comment: >
  
  I know he was probably super relieved that he finally won, but I couldn't believe how much he was smiling after. Dude's just going to go down as a fun anecdote about House Speaker elections.
context: After a week of achieving nothing it’s on to the business of achieving nothing. >
  
  mccarthy is going to be pulling 223,500 usd as speaker, all those other reps that accomplish nothing and refuse to govern are pulling down 174,000 USD.
  And thats just their base salaries. After their term they are magically worth many millions of dollars >
  
  Insider trading is the real gig >
  
  Insider trading, legalized bribes, illegal but unenforced bribes, “speaker fees”, corporate boardship, oh and don’t forget sex trafficking and BitCoin for a certain Florida Rep. >
  
  Or changing the aviation routes of CIA-funded contra cocaine onto your father-in-laws shipping business for the next 30 years, and baselessly installing his daughter as transportation secretary to make sure it never gets into the news after 1987 except when 60 pounds of cocaine is found by international investigators which still barely makes it to the news and you have to hope no one asks why they call you Cocaine Mitch... >
  
  WHAT THE FUCK? Any sources on this you recommend? >
  
  There was a really great 1987 and 1989 two part investigative news piece  and  then a different one that is another ancillary story with a bit more detail of the investigation/trial by some channel 3 something or other that interviews the pilots flying the cocaine in through miami, paid directly by the cia. In the news pieces, they show mitch joining and leading the investigating body, then the pilots discuss how everythings starts going by boat instead after the fbi/atf arrested each of the pilots for "unrelated drug crimes" (likely possession in the gray period between the deliveries and payment (in drugs) and the time the individuals sold or used it. Then folllow the trail of that shipping company: The Foremost Group, the lineage of john and elaine chao, the marriage timeline, the move to speaker of the house,  the drug discovery on the FG ship, the appointment of chai to transportation secretary, etc. It was unrelated research into contras via ChatGPT that actually pieced it together yet it seems to be hiding in plain site (and in plain memory for people deep in the GOP and recently leaked by Don Blankenship in his run against cocaine mitch). Just waiting for a modern investigative journalist to report it since this seems to be one of many US corruption scandals/schemes that didn't make it to the internet when it was created.
  Edit- found the video posted 2 months ago on reddit but had been on YT for a while
  Edit 2- this might not actually be the specific 2 part investigative segment I was talking about but includes a lot of the same information. The one I'm referencing has a lot of direct interviews with the pilots themselves a well as the miami speedboat racer drug kingpin once he got out of jail. Flipped through the one I linked and it looks right, but I'll have to rewatch a bit to be sure. It was a woman reporting.
  Edit 3- checked my yt watch history,  here you go . Fixed the top link but left in the [wrong] second link just because it's another decent collaboration of detail.  Gotta love them AI robots lifting the veil of corruption lol.  Time for another CoffeeZilla piece about something not-crypto haha >
  
  There's reporting that at one point McCarthy approached Gaetz on the floor for a conversation, and a voice rang out, "On your knees, Kevin!" >
  
  There is video of it, you can hear it. >
  
  Got a link? I saw the video but didn't hear anything >
  
  I hate how it sounds like a high school assembly. Someone says something funny during the silence and then the wave of other people shushing. >
  
  I was joking with my wife when I said that the House has officially turned into a clown convention. Then I realized that clowns are probably decent people who actually care about their job and comparing them to Congress is a huge insult to clowns. >
  
  It's actually the likes of Gaetz that'll lure a kid with a balloon. Clowns get all the bad PR. They can barely grasp the workings of magnets, let alone set up a lure. >
  
  That's insane >
  
  I wish the fight had broken out >
  
  been a while since we had a good caning on the congressional floor >
  
  I understood that reference! >
  
  For anyone wondering: The Caning of Charles Sumner >
  
  Let that go to show you... no one makes a fool out of Kevin McCarthy 15 times in a row! >
  
  Yea! You can rob him of his wallet, his clothes, his dignity, but you can’t rob him of a wooden gavel! >
  
  McCarthy: "Fool me once shame on you, fool me 15 times, can't get fooled again!" >
  
  One of my favorite W quotes, thanks!  Now watch this drive. >
  
  So many good ones. I always chuckle at “Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country.” >
  
  Wait. Wait wait wait. I’m not young ENOUGH to have missed them, but I don’t remember the Bush years with the searing clarity of the ridiculous Trump shit. Did he really say that?
  Beautiful. >
  
  Though Bush's administration did some evil shit - because Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft/Gonzales were there, amongst other junior figures (Haspel, Kavanaugh) seeking to impress who later rose to prominence during the Trump administration - his "turns of phrase" were downright quaint compared to the insane BS that came out of Trump's mouth. But there were a lot of them... I had a daily calendar at one point that featured them! >
  
  So many more people died, so many more lives were destroyed as a result of Bush presidency than Trump. It’s not even close. >
  
  Indeed. Part of that was 8 years. Part of that was 9/11. But in general that group was much more war hawkish than Trump, who for all his faults clearly saw military conflict as bad for business (which is why Bolton didn't work out). >
  
  He realized it was actually really easy to get elected once he put on the leash >
  
  He agreed to wear a muzzle as well. >
  
  Ball gag complete the look. >
  
  Don't forget the horsey tail.
  The GOP's favorite word is neeeeigh after all. >
  
  He won, but gave away everything and sold his soul just to be able to hold the gavel. Speaker in name only. >
  
  and can easily be voted out by no confidence by next week. The shortest-reigned Speaker in history. >
  
  For real, didn't he agree that a no confidence vote could be called by just one rep? If so someone is going to call it Monday because you kind of just can't resist calling out people's dumb rules like that. >
  
  This one is wild to me, what stops the democrats from just constantly calling non confidence votes if the bar is so low? Honestly it seems like they should if all the GQP is gonna do is launch bullshit investigations for 2 years. >
  
  This rule was actually a thing for basically all of the houses existence except for Pelosis tenure. What's to stop them? Well, the fact that it is pointless and would only make democrats look like babies who cry when they can't get what they want. So they won't use it unless they are sure they can flip hardliners to vote for someone else, which isn't going to happen. The only people who are likely to use it are Republicans themselves, not democrats, and they will use it to symbolically express their discontent with the speaker. If anyone uses it it will be a member of the GQP. That's basically how it was last used in 2015, when a member of the house Republicans motioned to replace their own speaker, leading to that speaker resigning shortly after. >
  
