What stupid thing did the GOP say or do this time? Episode 3!

[wonko the sane?]

Thats kind of the core problem with extremism: you have to continually push the boundary and become more extreme, because the inherent social purity testing associated with the extremism means you're also constantly in-fighting and self consuming.

It's also why these things eventually burn out. They can't find new recruits from the outside, and the internally the people whom aren't "true to the cause" are either rejected or destroyed regardless of how long they've been there.

 

[Pocket]

Well, it's how left-wing movements burn out, anyway. The far-right has already succeeded in overrunning one of America's two major political parties, and that comes with a sort of permanent legitimacy akin to being in the UN Security Council. No matter how evil you are, you'll always have a seat at the table. And it doesn't seem to have cost them much in the way of votes, either, which to me means roughly half the American voting population is fully on board with their extremism.

 

[NovaSaber]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1616196179607588864

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1616453379475079168

 

[MrBlud]

Well, it's how left-wing movements burn out, anyway. The far-right has already succeeded in overrunning one of America's two major political parties, and that comes with a sort of permanent legitimacy akin to being in the UN Security Council. No matter how evil you are, you'll always have a seat at the table. And it doesn't seem to have cost them much in the way of votes, either, which to me means roughly half the American voting population is fully on board with their extremism.

“Voting population” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

Around 30% of *every* country is deplorable, jive-spewing sociopaths. Most countries have robust voting schemes so their power is (rightfully!) curtailed as the other 70% non-monsters can easily vote and help guide things in a more positive direction.

The US however is doing it’s level-best to make sure that 30% is the only demographic that can vote.

That’s why Conservative suburban voters have no lines and they make the inner-city wait in line for six hours without water.

 

[Rhinox]

Gerrymandering is the primary vehicle for their success. In a straight up even fight, the GOP tends to lose badly. They have to keep things lopsided in order to score wins.
And if they can make the other side be miserable while trying to exercise their rights, even better.

 

[NovaSaber]

North Dakota weighs ban on 'sexually explicit' library books

The bill, which would prohibit books depicting sexual or gender identity, proposes up to 30 days in prison for librarians who refuse to remove banned titles.

www.nbcnews.com

House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, of Dickinson, introduced the bill and said public libraries currently contain books that have “disturbing and disgusting” content, including ones that describe virginity as a silly label and assert that gender is fluid.

 

[Ungnome]

But I thought Republicans were all for protecting the first amendment. /s

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

Sure, but only for themselves.

 

[wonko the sane?]

But I thought Republicans were all for protecting the first amendment. /s

Depends: how much money do you have?

Cause if it's not enough to buy a politician: then you don't HAVE rights, you have privileges that they can revoke at whim and usually for their own amusement.

 

[Dekafox]

In b4 School Litterboxes:

And technically, if an otherkin or therian living in North Dakota really wanted to, they could possibly file against this on a 1st amendment basis, since for most of the older people of such persuasion, it's a spiritual thing, and therefore their religion. Don't know if they'd be able to kill the entire thing that way though. It'd probably make things such a circus that it wouldn't be worth it in the end, but the thought is amusing at least.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Alright, so I watched a video on on the upcoming tax bill the republicans are pushing, and the only reason it's even being pushed is because mcarthy sold what was left of his soul to ******s and the insane.

mcarthy needed the maga extremists to get elected as speaker... but was there even another option? Was there any other republican capable of herding enough cats get the position?

 

[MrBlud]

You’d need far right by-in to get elected by a majority of Republicans.

The only other path would be moderating your position enough to attract Democratic votes but that would 100% guarantee you’d lose your primary so you wouldn’t get elected again.

The country will destroy the current Republican Party or the current Republican Party will destroy the country. Those are the only two viable options at this point.

 

[DefaultOption]

Was there any other republican capable of herding enough cats get the position?

Not really. Fred Upton was bandied about as a possible crossover candidate, but I don't think enough of the GOP leadership would have been willing to go against McCarthy for that to work out, and there's no way the crazy caucus would vote for a 'moderate'.

 

[wonko the sane?]

Not really. Fred Upton was bandied about as a possible crossover candidate, but I don't think enough of the GOP leadership would have been willing to go against McCarthy for that to work out, and there's no way the crazy caucus would vote for a 'moderate'.

So mcarthy lost 17 times... to an empty ballot?

 

[DefaultOption]

McCarthy kept losing because a splinter group of Fox News hardliners kept voting against him by voting for a different Republican, so he failed to reach a majority of the Congressperson-elects* present in the chamber, which is what the Constitution requires for a speakership vote. If it was just a matter of 'who gets the most votes' (a plurality), Democrat Hakeem Jefferies would have won on every ballot except the last. The only reason Kevin finally won was because they managed to convince the Nutbar Caucus to vote 'present' instead of for some other Republican, which lowered the threshold for a majority because of arcane voting rules.

(*Because the House is sworn in by the speaker, the only thing the not-yet-sworn-in Congress members can do is hold the vote for the speakership or vote to adjourn the chamber until the time when another vote is held.)

 

[wonko the sane?]

I know why he lost: the fact is the only person who was running was HIMSELF and it still took 17 ******* tries. There wasn't a legitimate "other guy" or even a legitimate reason not to vote for him in the first place. And there was no rule or protocol as to what to do in such an event. It's ******* dysfunctional to the point of insanity.

The only upshot is he gave away the requirements for calling a replacement vote, so once a major republican talking point bill (like the fair tax thing they're going to bring to a vote.) swings and strikes out: one of those fuckwits will start screaming no confidence.

Which brings us right back to day 1, and this self same stupid question: who else can herd cats enough to get those republican quarter wits on board, or are they just going to have another 17 votes for leadership every time mcarthy and the republicans fail in a lame duck session?

 

[The Mighty Mollusk]

They don't need to actually do anything but waste time. Then they can crow about how Biden got nothing done for two years and the sheep will swallow it whole.

 

[MrBlud]

Now that he’s actually speaker he can count on Democratic votes for stuff that actually has to happen (like the debt ceiling)

They also likely vote for him as speaker since again, there’s no other viable option and the Democrats at least want the government to function.

 

[Wheelimus]

Tee-hee, Mother won't like this.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/politics/pence-classified-documents-fbi

 

[Plutoniumboss]

Tee-hee, Mother won't like this.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/politics/pence-classified-documents-fbi

“But I will tell you that I believe there had to be many better ways to resolve that issue than executing a search warrant at the personal residence of a former president of the United States.”

There were. And they were ALL offered to him. All were ignored.