"You could make this stuff up but it wouldn't be nearly as pathetic...."

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As of this writing, Kevin McCarthy is 0-11.

(edit - he’s now 0-12 lolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll)

Once this column is complete, I may need to circle back to that first line and change it. I assume there will be more votes today. But since the last time something like this happened was 100+ years ago, I'm a little fuzzy on the protocol.

Since the promised "red wave" did not materialize, the loons are much more powerful than they would have been. And when you hand monumental dingbats like Lauren Boebert and Butt-Head lookalike Matt Gaetz power, this is the result. You elected arsonists and now you claim to be shocked that they are lighting fires. And with McCarthy, one of the first to rush down to Mar-a-Lago post-insurrection for a photo-op with its instigator, being such an unlikeable, toadyish shithead in the first place, it's very easy for the rather large section of the nation who still believe in democratic ideals to be enjoying all of this. Which we are. Lots.

And speaking of Trump, he tried to tamp of all this down via a few posts on his Truth Social page, which in years past would have driven acolytes like Boebert and Gaetz to their knees. But his hold over the party seems to be waning. Make no mistake. He's almost entirely responsible for all of this batshitery, but it's now taken on a life of its own. The cult of personality is still a cult, but with its leader spending his time playing golf and crashing Mar-a-Lago weddings, it's more like a chicken raving around the barnyard after getting its head lopped off. One member suggested that, having lost their fear of Trump, the only thing that would bring the hardliners back to the fold would be some public tongue lashings from Hannity and Tucker Carlson. After learning that Steve Bannon suggested on his podcast that members should vote for Donald Trump for speaker, guess who Matt Gaetz voted for Speaker? You could make this stuff up but it wouldn't be nearly as pathetic.

The Republican party no longer exists for the purpose of governance. All its newly elected House members, who gave them the majority they have been unable to claim, remain un-sworn in, sitting around doing their best to ignore newly disgraced congressman-elect George Santos, who, true to form, put out a press release via his webpage stating that he had been sworn in on the first day. At least he didn't claim to be Speaker of the House.

The party now is simply a collection of ranting talking heads, elbowing their way onto the right wing news channels, fund raising on manufactured outrage and spittle. They are speaking to the same 45,000 rubes who recently purchased $4.5 million dollars of digital drawings of Donald Trump dressed like a superhero shooting laser beams out of his eyes, so it's not like there ain't filthy lucre available out there. Nothing aids the grift more than hijacking the podium.

So far McCarthy has caved in on every one of their demands, including allowing a single member, at ANY time, to call for a vote on the floor to depose him, which is kinda like sending a hunter into the woods with an empty gun. Anybody who thinks this current circus is wild should stick around for things like when the debt ceiling needs to be raised. The chaos is the point. The chaos keeps them from having to actually govern, which they don't know how do do. They don't seem to want anything other than the stage.

It's important to remember that folks like Boebert and Gaetz were actually elected. People actually VOTED for them. The mind-dripping stupidity of a Boebert voter is, quite frankly, terrifying. As is the thought that anybody would vote for a man credibly accused of sex trafficking a 17 year old girl.

There is no greater argument for a massive increase in education spending than listening to Lauren Boebert speak.

A recent Vanity Fair article by Molly Jong-Fast referred to these types as "congressional Kardashians" and I wish I came up with that one. It’s brilliant.

I was taken by surprise by all this. Kevin McCarthy is a MAGA shithead. He does what Trump tells him to do. He's even more of an opportunistic weasel than Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, which should be impossible. He's utterly shameless and as dull as a butter knife. He's an election denier. I naively assumed that he was the ultimate rubber stamp.

Turns out he is not ENOUGH of a MAGA shithead.

This will get worse.

Do I hear 0-12?***

In a bit...

--tf

*** yep