  Well, the cycle of debt-ceiling hostage taking, government shutdowns, sham investigations and dysfunctional government has officially started. >
  
  That's all I got from reading the article. >
  
  That's been the case since the first failed vote -- Freedom Caucas officially has control despite being small and unpopular, so politics are working as intended. >
  
  I suspect the GOP won't enjoy being controlled by a minority. >
  
  The bad news is we the people are going to pay the price for the negotiating that took to get it done. >
  
  My only thought in all this. What do we get out of this? More instability and oppression, I'm certain. >
  
  We get investigations into Hunter's Laptop, a panel investigating why Nancy Pelosi is responsible for January 6th, and "anti-wokism" bills whatever that even means. Ya know, the real important stuff. Maybe they will even have another 20 or so Benghazi hearings. >
  
  Don't forget decreased military spending, oddly enough 🤔 >
  
  Right when we're helping defend against Russia, the darling of the far right. >
  
  They know who butters their bread >
  
  The Russians infiltrated the GOP years ago. Everyone involved needs to be rooted out.
  The NRA is basically owned by the Russians now. We have 6 congressman going to Russia on the 4th of July? >
  
  Honestly this is such a major factor when it comes to the Ukraine war and the media are not taking it as seriously as they should. I believe these maga fascist repubs top priority aside from their own personal gain is allowing Putin to have his way. It's so blindingly obvious who's side they're on. >
  
  The fact that so many people can't see our current political shitshow and the war in Ukraine are two theaters of the exact same conflict is so frustrating. >
  
  Frustrating. I'd say madness inducing rage myself. The world is controlled by Evil. Im fully convinced >
  
  Alright everyone, how many heads of lettuce will he get through? >
  
  If the Lettuce is imperial does that mean the Mooch is metric? if so what is the Lettuce to Mooch conversion? >
  
  Lettuce is metric actually. It comes from Prime Minister Liz Truss getting that positon. Everyone knew it would be a shit show so The Daily Star set up a live stream of a head of lettuce and asked "Who will last longer: Liz Truss or this lettuce?"
  She was removed from office before the lettuce rotted. >
  
  Her only actual legacy will be featuring in pub quizzes in years to come…
  Who was prime minister when QE2 died? >
  
  Honestly a harder question would be "Who was Prime Minister when Charles III became king?"
  Functionally, it's the same question (monarchy passes the moment the monarch dies), but since his coronation is under a different PM and there was no GE between a lot of people will probably guess Sunak (if he lasts to the coronation). >
  
  
  (if he lasts to the coronation)
  
  Sunak or Charles? >
  
  This was 4 days of peak comedy watching this man debase and humiliate himself >
  
  Wait until the vote of no confidence by next week! >
  
  For anyone wondering one of the concessions he made was regarding a rule change making it easier to force out a sitting speaker >
  
  Technically it is just a change back to the old rules (that really aren't that old, they were only changed after Boehner was Speaker), that said any one House member could submit a vote of no confidence.
  Now that he's elected it really doesn't change anything, they don't have enough votes to elect a different Speaker. The dozen or so holdouts could only hold up his initial election, they can't get him out after the fact even with the change. >
  
  Just wait until the debt ceiling fight >
  
  This right here.  If what cnn reports is correct, thanks to Mccarthys desperation we’ll likely see a shut down for quite a long time coming soon.   
  Just what republicans want come campaign season 2024 lol. >
  
  And the ones that suffer the most under the shutdown, will reelect all of these idiots again. >
  
  Joke’s on you. I don’t have Obamacare, I have coverage under the Affordable Care Act so I don’t need government funding
  /s >
  
  I remember that exact exchange on Reddit (I’m sure it occurred a bunch while people realized), and it was epic. >
  
  In Kentucky, the governor changed the name to Kentucky Kynect and people loved it but hated ObamaCare. Our idiocy knows no bounds. >
  
  
  Register to continue reading
  
  No, I don’t think I will >
  
  Seriously ever since they got rid of Trent Crimm, there’s no way I’m registering for The Independent >
  
  Fucking Nate… >
  
  I really hope he gets a redemption arc in the last season. >
  
  Is this one the last season? >
  
  It's the last season of Ted Lasso proper, but there's been noises about maybe making a spin-off set in the same universe. >
  
  Oof, Ted Lasso only works because of... Ted Lasso. I like some of the tertiary characters but Ted is the reason to watch. >
  
  Is it bad to say that I kind of wanted to see how long they could keep it going? >
  
  The pot has been simmering for decades and has started to show signs of a boil. Unless these folks turn down the heat and get to work (stop with the fucking tribe warfare!), its going to boil over.
  (grabbing a refill on my popcorn and soda) >
  
  I think it’s interesting the Republican Party is so broken (by design now) that they have a historically weak speaker. McCarthy will have very little power it seems. >
  
  It's kind of ironic they've done to themselves what they've actively been trying to do to government as a whole for decades now. >
  
  They’re totally owning the libs. >
  
  Congrats to the Speaker In Name Only. They’re going to dog walk that pathetic yutz on the daily. >
  
  
  Speaker In Name Only  
  
  SPINO would be a decent acronym for that, except that it indirectly associates McCarthy with the existence of a backbone >
  
  Spine? No! SPINO! >
  
  Reminds me of Lionel Hutz.
  Works on contingency. No money down.
  Oh they got this all screwed up
  Works on contingency? No, money down! >
  
   N O - M O N E Y - D O W N >
  
  These songs slap way harder than they should 
  O U T - O F - I D E A S is my fave >
  
  So, vote of no confidence on Monday? >
  
  Or an impeachment vote. You know, sane, boring things... nothing extreme. >
  
  They won't have the votes for Impeachment, if ever. (Barring Biden does something that he should be actually be impeached for). The more moderate Republicans won't go for it. >
  
  Won't stop them from trying 15 times >
  
  They tried to repeal ACA over 150 times. >
  
  Get ready to hear the word “woke” non stop >
  
  Republican logic: woke and sleepy Joe are both bad things. So what’s good? dead? >
  
