Boehner stepping down

Almost as lovely as our friends in the Arab Gulf!

And McCarthy just dropped out of the race. This is going to get crazy.

I think it’s certain enough Republicans are insisting on a radical that everything is going to get blocked. Otherwise McCarthy would have won, I think enough Dems would have voted for him if he were a few short.

:facepalm:
What a way to run a railroad.

He broke kayfabe. You never break kayfabe.

I wonder if his inability to articulate pretty much anything also factored into the decision.

I wonder if he has the ability to make decisions.

I had to google kayfabe. :)

McCarthy has to have some kind of speech impediment. Wonder how he got elected.

If Jason Chaffetz gets it we’re boned. He’s stated for the record he’s willing to default on the debt in lieu of raising the debt ceiling (absent concessions I’m guessing.)

Lol, Jason chaffetz just said, “we need to unite our party and take the fight to the president, and to the Senate, and to the American people!”

So chaffetz wants to fight with the general public.

Lol, Jason chaffetz just said, “we need to unite our party and take the fight to the president, and to the Senate, and to the American people!”

So chaffetz wants to fight with the general public.

Last I heard, Chaffetz doesn’t even have the backing of the other Utah nutjobs, so hopefully that doesn’t happen. The thought of him being the speaker gives me nightmares.

I’m hoping this is some sort of fancy political deal where McCarthy drops out due to not having the votes on the floor, the Republicans fail to settle on a candidate because the only people they’re considering are nutjobs who don’t have good support, they flail around a bit, and eventually come back to McCarthy as a compromise candidate. He gets nominated and elected Speaker, and they get back to sitting around and complaining about Obama and the Dems.

That’s my win-w… uh status quo: status quo scenario.

Just how much of a poisoned chalice this is is reflected in Paul Ryan’s refusal to seek the post, which basically says to the world, “I was totally ready to take on the job of Veep, and by extension President of the United States. But Speaker of the House? No way, not for anything.”

There are Republicans flat out saying that they will not yield to the bullshit “freedom caucus”, and will not elect someone who will appease them.

They are talking about working with the democrats to elect someone, rather than working with the far right wing lunatics, since working with the lunatics won’t actually let you govern effectively.

It would be pretty epic if the Republicans and Democrats actually came together to elect a moderate Republican speaker and said fuck you to the tea party.

Epic indeed – I’d be shocked if that happens, but pleasantly surprised.

Anyone want to take odds on what the real story is behind McCarthy’s stepping down? My guess is sexual misconduct of some sort, but I suppose it could be financial misconduct.

That would indeed be epic. 'Last I heard the Dems were all going to vote Pelosi, forcing the Republicans to sort it out amongst themselves.

It seemed pretty clear from the moment Boehner announced his retirement that this would turn into an even bigger circus that the Republican primary. So much so that I wondered at the time if it would actually finally be the thing that fractures the party. I’m less optimistic about that at this point.

Even more epic would be if they had to elect Pelosi as the only speaker who could actually get things done…

I think it’s way simpler than that - he just didn’t have enough votes, because he’s Not Pure Enough.

People keep overestimating the Congressional GOP. This isn’t some super-intriguey, complex, behind-the-curtains House of Cards scheme. This is a bunch of drunken monkeys killing their keepers and swarming over the zoo, flinging poo everywhere.

Recall that Pelosi actually also couldn’t really get much done, and was also kind of fighting with elements of her own party. Hell, she was fighting with Obama’s at points.

LOL, except, you know, the most comprehensive overhaul to the healthcare system in the US since Medicare.

And a $787 billion stimulus program

And the The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

And the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

But yeah, not much done if you don’t count the stuff you don’t like.