime next week though. Lay in a supply of popcorn and watch for awhile.
Gonna be a show.
Looks like Ukraine is amping up their assaults on Crimean targets. Newsweek
They are halfway through the vote for Speaker and so far there are no Republicans jumping ship. We may end up with an election denier as the Speaker.
It's looking like Republicans caved to the hardliners instead of trying to work with the Democrats. Not the outcome I was hoping for.
Mike Johnson is the new Speaker of the House.
I wouldn't count on him lasting too long in that position. (Of course, I wasn't counting on the conservative Republican remnants caving to the radical right-wingers either, so there's that to consider.) But if he can get us an annual budget and take a government shutdown off the table for now, that'll help some. I don't know where he's gonna stand on assisting Ukraine.
An active shooter in Lewiston, Maine. They are reporting 16 dead and 50 to 60 wounded. The shooter is still at large.
After sleeping on the news that the Trumpkan/Republican House had agreed on a new Trumpkan Speaker of the House, I decided I should not have been surprised that, having finally stood up for a change, the Republican wing would ultimately cave to Trumpkans. I should have been surprised that the Republicans ever stood in Jordan's way in the first place.
The idea that they'd immediately panic, and then fold en masse, after successfully challenging the Trumpkans hadn't occurred to me, but that's because I wasn't surprised enough when they first stood up to their Trumpkan wing.
In the meantime, I've read up on Mr. Mike Johnson. The political reporters have him classified as a White Christian Nationalist (a Christer). And it seems he promised that he is gonna be able to work magic as Speaker of the House. He's gonna do things that were undoable for Kevin McCarthy, apparently because God is gonna back him up, probably without thunderbolts and pillars of fire, but with whatever's necessary.
This does not bode well.
Word is that Mike Johnson is contemplating ways to separate legislation on aid to Israel (which he supports) from aid to Ukraine (which he either does (kinda) or does not support, depending on who he's talking to at any particular moment). He's seemingly not yet settled on how he's gonna try to accomplish that move, but he's workin' on it. NYT
Oh, yes, but he is "ordained by God", you know so he can get anything done.
I agree, if we have someone with that mentality as Speaker it will not be good.
We will be lucky we don't end up a theocracy like Iran with it's morality police.
The so called moderate Republicans who caved have a lot to answer for.
"We will be lucky we don't end up a theocracy like Iran with
it's morality police."
I don't think that's very likely. Possible though….
"The so called moderate Republicans who caved have a lot to
answer for."
Moderate Republicans? Where do you find any moderate Republicans? I haven't seen any 'moderate' Republicans in probably about 20 years. (Not that win elections anyway--they don't make it past the primaries; Hell they don't even run for office anymore, if they even still call themselves Republicans.)
There are some conservative Republicans who haven't yet abandoned the Constitution in favor of autocracy, but they're getting driven out of the Trumpkan/Republican Party--John Boehner, Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Ben Sasse, I could name a dozen others, or more. But they're not 'moderates'. The moderates left the party even before the conservatives took to retiring en masse.
Now we got a radical right-winger winning the job of Speaker of the House, and you're calling the people who voted for him 'moderate'? How's that work out for ya? 'Cause I don't see it.
(There's still gonna be a show. He's gonna try to pull Jesus out of his pocket to thrash the liberals for him. And he ain't gonna find no pocket Jesus in those pants--and things gonna get frantic right 'round the time he and his cohorts discover that. The show got put off is all--it's still comin'; it's inevitable.)
Now we got a radical right-winger winning the job of Speaker of the House, and you're calling the people who voted for him 'moderate'?
*sigh* Yes, by definition if you vote for a hard right anti-women's rights, anti-LGBTQ rights or anti-anything that doesn't reflect his views Speaker then moderate you are not.
There's still gonna be a show. He's gonna try to pull Jesus out of his pocket to thrash the liberals for him.
And they will shove his extreme hard right views right back at the Republican Party in general. They have already started. The only question is will the American people ever really listen?