  How can he be woke and sleepy at the same time? Checkmate, Republicans >
  
  Maybe he's sleepwoking >
  
  Please delete this before they get hold of this word >
  
  Americans are the real losers out of all this >
  
  Establishment republicans have taught MAGA republicans the most important lesson they have ever learned: You don’t need a majority; you can disrupt ANYTHING by just planting your feet in the ground, granting no concessions to the opposition, and forcing the other side to cooperate to get anything done. 
  It used to be that Establishment & MAGA republicans stood together, by planting their feet into the ground, granting no concessions to democrats, and forcing democrats to cooperate to get anything done. 
  For the next two years, the story will be that MAGA republicans stand together, by planting their feet into the ground, granting no concessions to establishment republicans, and forcing establishment republicans to cooperate with them to get anything done. 
  today, establishment republicans are basically only one notch below, or equal to, democrats (or RINOs) in the eyes of MAGA republicans. And establishment republicans are sitting there like “wait, aren’t we on the same team?”, and the MAGA answer is “not in the slightest”. >
  
  The Republicans thought they could control the MAGA nuts.  They ended up losing their party to them.  It is the MAGA party now. >
  
  Eh, I think you could have made a case for that pre-midterm elections. National support for MAGA is waning and their Reps are kind of overplaying their hand here and pissing off a lot of peoppe in the process. I could definitely be wrong but this seems like this iteration of the movement is coming to a close. >
  
  Yeah maga doesn’t have the support of the people but still control the party pretty easily. Sure everyone else is sick of them but the maga people that elected them love them and will keep re-electing them since the areas they run in are usually deep red echo chambers >
  
  Idk you saw some pretty poor performances in safe districts. And after this shit storm and the shit storms that will come over the next two years I doubt guys like McCarthy are going to be willing to kick in to races for people who made their lives a living hell. 
  I think MAGA is going to need to adapt if they're going to keep a lid on things. They need less lunatics running the asylum, less unhinged theatrics, and to come back into communion with the mainstream arm of the party.
  And I think that's the change that a guy like DeSantis is hoping to embody- same kind of message but more buttoned up and willing to play ball. >
  
  His speech sucks. Quit pandering to the idiots Kev. >
  
  Kevin Is one of the idiots >
  
  Dude literally gave up everything to get the votes. He's probably sending teenage girls to Gaetz as we speak. >
  
  It's why it ended on the 15th vote. 16 is too old for Gaetz. >
  
  Get them too upset and they'll start smearing shit on the walls again. >
  
  Gotta love the absolute cowardice of the anti-McCarthy people changing their votes to "present" to lower the threshold he needed to be elected. >
  
  He won, but at what cost? >
  
  The problem is less about the cost, but who is going to pay. We the Americans are going to pay. We lost. >
  
  Oh yeah, they are about to try and do some insanely crazy shit. The worst Facebook memes are about to come to life. >
  
  Try is definitely the key word. With Dems holding the Senate it won't matter unless both Manchin and synema go rogue >
  
  They're going to waste time investigating a bunch of shit and not passing anything >
  
  They're going to refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless democrats cut social net funding. Republicans plan on holding the economy hostage to remove aid from the poorest Americans. >
  
  Borbert is a cowardly hypocrite who didn't have the stones to stand her ground. For all that yelling and screaming she's done all week the least she could have done was to continue her crusade against McCarthy instead of rolling over. >
  
  She was probably quietly told that if she didn’t fall in line she would get no support next time she’s up for re-election. >
  
  She barely eked out a win in a gerrymandered-to-shit red district, I can't imagine she's not already going to be a huge target to be primaried >
  
  That's the problem with the hyper partisan populists. You can't primary them.  Their bullshit is popular with the base thatvotes in primaries and that's it.  They can win primaries easy but can't win elections. 
  The GOP is stuck between a rock and a hard place. >
  
  Generally you are correct, but she is so bad that she almost lost a safe red district.
  That means more than a few republicans voted against her. >
  
  From covid debates to counting votes, these motherfuckers are as bad at math as it gets >
  
  This man has no integrity and should be humiliated and shamed. Wtf, Republicans. >
  
  I know he was probably super relieved that he finally won, but I couldn't believe how much he was smiling after. Dude's just going to go down as a fun anecdote about House Speaker elections. >
  
  
  I couldn't believe how much he was smiling after.
  
  I can. He probably thinks nobody will remember how many times it came to vote, only that he will go down in history as the winner. Also just the pure satisfaction of winning after losing several times in a row can be very euphoric. >
  
  With the concessions he had to give the “freedom caucus” I’d say he’ll last a week >
  
  Welcome to the 118th House of Representatives of the United States Congress. 
  Fittingly on the same day 2 years prior - at 3:24 AM, January 7th, 2021, where 137 Republican House Representatives voted to overturn the prior election, invalidate 81 million American votes, and end democracy, including Kevin McCarthy.
  It is the result of historic midterm underperformance leading to a razor-thin majority.
  Where it takes 4 days and 14 votes to do something that has been insanely easy by both parties for the past century.
  Where a slew of concessions makes their Speaker feckless, neutered, and vulnerable to limitless pressure from the fringes of his own party.
  No desire to govern or help Americans, but where priorities are:
  Threatening/causing a U.S. default.
  Investigating Hunter Biden's dick pics.
  Investigating the investigation into themselves.
  Investigating ~~Trump's~~ Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan
  Investigating ~~Trump's~~ Biden's COVID-19 response
  Investigating ~~Trump's~~ Biden's coordination with social media platforms
  Let the clown circus begin. >
  
  Don’t forget requiring balanced budgets and no omnibus bill.
  Prepare for long term government shutdown. >
  
  Long term shutdown and the destruction of the world economy (and the sun setting of the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency). >
  
  Everybody please remind Matt Goetz that he promised to resign. >
  
  Here here... >
  
  fyi >
  
  The Waffle House of Representatives >
  
  Debt ceiling sobs quietly in the corner >
  
  That's for the end of the year. We have BS impeachment stuff, trying to sabotage McCarthy with a no confidence vote stuff to happen before then along with whatever looney tunes happen along the way. >
  
  The end of the fiscal year, which is coming up soon. The first budget proposal is usually the first Monday of February I believe. >
  
  Bunch of fucking douche bags and turd sandwiches. >
  
  thats an insult to douche bags and turd sandwiches >
  
  This was wicked hilarious. And we trust this party to govern? Lol.
  Like a six year old with a gun. >
  
