comment: >
  
  This is exactly the road fascists take. Wait until the long knives come out. Gridlock and strong arming is step one.
  Good job GOP, your political machinations have come home to rooste.
context: Lol. The GOP doesn’t learn lessons. Unless that lesson is “double down on the unpopular thing you’re doing and cheat or bend the rules to win.” >
  
  And blame the other side for everything you are actively doing. >
  
  It's actually ripped right out of Stalin's playbook. Goebbels was good at it but Stalin perfected this. 
  
  Everyone lock and step
  Never admit you were wrong 
  Accuse the opposing party of literally EVERYthing you're doing that's illegal 
  Murder or throw out anyone who dissents aka Liz >
  
  To mask their humiliation, /r/Conservative is pretending that they WANT childish gridlock to keep the government from working correctly.
  Just wait until their government checks start coming late. >
  
  They’ll find a way to blame Dems for the late checks. I guarantee it. >
  
  I've already heard the claim that the republican holdouts are actually democrat plants. >
  
  Yup. Every third comment is RINO this or RINO that. Republican meltdowns would be a lot funnier if they didn't hurt our country so damn much. >
  
  
  RINO this or RINO that
  
  RINO is now completely meaningless as a slur.  It just means "they don't agree with me" regardless of how they actually vote on things. >
  
  My Republican dad told me yesterday that Lisa Murkowski is a Democrat (which I've heard before) and also George W. Bush is a Democrat (which was a new one for me). Not just RINO, Democrat.
  It's as though the new paradigm is all there ever was. Anyone who isn't part of it is a Democrat. >
  
  I’d ask your dad if he thinks Americans that vote Democratic Party are his enemies and if he answers yes ask him what does it mean to be a free person in a free country if you can’t like different ideas. This shit is ridiculous. >
  
  The party that wants to cut Medicare and social security also needs the support of lower and middle income white people who very much don’t want those things cut. This creates an unsolvable internal tension. One way to try to cover this all up is to create a circus around CRT, pedophile grooming (and pizza chain sex abuse rings?), and just about any other thing that doesn’t involve talking about how you are going to make retirement impossible for anyone but the very rich. 
  The circus is a feature, not a bug if you are a Republican. You need it now because your unpopular policy positions will eat you alive if allowed to grow in the light of day. >
  
  Exactly and when Republicans control both houses and the presidency they only do tax cuts.  They don't dare to enact any of their other policy positions.  They only want power to obstruct. >
  
  
  They don't dare to enact any of their other policy positions.
  
  That's because "they" don't have other policy positions. Everyone should've been able to see this House Speakership fiasco coming when the Republican party was unable to make a platform in 2020. 
  The Republican party is actually wildly ideologically diverse. It doesn't really make any sense to have libertarians in the same party as theocrats. In terms of legislation, they're only united on tax cuts really. >
  
  They really are the party of, "Fuck you don't tell me what to do."  Who then procced to jump off a cliff or blow off a thumb.
  Weather it's super rich people who forgot we worked out taxes as a means where they pay for society and get to enjoy stuff, instead of us going all French revolution on them. Or just dumbasses who still think they are in High School and doing things like paying taxes suck, because what's in it for me?
  Crossed over with an underlying hate for others, be it other races, or just other people who aren't their social status.  It creates a dysfunctional powder keg, that we are now seeing spiral out of control.
  I have to wonder how long this will go on, and if Boebert's threat to nominate Trump will do anything?  I mean Trump won't get elected, but will the move further alienate the crazies from the "moderates," will it fracture the whole thing? >
  
  They're also the party of: "In the eyes of God you are my brother/sister and I want to save you."
  But also: "Why should I have to help poor people? They obviously chose to be poor." >
  
  "Our entire country should be guided by the Bible... but  also fuck the poor, fuck the homeless, and fuck destitute immigrants coming from Third World countries to make a better life for themselves and their families here." >
  
  And where in the Bible does it say that guns are more important women and black people? >
  
  Boebert 2:17 >
  
  
  Boebert ~~2:17~~ 3:57.
  