If those Republicans who have retired en masse really wanted to defend the Constitution from the party they have helped create then they should form another independent conservative party to oppose the Trumpkin/hard right Republican Party.
" The only question is will the American people ever really
listen?"
Don't know. I had the demise of the Republican Party predicted pretty well. It was all going more or less along the lines I'd long predicted when they noticed they were losing the voters in the general elections, and then they made a move I had not anticipated.
They allied with the radical right-wingers, with the fascists and authoritarians. They picked up another 5% or so in the vote totals with that move, gathered in the hard right-wingers who'd given up on voting and were cleaning their guns instead and trying to figure out how to mount their coup.
That got 'em back in the White House (although Hillary won the general election by about 7 million votes, the rural bias allowed Trump to pull out a victory in the Electoral College).*
Since then they've surprised me a couple of times. I wasn't expecting that move. (I expected the hard right turn to come after they were too weak to pull it off, but Trump did win the Electoral College tally and here we are). It was a step off into territory I hadn't surveyed in advance; they got off my surveyed territory a step early; out into strange territory. Now they surprise me sometimes.
Can they keep it together long enough to overthrow the Constitution? I don't know. This next presidential election will give us a good idea though.
_________________________
* The rural bias was intentionally written into the Constitution back when land was wealth and they had an idea they were gonna set up a government by an enlightened, landed aristocracy. Well, the world turned. Now wealth is wealth and land is land. But the rural bias is still written into the Constitution.
The Russians say they shot down 36 drones on over Crimea on Saturday. ABCNews
I suspect that means we'll see a missile barrage goin' out that direction in the near future.
Yeah, I see it.
"Oct 29 (Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine are locked in a
stalemate on the frontlines of their war and the two sides
need to sit down and negotiate an end to the conflict,
Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus
and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said over the
weekend."
Putin's got his mouthpiece asking for negotiations, or, rather, trying to prod NATO into asking for negotiations. Lukashenko don't say squat about the political end of it without directions from Putin.
Been hints coming out that the Russian military is starting to feel some pain from this war of attrition they've maneuvered themselves into. This is another hint.
Can they keep it together long enough to overthrow the Constitution? I don't know. This next presidential election will give us a good idea though.
Yes. I thought what happened last time and the Jan. 6th aftermath would kind of get people's attention, but not so much.
What is rather scary is the far right going after the local elections, trying to remake the country from the ground up. You see it with the school board elections where they are trying to get into a position to control curriculum and what children are allowed to read, via book banning. That kind of thought control doesn't bode well for an open society.
As Liz Cheney said, we have been warned.
Been hints coming out that the Russian military is starting to feel some pain from this war of attrition they've maneuvered themselves into.
That doesn't surprise me. They have been taking some rather serious losses if some of the stories out of Ukraine are accurate. I think they would be rolled up faster if Ukraine had confidence in the United States to continue to back them. I don't think Ukraine wants to be caught in the middle of an advance without ammo.
I ran across a reference to Bakhmut yesterday. Reuters (Nobody talks much about Bakhmut anymore on account of Bakhmut is gone--nobody there anymore, just rubble. There's been a point of persistent contact between the two combatant forces where Bakhmut used to be, but there's no town there anymore, just rubble.) The Russians are trying to push the Ukrainians out of the area again. Don't seem to be working.
"…but not so much."
Not so much, but maybe enough. We don't havta wake up the whole country, just enough of the previously complacent voters to overwhelm that 5% of openly fascist additions to the new Trumpkan/Republican coalition (which now includes even some clearly neo-nazi elements and even a few I'd describe as real honest-to-christ anarchists).
Happily, it seems to me, some people are starting to notice.
And what they're doing with local governments (school boards especially) is likely to get noticed as well. That may not work out any better for them than has their Supreme Trumpkins 'victory' in the Dobbs case (overturning Roe v Wade), which 'victory' has come back to bite 'em in the ass. The school book burnings might get noticed as well.
Post a Comment