  ......Um...so about that...my city just had a six year old shoot a teacher.
  I'd trust them less than that. >
  
  As much as that sounds like a south park sketch I was just reading that article.. >
  
  Amen, now they can get everyone sworn in and get back to doing nothing, officially. >
  
  How do you get rejected FOURTEEN TIMES and go on to smile and pretend you won something? >
  
  An absolute klaxxon bell of weakness to the rest of the world. Talk about a loss of face. >
  
  And Kevin's out there smiling and clapping like he won. He just showed the world how much of a joke he is. His Speakership essentially got ruined before it even started.
  The clown car ride isn't over yet. I'm expecting much more chaos from that gang of 20 moving forward. >
  
  He literally did win, he's 2nd in line for the literal US presidency now. 
  All the unquantifiable moral highground shit is just sour grapes. "Hmph. He probably feels terrible about it." No, he probably does not - he's the bad guys. 
  Bad guys don't feel terrible about debasing themselves to get the very real rewards they were after. 
  You're like a child who just watched your sociopathic sibling throw a tantrum until your parents bought them ice cream - your only recourse is telling yourself "I bet they feel too embarrassed about the tantrum to enjoy the ice cream.", as they gleefully eat it up. >
  
  Didn’t he concede a motion to vacate the seat to the crazy hold outs? So literally any moment Margie or SexTraffiking Beavis can call another vote and we do this whole shebang all over again. >
  
  They just took out the metal detectors too, right?
  Only a matter of time... >
  
  Well the triumvirate has been broken. Marjorie Taylor is pissed off at Lauren and Matt. The politics around this circus is fascinating. Matt nominated Trump who was firmly in Kevins camp. Jenni Thomas and 70 other Conservatives wrote a letter praising the 20 holdouts. The Dems seem more united than the GOP. Fox News blasted the holdouts and couldn’t get a handle on what they wanted. Even though Kevin said he wasn’t giving out Committee assignments yet, you know he had to making some choice deals to garner vote changes. Fascinating 🤷🏽‍♂️ >
  
  Lmao good luck governing those baboons Kevin >
  
  This whole thing was just a preview of the shit show yet to come. The GOP is a pathetic joke that’s basically now being run by a bunch of lunatics out to destroy the very institution they take an oath to uphold. Now we’ll have at least two years of impeachment attempts, absurd investigations into Hunter Biden and Fauci, useless votes to try to defund the irs and give more tax breaks to the ultra wealthy, and probably a government shutdown over the debt ceiling. >
  
  your social security and medicare are now on the table republicans! that’s what all the negotiations had been about and even more. >
  
  Requires the Democratic Senate to pass legislation on for Presidential signature. They can muck up the works and throw wrenches in the gears of our democracy and possibly crash the stock market. They can do a lot of damage but they can’t pass legislation without getting it past the Senate and reconciliation. >
  
  And you didn’t even get into our scotus whose majority was decided by an unpopular president who pushed sedition and is now grifting NFTs. A president who lost the popular vote in every election he ran in by millions and ended up impeached twice and kicked out of office as soon as people could do it.
  But we still need to live with his scotus despite every indication showing they are extremely unpopular and reviled. >
  
  As the saying goes, the 15th time is the charm! >
  
  I'm concerned what sort of insane concessions he made to the Sedition Caucus to sway them.  Hope you all like 2 years of committees and investigations about Hunter's dick. >
  
  2nd craziest January 6th in history. 
  Can’t wait to see how long he lasts. >
  
  Remindme! "2 years" >
  
  He immediately praises Donald Trump
  Fuck this guy with a wooden dick >
  
  And now, let the shit-show begin… useless investigation like Bengahzi and Clinton’s emails… attacks against the FBI for doing their jobs and finding evidence of Trump’s wrong doing… etc. etc. etc.   
  Having Jim Jordan as chair of House Judiciary will certainly see a measured and considered approach (/s)
  And ‘dealing with inflation’… ummm… it’s already decreasing and the IRA is still coming into effect… so yeah
  We can also say goodbye to the House Ethics Committee
  We can also say hello to various requirements in house management that will let a single member disrupt or delay any process conducted by the House… this is the result of the ‘concessions’ (read that as caving in) that Kevin gave to the MAGA nuts just so he could have the gavel.
  Read that again… just so he could have the gavel… that’s not leadership.  That’s greed for power.  That’s the Republican Party at large today.
  This is going to get uglier before it gets better. >
  
  Many people are saying that Matt Gaetz changed his vote in the 15th round because he was granted concessions from McCarthy. But we all know that Matt loses interest after 16. >
  
  Just curious, does anybody know who in the near-fight video the
  1) bow-tie man, and
  2) young red-tie man
  are? Young red-tie man looked like he wanted to go at it with Gaetz, and bow-tie man looked like he was trying to play the peacemaker. (screenshot)
  EDIT: Bow-tie man is Patrick McHenry (NC-10, wiki), who has previously been the House Republican Chief Deputy Whip and nominated McCarthy for the 17th round of voting. >
  
  And it only cost him his dignity >
  
  We are so fucked for the next few years. >
  
  This vote would have been easier if pedophile gaetz was in jail and the rest of the jan 6th seditioists were in prison.  Just saying. >
  
  When he goes home tonight after the joy of getting what he wants fades and he is no longer the center of attention, when he sits on the corner of his bed in the dark and the horrible realization sets in that he sold his soul, his dignity, and his future job performance, will he think what have I done? >
  
  Do you honestly think he has a conscience? >
  
  So he starts his term as speaker by bribing his way into office.  That’s his idea of leadership? >
  
  So why vote if they  just keep doing it until they get the answer they want?
  He lost 14 times.  What is the point? >
  
  Because nobody can win unless they have over 50% of the votes. >
  
  I nominate to get rid if Kevin. That will happen in a week you watch >
  
  I would equate this to a proposal with strings, only saying yes, after groveling & many concessions. This makes for a very bad marriage. The ones that will suffer are the American people >
  
  Was one of his concessions that he is now to be referred to as Reek? >
  
  I expect that every time there is a vote where McCarthy asks for Democrat support, they will attempt to oust him.
  2023 is gonna be a slog. >
  