  FTFY >
  
  I was watching cnbc just now and some republican congresswoman was talking about how this is a representative government and that 10% shouldn’t be allowed to hijack the house.
  I sat there wondering why they didn’t remind her that the entire democratic caucus also doesn’t support McCarthy and that in fact his failure to get 50% is what’s causing the issue. It’s amazing the way Republicans think and as she repeated this over and over thought it was irresponsible to not call her out. >
  
  20 representatives are doing this. Not even 5% of the House. They don’t even know why they’re doing this. It’s clown car fulled by hate. Real life freak show. >
  
  I get a strong impression that Gaetz is the ringleader in this uprising. Not sure yet if he is doing it for Trump or if he just wants the media attention for himself. >
  
  The biggest concession they've dragged out of McCarthy is the dismantling of the house ethics committee (likely to be the only entity continuing to investigate Matt Gaetz for his various sex trafficking ~~crimes~~ unprosecuted allegations). >
  
  The 1 member being able to initiate a recall vote on the speaker instead of a majority of caucus is pretty big too. >
  
  That uh.. seems like a really bad concession to make
  Because wouldn't that enable the minority party to just.. constantly flood the house with recall votes? >
  
  No, a Democrat can't initiate the recall but any one member of the Republicans can. >
  
  Lol.... WHAT >
  
  The GOP are in the majority. The majority caucus and minority caucus can set their own procedural rules within their groups.
  By the rules of the house, for whatever reason, the minority caucus cannot elect a speaker, even though Jeffries technically keeps getting the most votes. So this term, unless half a dozen GOP members die, switch party, or quit, the speaker recall rule only applies to the GOP.
  Congress has nuts rules. >
  
  These are the completely predictable results of when a political party actively recruits the most antagonistic, paranoid, conspiracy minded, narcissistic members of society into their ranks… Big surprise!!! GQP cannot cooperate, even within their own tribe. >
  
  How much do you think Repubs are actively hating their own voter base for making these people their coworkers right now?
  (And do you think they ever quietly admit to themselves that obediently riding along the Trump wave is ultimately what did this?) >
  
  If and when McCarthy does ultimately lose to another, I hope he airs out all the dirty laundry about Gaetz, Boebert, and others nonstop. But he won’t, because he’s a self-serving coward who would much rather be humiliated nationally if it meant the slightest chance for more power. >
  
  
  humiliated globally >
  
  Yes. Canada here. I've been snickering for 36 hours straight. >
  
  
  Canada >
  
  Wow, using the F word. Way overdue. >
  
  Too bad far-righters project and called civilized people “fascists.” >
  
  They’ll likely dismiss it and call Oxford a “liberal” organization to discredit it. >
  
  At that point, doesn't matter. The people that are on the far-right aren't going to acknowledge reality. Especially on the internet. People on the left shouldn't expect them to.
  Anyone who isn't already on the far-right are the people you need to convince, and you gave them the info to do so. 
  That's all you can do, and hope that the independents or whoever else who hasn't bought into far-right lies are smart enough to see that refusing to accept a dictionary definition, or whatever else, means the people arguing against are absolute morons. >
  
  This is the way. Can't convince them all just need to convince enough people to get this threat out of our government. >
  
  This was true even for Hitler's party. It was all held together by one man. Underneath him, everyone hated each other, dispised each other, and couldnt wait to distroy each other. Thats why everyone started throwing each other under the bus in the end.  
  If you build the whole party based on hate, that hate doesnt disappear for your own teammates all of a sudden. >
  
  Not even at the end. 
  The Night of the Long Knives was a an out and out purge of their own ranks. After the SA (aka Brownshirts) had stopped being as useful as before, Hitler (at the insistence of Goering and Himmler) ordered the purge. It's no secret that those on the list were personal enemies of either Goering, Himmler, or both. >
  
  True. And then down the line, Goebbels turned on Goering, they each turned on Himmler, and Bormann kept whispering in Hitler's ears to get people like Fegelein killed. Everyone was out for everyone else lol, what a mess. 
  After Hitler died, the people in the bunker say that Goebbels was acting as the new leader, but nobody was paying attention to him. Just shows you how little they thought of him. Someone who practically built Hitler.
  Hate may destroy your enemies, but it sooner or later it will destroy you too. >
  
  It's crazy to hear all the republicans who are for Kevin McCarthy complain about minority rule and how it's unfair that the minority of their party is ruling over 80% of their conference. >
  
