Much has been said about the "insane" or "unhinged" "never Kevin" posse, but not so much

[Atticus]

about the man who is the object of their hatred.

I ask this: is it a sane rational person who continues to voluntarily submit to the humiliation, indignity and pain of ANOTHER election? Is there not something "not quite right" about such an individual?

McCarthy has not only "brought a butter knife to a gun fight", he has repeatedly buttered the bread of those shooting him.

If McCarthy is defeated, we will have a House run by the likes of Boebert and Gaetz.

If McCarthy prevails, we will have a House TEMPORARILY cluttered up with a self-gelded loser, but still run by the likes of Boebert and Gaetz.

Every "Republican" who voted for ANY of these "legislative terrorists" SHOULD be ashamed, but---how did Hillary put it?---they "lack the shame gene".

May would be a good time to gather on the Mall in support of our 212.

[machoneman]

1. The stupid is strong in this one, Obi Wan!

[C_U_L8R]

2. And this speaks volumes about the rest of the party

Republicans are so consumed with tribal hatred they can't even consider the obvious solution... negotiate with the Democrats. Make a compromise. Form a coalition. You know... govern.

[Atticus]

3. Well said. nt

[Whiskeytide]

21. That sounds good, but McCarthy simply cannot do that. Listen to ...

… the reps who nominate him over and over. They ALL spew hatred for Democrats and Biden even though they support McCarthy. If he struck a deal with our side, he’d lose 90% of his support from the 200 that are currently voting for him. He might get elected anyway if you do the math, but he’d be utterly unable to govern the chamber, and would likely be voted out on day one after the 200 joined with the 20 insurrectionists and disowned him.

[markodochartaigh]

25. "They ALL spew hatred for Democrats..."

This is a great point that I think that most Democrats not in red areas fail to apprehend. The hate for Democrats is so great among a large percentage of Republican politicians and the Republican electorate that any compromise with Democrats will put a target on the politician (and not necessarily a metaphorical target) who makes the compromise. The politician who comprises will be like a calf smeared with blood and pushed into a river filled with piranhas.

[Marcuse]

29. Because their politics is religion based, compromise becomes heresy.

[markodochartaigh]

35. Amazingly enough Barry Goldwater, who was considered crazy

right wing a half century ago was correct about them.

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.
Said in November 1994, as quoted in John Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience (2006).

[C_U_L8R]

28. I know... they are totally unprepared to govern. They want to rule.

[TigressDem]

4. Better than tRUMP nt

[gab13by13]

5. Boebert or Gaetz or Jordan

will never be elected Speaker.

[Kaleva]

6. The Never Kevin posse don't have the votes to defeat McCarthy

So far, they've been unable to promote a viable alternative to McCarthy.

[Atticus]

7. Seems to me they've already defeated him. He just hasn't admitted it yet.

I don't think they're interested in a "viable alternative". They're about destruction, not governing.

[Probatim]

16. 100% correct - destruction, lack of governance is their goal.

The question is - at what point will one group call off this game of chicken?

[3catwoman3]

8. "...self-gelded loser..."

Now that's some mighty fine wordsmithing right there.

[Atticus]

11. "Thang Q!" nt

[hibbing]

32. "he has repeatedly buttered the bread of those shooting him" Great line too n/t

[FakeNoose]

9. McCarthy won't accept defeat, that's the whole problem

Pennsylvania just solved a similar standoff in our state House of Representatives. Instead of allowing the crazy people burn down the House, a sensible solution was brokered. The (non-crazy) Repukes selected an honorable Democrat by the name of Mark Rozzi (D-Berks), and made a deal with him. They would support him for Speaker of the House if he agreed to go independent and not caucus with either Party. Mr. Rozzi agreed to this, and he seems to be an honorable man. This solution was endorsed by our Governor-elect Josh Shapiro and it was just announced on Wednesday.

It would have been a stupid, ugly dogfight with no winners, if this solution hadn't been worked out.

We've been posting about it here on our Pennsylvania thread: https://www.democraticunderground.com/107418104

[czarjak]

10. Vlad's glad.

[Scrivener7]

12. I disagree that McCarthy's loss will mean the howler monkeys win.

I don't know how the election of a speaker will take place in the case of McCarthy's loss, but I think the likelihood is that it would mean a take down of the howler monkeys.