  I want to know what they had to promise those lunatics to end the shenanigans. >
  
  Ol’ 15 Tries McCarthy, that’s what we’ll call him. >
  
  Another kick in the groin for democracy. This guy is a trash bag. >
  
  Fuck him and the rest of the Republicans. >
  
  At this point, the Trumpists should really just (be) split off from the traditional Republicans. American politics would be better off if there were at least four instead of only two parties anyway. >
  
  They're so proud of themselves, freaking disgrace. >
  
  Gee can hardly wait for The Us government to default on its debt causing a massive credit meltdown that takes our jobs with it. This is what happens when the fascist wing of the party has control. Next fascist Jim Jordan as Judicial chair and MTG introducing impeachment proceedings as the gestapo gets angry over her subpoenas being ignored. >
  
  the only thing you can do right now is laugh. Laugh at the pain, laugh at the fact that we are so screwed… laugh and laugh…
  Because the other option is to fucking cry. 
  This is nothing but entertainment anymore, no government, no debate, nothing but meaningless white noise over things they don’t believe in. It’s almost poetic, isn’t it? Done in by a bunch of idiots who, in their fear of irrelevancy, decided to flip the table and break the game rather than give up and move on. 
  Someone once said to me that everything, even morality is subjective and prone to change. 
  Essentially he told me that I was wrong for having a moral compass and personal standards, that people like that die out in this world. 
  Well I disagree with him on that. I believe in a inherent sense of right and wrong, that good and bad need a balance. 
  There is a right thing to do here. All it would take would some Republicans to put down the figurative pitchfork and torch and actually try to be somewhat reasonable, or at least disregard doing something inherently designed to hurt people for personal gain. But the problem with that is that they have built their image on being torch throwing, backstabbing, paranoid lunatics because that’s the base that they were appealing to. 
  Want to know what’s ironic? They had the chance to stop this, to stop trying to be modern day feudalistic lords, but they chose to be like that now and it’s probably going to be pretty bad for a while. >
  
  I knew Matt Gaetz wouldn’t wait for it to be 18. >
  
  Matt Gaetz doesn’t do anything more than 15. >
  
  Times like this is when I wish fistfights on the House and Senate floors were still allowed >
  
  What's so funny about this is how McCarthy truly believed he had the bare minimum of votes to win the 14th round. His press team even tweeted a picture of him walking to the chamber with the caption "Game Time!"
  One of the 6 chaos Republicans decided to screw him over though and voted for another Rep instead of voting present, keeping the majority threshold at 217 when McCarthy only had 216. He then gets up and walks over to Gaetz and Bolbert, BEGGING for one of them to change their votes. 
  "PLEASE! PLEASE JUST ONE OF YOU CHANGE TO PRESENT SO I WIN WITH 216! PLEASE! I SAID GAME TIME AND EVERYTHING! THEYRE GONNA MAKE SOOO MUCH FUN OF ME. FOX NEWS IS LAUGHING AT ME RIGHT NOW. PLEEEEAAAASSEE!!!"
  Only for him to loose by one vote. Fucking hilarious. Then they want to give into Gaetz to adjourn until Monday at noon. But the Orange antichrist comes calling in to tell his stooges to not hold this up until Monday because of all the bad press as they are all voting to adjourn. All the Repubs vote to adjourn and right at the end of the vote, McCarthy realizes they finally have enough for him to win with the barest of majority if his detractors vote present. He and his fluffers then run to change their vote from adjournment to not adjourn and they push through with a historic 15 round vote.
  Kevin McCarthy finally becomes House Speaker with a bare minimum, 216 votes instead of 218 since 6 of his party votes present, on a historic 15th round of voting which has not happened for over 160 years since before the Civil War, after he pathetically went up to his crazy detractors and BEGGED for one to flip their vote on live television. Furthermore, under the currently proposed new House rules package, it shall only take one House member to basically trigger a "no confidence" vote against the Speaker to possibly trigger this nonsense all over again throughout the next 2 years.
  So Congratulations to Speaker McCarthy for being a power hungry politician, who would rather bring Congress to a screeching hault for his power grab rather than to drop out and let another Republican lead. 
  (or God forbid he went to the 212 democrats in a show of bipartisanship and get 4 of their votes after some negotiations)
  McCarthy will go down is history, 
  not only as a traitor who tried to overthrow the 2020 election in the House by not certifying key states without any evidence of voter fraud AFTER thousands of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol for the heads of his fellow representatives, 
  not only as the scumbag lizard who went to a photoshoot with the orange obese monster at Maralago days after the insurrection in an attempt to normalize his involvement, 
  but as a pathetic, power hungry politician who begged to Matt Gaetz on the House floor on live television to give him Speakership, after already loosing 14 rounds and most of his dignity. Way to go McCarthy. You will be remembered. >
  
  I was hoping for at least one more failure. >
  
  Waiting for that new important ‘pronoun restriction act’ from the GOP >
  
  Nothing to be proud of a bunch of terrorist traitors cult sickening they are in that building but as usual making asses of themselves >
  
  Kevin McCarthy is a fuckwit asshat no-policy havin’ dumb shit who I can’t believe is a congressman let alone damn speaker. Absolutely shameful trash from my state and my country. >
  
  America gets to look forward to these terrorist sympathisers holding the nation hostage via government shut down later in the year.
  thumbs up! >
  
  Anyone else wonder if the GOP concocted this whole embarrassing charade to avoid any discussion of it being the anniversary of the 1/6 Capital Attack? >
  
  What an absolute shitshow for the Republicans. Absolutely wild to watch live on TV. I can’t even imagine how they will govern.
  The Democrats look responsible, reasonable, and organised by comparison. >
  
  
  I can’t even imagine how they will govern.
  