  The irony >
  
  Which is completely lost on them. >
  
  The promises McCarthy is making to this cabal of human vuvuzelas will do nothing but make an already bad situation worse. He’s handing them legitimacy and an outsized power. 
  He’s allowing a very small percentage of Congress to call all the shots, stop everything on a whim to get their way, and refuse to introduce legislation because they don’t like it. Even if the rest of the country does.
  McCarthy would already be speaker if he had gone after six Democrats instead of 19 do nothing, know nothing fascists and insurrectionists. >
  
  Lol human vuvuzelas >
  
  TIL. Was honestly expecting something NSFW but was pleasantly surprised.
  Thanks reddit. >
  
  Anyone who watched the 2010 World Cup is well aware of the scourge of the vuvuzela >
  
  Welcome to that old feeling where you realise there are people old enough to vote who are too young to remember vuvuzuelas from 2010. >
  
  I think the lesson is stop voting for fucking Republicans, personally. >
  
  But how will they own the libs? >
  
  They could always just make mean comments on twitter.  I mean its owned by their alpha overlord Musk so they should fit right in. >
  
  
  "By far the best thing for democracy is if the Republicans simply implode and their nefarious schemes never come to fruition."
  
  ​
  
  "It's more than likely, however, that the Kentucky event will only sow more intra-party discord, further enraging the burn-it-all-down types and turning them even more forcefully against GOP leadership."
  
  Here's hoping the GOP is on its last legs. >
  
  What is this Kentucky event? >
  
  I suspect it was the event in KY that Biden and McConnell both appeared and spoke at, recently, where Biden praised McConnell over infrastructure improvements in KY. >
  
  McConnell did something that positively affected people other than himself?!
  Edit: Bad at grammar >
  
  On the surface, at least. >
  
  Yep, I'd take a look at who got that money, and if they were campaign contributors to Mitch. >
  
  Never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake. These Pearl clutching trolls are the same people who sent a rabid mob into those chambers. >
  
  when rats are hungry they will eat themselves >
  
  Besides the obvious "selling your soul by associating with & empowering fascist trolls", presumably. >
  
  soul? what soul. >
  
  Sole.  As the part of the shoe that contacts the ground.  Because the other, thay don't have.  As you point out. >
  
  Makes sense. They're synonymous with bootlickers at this point. >
  
  well would you look at that. they're even bad at fascism.
  because there's one thing fascists usually got down to a t, and that's clear leadership. just sayin'. >
  
  It may start that way, but fascists always end up destroying themselves. The question is how much collateral damage they cause on the way. >
  
  This. Fascism eventually destroys itself because it has a design flaw; it requires an enemy (real or manufactured) to act as an existential threat. When they run out of people on the outside to purge, they turn their attention to those in the party who are not ideologically pure, and the definition of “pure” can change whenever necessary. No one is safe; anyone can be made into an enemy of the state when the need arises.
  This may sound encouraging, but (as you said) they will ultimately do a lot of damage before they implode. >
  
  
  they turn their attention to those in the party who are not ideologically pure
  
  They have already done that.  It's called RINO and it is a death sentence for anyone on the right to be called it. >
  
  I hope folks know what concessions McCarthy is making with the pack of 20- and the impact it will have. 
  He is giving much more power to the Freedom Caucus in the House. A group that has no intention of governing and just want to burn it all down. 
  A Koch backed PAC wants to ensure no money from Kevin’s PAC will go to solid red districts- so more MAGA/TeaParty folks can run and not have to worry about a more moderate Republican running against him/him in a primary with additional funding. 
  Decreasing the power of the Speaker- allowing for 1 house member to initiate a vote to remove the Speaker. 
  If a minority group of GOP members is able to hold up a majority vote of the GOP for speakership, this easily - just wait for more issues with votes to help Americans over the next two years- including raising the debt ceiling. Without that passing, VETERANS will no longer receive any of their benefits- even disability payments. Elderly will lose Social Security and Medicare. And America will default on its credit, sending our economy off a cliff.
  *Edited: change the threshold from 5 to 1 to initiate a vote to remove the Speaker. >
  
  Point of clarification. He’s agreed  (apparently, and foolishly) to the threshold to initiate a vote to vacate the chair to only require a single member. Not to actually be removed by the vote of only one member. 
  Everything else you’ve said is correct. The GOP caucus will not be able to govern which is largely the goal of the arsonists that now make up the majority of their party. >
  
