DL Open Thread Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024

The cannibalistic self-destruction of the Republican Party continues apace, as old-line Senate conservatives like Mitch McConnell and James Lankford learn that their colleagues no longer answer to the Chamber of Commerce. Lankford has been one of the Senate’s hardest-line right-wingers since his election a decade ago, but negotiating with Democrats on a bipartisan immigration bill earned him a censure by his state GOP. Despite the deal giving them everything they asked for, House Republicans won’t vote for it because their god-king, Diaper Don, told them not to. So many senators echoed them that three hours after endorsing the bill publicly, McConnell lobbied against it in private.

The GOP position – I’m not making this up – is that Biden could dictatorially ignore all the laws that restrict his response, as Trump would. A major problem with that: Trump tried that and was shut down by the courts. Their duplicity underscores what they’ve already admitted: They don’t want a solution, they want an election issue. As a bonus, it denies aid to Ukraine, another item on the Don’s wish list. Congressional foot-dragging is already hurting Ukraine on the battlefield.

As Republican fanaticism spreads from the House to the Senate, it’s also running loose in the land. Freedom Caucus offshoots are shouldering aside old-line conservatives, much as they did in Delaware after Mike Castle went down. So far silent on all this: B-Team superhero Bipartisan Boy, or his mild-mannered alter-ego, Chris Coons.

Britain’s king, Charles the Unlucky, only 18 months into his reign, is being treated for cancer. Buckingham Palace is saying only that it’s not prostate cancer. It was apparently discovered while he was being treated for an enlarged prostate, but since they won’t say what it is, British bookies are doubtless taking odds already. I’d make bladder and testicular the early co-favorites.

Today in A House Divided, Virginia show pony Nancy Mace’s entire staff has quit since she took office last year, and they don’t have anything nice to say about the experience. One said the only people who’ll work for her are George Santos’ out-of-work staffers.  Why don’t they get something better? What, and quit showbiz?

On that theme, I’d say RFK Jr. was running a clown campaign for president, except a clown car would have more people inside. His has two passengers who together contributed half of his $50 million fundraising haul. One of them is Gavin deBecker, Kennedy’s security honcho, who’s forked over $10 million, raising the question, how much does this guy charge celebrities for security?

Just a reminder that as bad as America has gotten, it could be worse. At least people aren’t being attacked by hostile hippos, as they are in Columbia. When drug lord Pablo Escobar died in 1993, the four hippos from his private zoo went native, settling along the nearby Magdalena River. There are now 170 of the deadly creatures – they kill more humans than any other animal in Africa – and they’re becoming aggressive with people. If the herd isn’t culled, scientists estimate the population with grow to 1,000 by 2035. Can an invasion of Florida be far behind?

The floor’s yours.