  They have no plans to actually govern. >
  
  Their plan is to prevent governing. It's been that way since the eighties. >
  
  They should have elected a jellyfish. It is highly toxic, completely lacks any sort brain or spine, and is utterly unfit to hold the gavel. But at least it's not Kevin McCarthy. >
  
  He sold his soul and abandoned all principles to become speaker; for the next two years he’ll be Matt Gaetz’s bitch. >
  
  can someone explain to me why it happened like this..? was he the only one being voted for? were there no other candidates? why did nothing change after the first 2-3 times? how the HECK did it even get to 15??? >
  
  Was it all a ruse to get out of acknowledging January 6? >
  
  New Republican catchphrase: "15th time's a charm" >
  
  And he sold his soul to win it.  He’s now MTG’s little bitch >
  
  The lunatic fringe wore him down until he gave the farm to them and he thinks he "won". He has no idea what he is in for.  
  The really scary part is he got outsmarted by the likes of Gaetz and Boebert.  
  Ignorance is bliss was on full display for the world to see. >
  
  McCarthy vs the LETTUCE.
  Countdown starts now! >
  
  Congrats Kevin - gave away the farm to the dumbfuck coalition - the stupidest people alive who didn’t even vote for you - to become the weakest-ass “speaker” to have ever held the stupid woody hammer. 
  You “earned” it. >
  
  More proof of the problem with the American political system. Party members being able to sway a vote simply because of peer pressure, not because of what they believe in. >
  
  The have no platform or position.  They have a goal called gaining power. >
  
  They're always doing shit like this and still turn around and call the other side the "Do-Nothing Democrats" lmao. >
  
  Weakest speaker in history. A whipping boy for the far right. This congress will be a shit show. >
  
  When it comes to US government, the name McCarthy is so cursed >
  
  And all he had to do was give up pretty much any ability to use his position >
  
  Question. Can McCarthy make promises and then just not follow through on them? What's to stop him from just lying to get the gavel, then continue acting like a (supposedly) moderate Republican anyway? >
  
  This is how republicans view regular elections. Keep voting until they win 🏅 >
  
  I'm guessing that the Speaker title also comes with a lifelong salary and better pension, so he literally doesn't have to do anything now that he's secured his future at the expense of everyone else. >
  
  Watch Gaetz call a vote to have him removed next week for no reason other than to waste time. >
  
  This guy can barely get his own party members to vote for him, I don't how he will be able to get anything done. With a 1 person threshold, they have him by the balls. >
  
  Such a frustrating time line. These people don’t deserve jobs stocking shelves at Walmart. Acting like rotten, spoiled toddlers. >
  
  What gets me is how proud of himself he seems to be after all this bullshit. What a witless turd. >
  
  They had to get Gaetz before the vote turned 16. >
  
  Just think if the red wave happened. This country would seriously be fucked. These Republicans are so incompetent. >
  
  I want to see Danny McBride star as Gaetz in the HBO miniseries about this shit show. Maybe we can get Tina Fey as Boebert. >
  
  Barf. A Tina Fey show is not going to save us. >
  
  And then they had to adjourn because they didn't have the votes to pass the rules package they used to get the votes to elect him Speaker.
  The GOP can't govern themselves. >
  
  Gaetz loses interest after 15. >
  
  After a week of achieving nothing it’s on to the business of achieving nothing. >
  
  mccarthy is going to be pulling 223,500 usd as speaker, all those other reps that accomplish nothing and refuse to govern are pulling down 174,000 USD.
  And thats just their base salaries. After their term they are magically worth many millions of dollars >
  
  Insider trading is the real gig >
  
  Insider trading, legalized bribes, illegal but unenforced bribes, “speaker fees”, corporate boardship, oh and don’t forget sex trafficking and BitCoin for a certain Florida Rep. >
  
  Or changing the aviation routes of CIA-funded contra cocaine onto your father-in-laws shipping business for the next 30 years, and baselessly installing his daughter as transportation secretary to make sure it never gets into the news after 1987 except when 60 pounds of cocaine is found by international investigators which still barely makes it to the news and you have to hope no one asks why they call you Cocaine Mitch... >
  
  WHAT THE FUCK? Any sources on this you recommend? >
  
  There was a really great 1987 and 1989 two part investigative news piece  and  then a different one that is another ancillary story with a bit more detail of the investigation/trial by some channel 3 something or other that interviews the pilots flying the cocaine in through miami, paid directly by the cia. In the news pieces, they show mitch joining and leading the investigating body, then the pilots discuss how everythings starts going by boat instead after the fbi/atf arrested each of the pilots for "unrelated drug crimes" (likely possession in the gray period between the deliveries and payment (in drugs) and the time the individuals sold or used it. Then folllow the trail of that shipping company: The Foremost Group, the lineage of john and elaine chao, the marriage timeline, the move to speaker of the house,  the drug discovery on the FG ship, the appointment of chai to transportation secretary, etc. It was unrelated research into contras via ChatGPT that actually pieced it together yet it seems to be hiding in plain site (and in plain memory for people deep in the GOP and recently leaked by Don Blankenship in his run against cocaine mitch). Just waiting for a modern investigative journalist to report it since this seems to be one of many US corruption scandals/schemes that didn't make it to the internet when it was created.
  Edit- found the video posted 2 months ago on reddit but had been on YT for a while
  Edit 2- this might not actually be the specific 2 part investigative segment I was talking about but includes a lot of the same information. The one I'm referencing has a lot of direct interviews with the pilots themselves a well as the miami speedboat racer drug kingpin once he got out of jail. Flipped through the one I linked and it looks right, but I'll have to rewatch a bit to be sure. It was a woman reporting.
  Edit 3- checked my yt watch history,  here you go . Fixed the top link but left in the [wrong] second link just because it's another decent collaboration of detail.  Gotta love them AI robots lifting the veil of corruption lol.  Time for another CoffeeZilla piece about something not-crypto haha >
  
  There's reporting that at one point McCarthy approached Gaetz on the floor for a conversation, and a voice rang out, "On your knees, Kevin!" >
  
  There is video of it, you can hear it. >
  
  Got a link? I saw the video but didn't hear anything >
  
  I hate how it sounds like a high school assembly. Someone says something funny during the silence and then the wave of other people shushing. >
  
  I was joking with my wife when I said that the House has officially turned into a clown convention. Then I realized that clowns are probably decent people who actually care about their job and comparing them to Congress is a huge insult to clowns. >
  
  It's actually the likes of Gaetz that'll lure a kid with a balloon. Clowns get all the bad PR. They can barely grasp the workings of magnets, let alone set up a lure. >
  
  That's insane >
  
  I wish the fight had broken out >
  
  been a while since we had a good caning on the congressional floor >
  
  I understood that reference! >
  
  For anyone wondering: The Caning of Charles Sumner >
  
  Let that go to show you... no one makes a fool out of Kevin McCarthy 15 times in a row! >
  
  Yea! You can rob him of his wallet, his clothes, his dignity, but you can’t rob him of a wooden gavel! >
  