  Oy! I should have double checked before hitting send- as I meant to say 1 house member to initiate a vote….Thanks for clarifying! >
  
  I particularly like this apt quote from The Atlantic:
  “Democracy, process, lawmaking, and governing? All of that is for saps; doing it is how you end up becoming Eric Cantor or Paul Ryan. The GOP rebels have every intention of staying in Washington and staying in power—even if “power” amounts to little more than sitting in the wreckage of the Capitol and keeping warm by burning the furniture.” >
  
  Personally I think this is funny as fuck.  Ronald Reagan catered to the Evangelical Christians in the 80s to win his Presidential elections.  The Evangelical Christians turned into the TEA Party & now they're the MAGA Party.   Over 43 years these people have become more and more radical.  With every election victory and defeat, they double down.  
  For the longest time the old GOP Guard thought they could control & direct these people.  Sure they're increasingly becoming more radical year after year, but we still have a good leash on them.
  Then Donald J Trump, the chosen leader of the radicalized Republicans became President and they has taken control.  The Old Guards have lost the leash & now the Republicans are the radical party.  
  The more "reasonable" Republicans think they can negotiate, reason, wheel & deal with these people, but that's not going to happen.  The Radicals now have full control & they are flexing it.
  I'll end this with a quote from Barry Goldwater.
  Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them. >
  
  And that my friends is some wisdom from a product of the military industrial complex and the father of all this bullshit. >
  
  The fact that McCarthy would rather cater to extremists than deal with moderate democrats tells you everything you need to know about how this will play out >
  
  For nearly 5 decades they have appealed to the extreme degenerates of our country and relied on their vote.
  Now the degenerates have power in the party. It was only a matter of time >
  
  The GOP stuck its dick in crazy because it looked really hot to them.
  Never stick your dick in crazy. It's never worth it. >
  
  This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 96%. (I'm a bot)
  
  
  It's worth reading in its entirety, but the McCarthy debacle illustrates some of Eco's most important observations: Fascism is deliberately irrational.
  For the dysfunctional Republicans this anger is being refracted through their increasingly fascist worldview, which is paranoid, irrational and hostile to democracy.
  Even though Kevin McCarthy is the fascist crowd's newest piñata, that doesn't mean it's good for Democrats or democracy if he secures the speaker's gavel.
  
  
  Extended Summary | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Republican^#1 McCarthy^#2 fascist^#3 more^#4 party^#5 >
  
  No matter how this ends, this Congress is gonna be an absolute shit-show. It won’t matter who the speaker winds up being >
  
  Their whole party revolves around owning thr liberals and blaming everything on democrats. You can even see it on conservative subreddit, their top rated posts are mostly garbage while theres actual news to be discussed >
  
  “I’ll vote for you if you change the rules to make it easier for me to vote you out” is one of the funniest concessions to come out of this circus. >
  
  They had control during trump and could not even pass an infrastructure bill. >
  
  The collective noun for Republicans is a humiliation.
  A murder of crows; a humiliation of Republicans. >
  
  Collective noun, not plural noun. >
  
  Fascist Trolls? AKA Neo-Nazis? AKA the Nouveau Reich? AKA White Trashionalists?
  Fuck em. >
  
  The thing that blows my mind is that the Conservative talking heads are lined up behind the narrative that “Republicans are free thinkers who have differing opinions from each other, which results in them not being able to elect a Speaker. Democrats are sheeple who all toe the party line without dissent”
  Really? REALLY? Up until Monday, the media narrative was that Liberals are unruly and fractious and incapable of presenting a united front while Republicans are the opposite. >
  
  So far there hasn’t been though.    
  The last time the GOP faced any consequences was when Dan Quayle misspelled Potatoe. >
  
  Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew. >
  
  Dan or the potatos? >
  
  If I were McCarthy I’d reach across the aisle before I give to the extremists.  Democrats agree to throw him the necessary votes in exchange for stripping committee positions of the extremists, a vote to censure those extremists, and anything else they can do to beat down the pest problem. >
  
  McCarthy IS an extremist though >
  
  I don't care what political party you identify with. This just shows that our political system is broken. We need an overhaul. It's broken, or it fragile to the point that a few rotten fascists and a walking pile of guns in a woman wig can derail it to the point of being ineffective. >
  
  Trump isn't to blame for this fascism. He isn't even a cause, he's a symptom. Conservatives have been edging ever closer to fascism since they had to be "against it" when WWII broke out. >
  
