A Pointless Endeavor

House Republicans find themselves practically in the same place they were three weeks ago, but in much more political peril

Well, the House of Representatives FINALLY has a new Speaker today, with Louisiana’s Mike Johnson winning enough votes on the 4th ballot taken since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was turfed on October 3rd.

It took four different Republicans being selected as the Republican nominee to do it, but they finally did it. Twenty-two days later than it needed to.

What is the practical difference in governance between McCarthy and Johnson? Very little. Both have their heads so far up Donald Trump’s ass that Trump could floss with their hair. Which makes the objections by Colorado’s Ken Buck, among others, to previous Speaker candidates completely pointless and ridiculous.

The difference will come in what happens over the next year.

Kevin McCarthy basically threw himself on a grenade to avert a government shutdown in September. He knew that, by coming to an agreement with House Democrats, a continuing resolution would jeopardize his Speakership. He did it anyway, a rare moment of political courage from a politician like McCarthy who is a consummate careerist.

Mike Johnson will not do such a thing. Mike Johnson. He will shut down the government, if only because he knows chuckleheads like Matt Gaetz will hold a proverbial gun to his head if he doesn’t.

If you thought Congressional Republicans looked bad in the eyes of the public through their last three weeks of tomfoolery, just wait and watch what’s going to happen to GOP electoral prospects once that happens.

On top of all that, electing Johnson speaker puts the third highest position in our Federal Government in the hands of the guy who was the architect of the Congressional Republicans amicus brief in the fakakta Texas lawsuit that attempted to overturn the election. He also was one of Trump’s impeachment counsels AND one of the 147 Republicans who voted against the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election AFTER the attempted Trump coup d’etat of January 6th. Dude was a true believer.

“There is still reason for hope” that Mr. Trump might win, he told a conservative Louisiana talk radio host a week after the election, citing “credible allegations of fraud and irregularity.” Charges that voting machines had been “rigged” had “a lot of merit,” he asserted in another radio interview.

“When the president says the election is rigged, that’s what he’s talking about — that the fix was in,” Mr. Johnson added.

When somebody shows you who they are, believe them.

And all with everything going on in the world right now. What a great time to make an inexperienced, isolationist conspiracy theorist as the third most senior Federal Official. No way this ends well.

Congratulations House Republicans, you’ve played yourselves.

House Republicans have now backed themselves into yet another corner, being led by a novice Speaker who is a Trump sycophant and an election denier having to negotiate a budget deal with the White House and the Democratic Senate.

If you thought things were rough for House Republicans already, you haven’t seen anything yet. And all because not enough Republicans have the political fortitude to stand up to Donald Trump….