  McCarthy: "Fool me once shame on you, fool me 15 times, can't get fooled again!" >
  
  One of my favorite W quotes, thanks!  Now watch this drive. >
  
  So many good ones. I always chuckle at “Too many OB/GYN's aren't able to practice their love with women all across the country.” >
  
  Wait. Wait wait wait. I’m not young ENOUGH to have missed them, but I don’t remember the Bush years with the searing clarity of the ridiculous Trump shit. Did he really say that?
  Beautiful. >
  
  Though Bush's administration did some evil shit - because Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft/Gonzales were there, amongst other junior figures (Haspel, Kavanaugh) seeking to impress who later rose to prominence during the Trump administration - his "turns of phrase" were downright quaint compared to the insane BS that came out of Trump's mouth. But there were a lot of them... I had a daily calendar at one point that featured them! >
  
  So many more people died, so many more lives were destroyed as a result of Bush presidency than Trump. It’s not even close. >
  
  Indeed. Part of that was 8 years. Part of that was 9/11. But in general that group was much more war hawkish than Trump, who for all his faults clearly saw military conflict as bad for business (which is why Bolton didn't work out). >
  
  He realized it was actually really easy to get elected once he put on the leash >
  
  He agreed to wear a muzzle as well. >
  
  Ball gag complete the look. >
  
  Don't forget the horsey tail.
  The GOP's favorite word is neeeeigh after all. >
  
  He won, but gave away everything and sold his soul just to be able to hold the gavel. Speaker in name only. >
  
  and can easily be voted out by no confidence by next week. The shortest-reigned Speaker in history. >
  
  For real, didn't he agree that a no confidence vote could be called by just one rep? If so someone is going to call it Monday because you kind of just can't resist calling out people's dumb rules like that. >
  
  This one is wild to me, what stops the democrats from just constantly calling non confidence votes if the bar is so low? Honestly it seems like they should if all the GQP is gonna do is launch bullshit investigations for 2 years. >
  
  This rule was actually a thing for basically all of the houses existence except for Pelosis tenure. What's to stop them? Well, the fact that it is pointless and would only make democrats look like babies who cry when they can't get what they want. So they won't use it unless they are sure they can flip hardliners to vote for someone else, which isn't going to happen. The only people who are likely to use it are Republicans themselves, not democrats, and they will use it to symbolically express their discontent with the speaker. If anyone uses it it will be a member of the GQP. That's basically how it was last used in 2015, when a member of the house Republicans motioned to replace their own speaker, leading to that speaker resigning shortly after. >
  
  Well, the cycle of debt-ceiling hostage taking, government shutdowns, sham investigations and dysfunctional government has officially started. >
  
  That's all I got from reading the article. >
  
  That's been the case since the first failed vote -- Freedom Caucas officially has control despite being small and unpopular, so politics are working as intended. >
  
  I suspect the GOP won't enjoy being controlled by a minority. >
  
  The bad news is we the people are going to pay the price for the negotiating that took to get it done. >
  
  My only thought in all this. What do we get out of this? More instability and oppression, I'm certain. >
  
  We get investigations into Hunter's Laptop, a panel investigating why Nancy Pelosi is responsible for January 6th, and "anti-wokism" bills whatever that even means. Ya know, the real important stuff. Maybe they will even have another 20 or so Benghazi hearings. >
  
  Don't forget decreased military spending, oddly enough 🤔 >
  
  Right when we're helping defend against Russia, the darling of the far right. >
  
  They know who butters their bread >
  
  The Russians infiltrated the GOP years ago. Everyone involved needs to be rooted out.
  The NRA is basically owned by the Russians now. We have 6 congressman going to Russia on the 4th of July? >
  
  Honestly this is such a major factor when it comes to the Ukraine war and the media are not taking it as seriously as they should. I believe these maga fascist repubs top priority aside from their own personal gain is allowing Putin to have his way. It's so blindingly obvious who's side they're on. >
  
  The fact that so many people can't see our current political shitshow and the war in Ukraine are two theaters of the exact same conflict is so frustrating. >
  
  Frustrating. I'd say madness inducing rage myself. The world is controlled by Evil. Im fully convinced >
  
  Alright everyone, how many heads of lettuce will he get through? >
  
  If the Lettuce is imperial does that mean the Mooch is metric? if so what is the Lettuce to Mooch conversion? >
  
  Lettuce is metric actually. It comes from Prime Minister Liz Truss getting that positon. Everyone knew it would be a shit show so The Daily Star set up a live stream of a head of lettuce and asked "Who will last longer: Liz Truss or this lettuce?"
  She was removed from office before the lettuce rotted. >
  
  Her only actual legacy will be featuring in pub quizzes in years to come…
  Who was prime minister when QE2 died? >
  
  Honestly a harder question would be "Who was Prime Minister when Charles III became king?"
  Functionally, it's the same question (monarchy passes the moment the monarch dies), but since his coronation is under a different PM and there was no GE between a lot of people will probably guess Sunak (if he lasts to the coronation). >
  
  
  (if he lasts to the coronation)
  
  Sunak or Charles? >
  
  This was 4 days of peak comedy watching this man debase and humiliate himself >
  
  Wait until the vote of no confidence by next week! >
  
  For anyone wondering one of the concessions he made was regarding a rule change making it easier to force out a sitting speaker >
  
  Technically it is just a change back to the old rules (that really aren't that old, they were only changed after Boehner was Speaker), that said any one House member could submit a vote of no confidence.
  Now that he's elected it really doesn't change anything, they don't have enough votes to elect a different Speaker. The dozen or so holdouts could only hold up his initial election, they can't get him out after the fact even with the change. >
  
  Just wait until the debt ceiling fight >
  
  This right here.  If what cnn reports is correct, thanks to Mccarthys desperation we’ll likely see a shut down for quite a long time coming soon.   
  Just what republicans want come campaign season 2024 lol. >
  
  And the ones that suffer the most under the shutdown, will reelect all of these idiots again. >
  
  Joke’s on you. I don’t have Obamacare, I have coverage under the Affordable Care Act so I don’t need government funding
  /s >
  
  I remember that exact exchange on Reddit (I’m sure it occurred a bunch while people realized), and it was epic. >
  
  In Kentucky, the governor changed the name to Kentucky Kynect and people loved it but hated ObamaCare. Our idiocy knows no bounds. >
  