  "One big reason we can identify Republicans as fascist now is because while their appetite for power knows no end, their willingness to govern — that is, to use power to achieve substantive ends — has diminished to nothing."
  I like that line. They really have no agenda other than being against the Dems. >
  
  When a spineless squid realizes he does not have a spine to stand on. It’s also very revealing about status of GOP. It isn’t one that serve the needs of people it represents, through policy and action. But one that places individual political ambitions and status above all else, with obstruction (even to their own party) as the only operating principle. >
  
  Fascism aside, there's a downside to supporting elected officials who only care about themselves over their country. It used to be the GOP held their party over country. Now it's devolved into every person for themselves. You get what you pay for >
  
  John Sayles wrote a great short story called “The Anarchists’ Convention.” This is where the Republicans find themselves: they’ve built a party of independently-minded, antagonistic, poorly educated people with no regard to consequences and all regard to a totalitarian political structure. Of course they can’t choose a leader! >
  
  this is entirely on newt gingrich who brought in the tea party and since then the gop has morphed into the qanon crazies. >
  
  McConnell, one of the most conservative and accomplished Republicans in modern history (and also a complete dirtbag and traitor to democracy and the will of the people), will be labeled a RINO for being seen next to Biden and acknowledging the success of the infrastructure bill. >
  
  I didnt catch her name because it isnt worth remembering but some idiot lady on the right was actually blaming democrats for this.  HOW IN THE FUCK ARE YOU THIS DYSFUNCTIONAL? >
  
  Everyone should keep in mind, they are not voting for him because he is crazy.  They are not voting for him because he is not crazy enough! >
  
  There have been 14 times Speaker took multiple votes. Several are 2 or 3 votes which isn’t a big deal to me. Many of those were at the start of the country so maybe it was figuring it all out or making a point. 
  The top three needed 133, 63, and 44 votes. All three were the congresses immediately leading up to the Civil War. The last was 9 votes in 1923, very much still in a post all free people society with growing problems. Progressive Republicans (remember this is pre Southern Strategy.) did what radical Republicans are doing today, but for opposite reasons.
  Historically, fractured political parties is not a good thing. The majority is not actually a majority because they have a separate movement within. In this case it’s a handful of fascists not content with the slow walk the rest of the party is doing. This can just be a wake up call to clean house and eradicate those people, or it gets worse as more come up until becoming majority. It’s up to Republican voters, and so far they don’t seem to grasp the gravity of the situation. >
  
  This was always going to be the case. 
  Idiots are stirring shit up for short term gain, but don't realize that those same brain washed people can turn on them on a whim as soon as an idiot like Trump snaps his fingers. 
  They'll end up continually cannibalizing their own via in-fighting ad-perpetuam. >
  
  The bigger question is: why haven't they started blaming voter fraud for this debacle? >
  
  Nah, it's all a Antifa plot, which would've been made clear if they carefully looked at Hunter's laptop. >
  
  It's kind of nice to see the republicans finding out what it's like to have a small minority of republicans screwing things up for everybody. Too bad the chances they will take away something positive from that lesson are pretty much nil. >
  
  Congrats all, we've finally started electing politicians that are so shitty even their politician peers don't want them. Fuck this 2 party system with pseudo "choice" on who to vote for. >
  
  The perverse part of these negotiations is that they seem poised to give the most power to the Republicans who care the very least about actually governing.
  Many of their demands really seem centered around securing control of subcommittees that they can use to spread disinformation and conspiracy theories. Disinformation is pretty much the beating heart of the GOP at this point. I have heard almost zero about actual legislative priorities. >
  
  If McCarthy had anything resembling a pair of balls, he would organize his supporters to cast a single vote for Jeffries, adding one each time they have to vote again. And he should remove one concession he’s made to the terrorists after each vote.
  It’s an ultimatum: “Vote for me, or get Jeffries.” >
  
  Refering to the MAGA fascist movement as 'conservatives' or even 'ultra-conservatives' is a euphemism. The lexical definition of fascism is: 'a political philosophy that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader. If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands (thnx Douglas Adams 🤣) >
  
  Everyone knows that when the clowns come out of the car, it's funny.  But I'm learning that when those clowns scream at the audience to stop laughing at them, it's even funnier.