>

My prediction - This will not correct itself until the old farts retire, and the next generation is voted in to replace them.
Yes. The party of Putin wants to destroy our democracy. >

Yes. Amazing more people aren't saying this. >

Why blame the Democrats, they showed unity and restraint?
Let the GOP rip themselves apart under their own weight.  Once they do and flail, the Democrats can welcome a few and get things done.  
Today, and this week, we are going to see grandstanding among the crazy and watch them accomplish nothing but get individual attention. >

Some would say it already has. >

Interesting article.

As Crooked editor Brian Beutler noted in his latest "Big Tent" newsletter, the insurrectionist caucus differs from the radical right wingers of GOP caucuses past, whose goals were to "gut Medicare, defund the Affordable Care Act, etc." Instead, these new Republican radicals "want to steal elections. They want to sabotage criminal investigations that implicate themselves, Donald Trump, and January 6 defendants, current and future." Having realized that they'll likely never get their desired ends through democratic means, they've determined democracy itself must go. And make no mistake: McCarthy and other GOP leaders are only too happy to go along with the program. 
A crucial part of the war on democracy is a war on facts and reason. Democracy, it's worth remembering, emerged as an Enlightenment ideal, and cannot be separated from other Enlightenment values, such as the importance of empiricism and the value of critical thinking. As I noted last week, the current iteration of the GOP is functionally a fascist party and adheres to the knee-jerk fascist distaste for thinking, rational debate, and above all, letting facts guide your decision-making. 
Because of this, there's little doubt that, over the next two years, the Republican-run House will be structured not around legislative goals, but propagandistic ones. Namely, they will use the immense power and resources of the U.S. Congress to be a bullshit-generating machine. Committee hearings will be built around elevating defamatory accusations against perceived political opponents and spawning Fox News and social media-friendly clips that fuel truly unhinged conspiracy theories. >

What we are seeing in Congress is not party unity, but the opposite. If the Republican party had any real power, folks like Gaetz and Boebert would not even be representatives, let alone have the power to hold up the opening  Congress for days. The "never Kevin" faction had no fear of repercussions for their actions.  In a system with stronger parties, they would lose their seats and get nothing on exchange. 
Now, we have a situation where the Speaker,  which should be one of the most powerful positions in the nation, has to cower before a small group of rogue party members. The Congress is broken and we need stronger parties to fix it. >

McCarthy basically rewarded bad and stupid behavior.  The tantrums worked even though the holdouts had no other option other than just voting and voting or just voting for McCarthy and addressing the Committee stuff behind the scenes. >

You mean, THIS is Party unity for the Republicans? Uh-oh lol.