  
  Register to continue reading
  
  No, I don’t think I will >
  
  Seriously ever since they got rid of Trent Crimm, there’s no way I’m registering for The Independent >
  
  Fucking Nate… >
  
  I really hope he gets a redemption arc in the last season. >
  
  Is this one the last season? >
  
  It's the last season of Ted Lasso proper, but there's been noises about maybe making a spin-off set in the same universe. >
  
  Oof, Ted Lasso only works because of... Ted Lasso. I like some of the tertiary characters but Ted is the reason to watch. >
  
  Is it bad to say that I kind of wanted to see how long they could keep it going? >
  
  The pot has been simmering for decades and has started to show signs of a boil. Unless these folks turn down the heat and get to work (stop with the fucking tribe warfare!), its going to boil over.
  (grabbing a refill on my popcorn and soda) >
  
  I think it’s interesting the Republican Party is so broken (by design now) that they have a historically weak speaker. McCarthy will have very little power it seems. >
  
  It's kind of ironic they've done to themselves what they've actively been trying to do to government as a whole for decades now. >
  
  They’re totally owning the libs. >
  
  Congrats to the Speaker In Name Only. They’re going to dog walk that pathetic yutz on the daily. >
  
  
  Speaker In Name Only  
  
  SPINO would be a decent acronym for that, except that it indirectly associates McCarthy with the existence of a backbone >
  
  Spine? No! SPINO! >
  
  Reminds me of Lionel Hutz.
  Works on contingency. No money down.
  Oh they got this all screwed up
  Works on contingency? No, money down! >
  
   N O - M O N E Y - D O W N >
  
  These songs slap way harder than they should 
  O U T - O F - I D E A S is my fave >
  
  So, vote of no confidence on Monday? >
  
  Or an impeachment vote. You know, sane, boring things... nothing extreme. >
  
  They won't have the votes for Impeachment, if ever. (Barring Biden does something that he should be actually be impeached for). The more moderate Republicans won't go for it. >
  
  Won't stop them from trying 15 times >
  
  They tried to repeal ACA over 150 times. >
  
  Get ready to hear the word “woke” non stop >
  
  Republican logic: woke and sleepy Joe are both bad things. So what’s good? dead? >
  
  How can he be woke and sleepy at the same time? Checkmate, Republicans >
  
  Maybe he's sleepwoking >
  
  Please delete this before they get hold of this word >
  
  Americans are the real losers out of all this >
  
  Establishment republicans have taught MAGA republicans the most important lesson they have ever learned: You don’t need a majority; you can disrupt ANYTHING by just planting your feet in the ground, granting no concessions to the opposition, and forcing the other side to cooperate to get anything done. 
  It used to be that Establishment & MAGA republicans stood together, by planting their feet into the ground, granting no concessions to democrats, and forcing democrats to cooperate to get anything done. 
  For the next two years, the story will be that MAGA republicans stand together, by planting their feet into the ground, granting no concessions to establishment republicans, and forcing establishment republicans to cooperate with them to get anything done. 
  today, establishment republicans are basically only one notch below, or equal to, democrats (or RINOs) in the eyes of MAGA republicans. And establishment republicans are sitting there like “wait, aren’t we on the same team?”, and the MAGA answer is “not in the slightest”. >
  
  The Republicans thought they could control the MAGA nuts.  They ended up losing their party to them.  It is the MAGA party now. >
  
  Eh, I think you could have made a case for that pre-midterm elections. National support for MAGA is waning and their Reps are kind of overplaying their hand here and pissing off a lot of peoppe in the process. I could definitely be wrong but this seems like this iteration of the movement is coming to a close. >
  
  Yeah maga doesn’t have the support of the people but still control the party pretty easily. Sure everyone else is sick of them but the maga people that elected them love them and will keep re-electing them since the areas they run in are usually deep red echo chambers >
  
  Idk you saw some pretty poor performances in safe districts. And after this shit storm and the shit storms that will come over the next two years I doubt guys like McCarthy are going to be willing to kick in to races for people who made their lives a living hell. 
  I think MAGA is going to need to adapt if they're going to keep a lid on things. They need less lunatics running the asylum, less unhinged theatrics, and to come back into communion with the mainstream arm of the party.
  And I think that's the change that a guy like DeSantis is hoping to embody- same kind of message but more buttoned up and willing to play ball. >
  
  His speech sucks. Quit pandering to the idiots Kev. >
  
  Kevin Is one of the idiots >
  
  Dude literally gave up everything to get the votes. He's probably sending teenage girls to Gaetz as we speak. >
  
  It's why it ended on the 15th vote. 16 is too old for Gaetz. >
  
  Get them too upset and they'll start smearing shit on the walls again. >
  
  Gotta love the absolute cowardice of the anti-McCarthy people changing their votes to "present" to lower the threshold he needed to be elected. >
  
  He won, but at what cost? >
  
  The problem is less about the cost, but who is going to pay. We the Americans are going to pay. We lost. >
  
  Oh yeah, they are about to try and do some insanely crazy shit. The worst Facebook memes are about to come to life. >
  
  Try is definitely the key word. With Dems holding the Senate it won't matter unless both Manchin and synema go rogue >
  
  They're going to waste time investigating a bunch of shit and not passing anything >
  
  They're going to refuse to raise the debt ceiling unless democrats cut social net funding. Republicans plan on holding the economy hostage to remove aid from the poorest Americans. >
  
  Borbert is a cowardly hypocrite who didn't have the stones to stand her ground. For all that yelling and screaming she's done all week the least she could have done was to continue her crusade against McCarthy instead of rolling over. >
  
  She was probably quietly told that if she didn’t fall in line she would get no support next time she’s up for re-election. >
  
  She barely eked out a win in a gerrymandered-to-shit red district, I can't imagine she's not already going to be a huge target to be primaried >
  
  That's the problem with the hyper partisan populists. You can't primary them.  Their bullshit is popular with the base thatvotes in primaries and that's it.  They can win primaries easy but can't win elections. 
  The GOP is stuck between a rock and a hard place. >
  
  Generally you are correct, but she is so bad that she almost lost a safe red district.
  That means more than a few republicans voted against her. >
  
  From covid debates to counting votes, these motherfuckers are as bad at math as it gets >
  
  This man has no integrity and should be humiliated and shamed. Wtf, Republicans.