Elect Clowns, Expect a Circus

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The United States House of Representatives remains leaderless and dead-in-the-water this morning after their Speaker designee, Congressman Steve Scalise of Louisiana, withdrew from the Speaker's race last night.  Scalise, the current House Majority Leader, was nominated by the Republican Party to be its official Speaker nominee two days ago, but he quit the race yesterday after determining that he did not have enough votes to win the position in a full vote of the House.

Some of the Republican right-wing extremists in the House, of which there are several, came out in opposition to Scalise stating that he was not conservative enough for their taste.

What is the actual level of institutional insanity when a white, male southerner from Louisiana who once described himself as (Klansman) "David Duke without the baggage" is deemed not conservative enough to run the place?

The GOP caucus is scheduled to meet again today to try and find some way to agree on a leader.  Supposedly they will take another look at Judiciary Committee Chairman "Jacketless" Jim Jordan, the man whom Scalise beat two days ago in a secret ballot vote to be the GOP's official nominee for Speaker.  But just as.there were "conservatives" who blocked Scalise, there are also "moderates " who seem to be standing ready to torpedo Jordan's chances of winning a vote in the full House.

There is still a lot of star power in the House that hasn't been tested with a vote for Speaker yet:  Lauren "Beetlejuice" Boebert of Colorado, for instance, or the charming Paul Gosar of Arizona, or everybody's favorite Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia - any of whom could probably muster fifteen or twenty votes of the 217 needed to be elected Speaker.  Or how about Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, the man who started all of this frivolity by moving to oust the last Speaker, Kevin McCarthy?  Gaetz might be able to come up with someone to put his name in nomination.

Some are apparently still promoting the idea of electing Donald Trump as Speaker of the House, but running the House, an institution which has been known to work as many as three days a week, probably would not appeal to Trump,  a man better known for throwing tantrums and plates of food than he is for punching clocks and maintaining regular office hours.

Another possibility would be to bring back one of the former Republican House Speakers to take over until a new House is seated in January of 2025.  Paul Ryan probably has too much class to be interested in another term at the helm, but too much class would definitely not be a problem for John Boehner, Newt Gingrich, or Kevin McCarthy.  And let's not forget four-term GOP House Speaker Dennis Hastert who is out of prison now and should also be available for a political comeback.

There are Republicans in Congress who ran on pledges to begin defunding and shutting down various parts of the government.   Who knew they would start with themselves?

Hey members of the House GOP, best of luck in your continuing search for someone that almost all of you can stomach - and happy Friday the 13th!