[Atticus]

13. I would happily eat crow if that's the way it goes down.👍 nt

[Scrivener7]

14. We would celebrate together!

ETA: I just read a post about a Congress in the 1850s that took hundreds of votes and two months to choose a Speaker. Who knows where this will end up.

[onenote]

15. McCarthy wants the same policies as Boebert and Gaetz.

He wants to be speaker for the sake of being speaker and will give away his power to the rebellion to get the job.

But make no mistake -- he has been, and remains, aligned with the rebellious republicans, on policy questions. Check the votes on any significant legislation in the last year -- see if you can find an instance in which the Democrats and Republicans divided largely along party lines and see how many times McCarthy cast a different vote than any of the 20 holdouts.

The holdouts aren't concerned about policy choices -- they are also all about power for the sake of power. But in the end, whether they succeed or not, the republican agenda in the House will not vary. There will be absurd investigations, there will be legislative proposals that will get the votes of all (or virtually all) Republicans and no Democrats and that will die when they reach the Senate.

This is all kabuki theater related to ego, not actual policy differences.

[aggiesal]

17. My mom would say ...

sin vergüenza

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. McCarthy is failing at leadership; unqualified to be second in line for Presidency. . . nt

[GB_RN]

31. Many Of These Same People Rejected Him Once Before...

In favor of Paul Ryan, because they couldn’t stand his ass back then.

I’ve said it before (well before Elie Mystal did on Twitter), and I’ll say it again: I think Qevin has a thing for public humiliation.

[vlyons]

19. Pelosi has said the Dems will not negotiate to help out Mc Carthy

The man has no honor. It really doesn't matter what degenerate A-hole they elect as speaker, and most of them are degenerates without honor.

They won't get any of their vile legislation passed. The senate won't pass their bills. Biden won't sign them, and they don't have the votes to override a veto.

But that also jeopardizes important stuff like raising the debt limit, passing an omnibus bill to fund the gov.

The good news is that 2024 will most likely see a BIG BLUE WAVE, because voters will be sick of them.

[usonian]

20. humiliation, indignity and pain?

You know, this is a strikingly accurate description of the situation.

[peppertree]

23. And no frrruit cup!

[peppertree]

22. Kevin the Klown is NO BETTER than the most extreme in the Gaetz Gang

And in some ways worse - because at least with Boobert and the rest of them, what you see is what you get.

McCarthy is a tea bagger Joe McCarthy-wannabe, who presents this Ward Cleaver persona (or tries to) - when he's more like Ted Bundy.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

24. Agree. Past time to not look so needy and like you want too much! nt

[Oneironaut]

26. This whole thing is cringe. These clowns need to be excised from government.

Most of them don’t even do anything other than blowing their mouths off about culture war issues. A good example is Boebert. She really is the worst example of a person in the HoR.

I don’t want McCarthy to be speaker, but, he looks perfectly sane compared to the roving clown show going on now.

[Warpy]

27. The frothing dimwits are a minority

although they're so loud it doesn't seem that way.

What I think might happen is that they'll find some red state nebbish no one has ever heard of because he's been smart enough not to stick his neck out (and yes, I think it will be a HE, they hated Pelosi because she had the gall to be female, most of all). Democrats will cross the aisle to vote for the nebbish, just to get the whole mess over with.

It will be a choice between an unprincipled nobody and an unprincipled, egocentric howler monkey.

How do I know he'll be unprincipled? What principles had the GOP not discarded in recent years?

[iscooterliberally]

30. Hakeem Jeffries should be the speaker since he keeps getting the most votes.

The GOP just needs to hang it up and move on.

[thesquanderer]

33. re: "If McCarthy is defeated, we will have a House run by the likes of Boebert and Gaetz."

If McCarthy wins, we basically have a House run by the likes of Boebert and Gaetz, because they will largely control him.

[ewagner]

34. Sooooooo.....what did TFG promise him?

There has to be a reason any sane human being would allow himself to be subjected to this kind of torture/ humiliation...

So what's the payoff?

Even if he gets elected, he will owe his soul to Bobert, Gaetz, and the rest of the crazies...the position of Speaker will be in name only...he will not get the praise or prestige a "normally elected" Speaker would receive.

What's the payoff? Is it cash from trump? Is it a cushy position in the new world of a Russian/Nazi society?

Something is missing here.