DL Open Thread Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023
Handicapping the Speaker Stakes? Now there are only eight entrants as Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania has scratched himself from the race. Meuser, who represents a big slice of the state’s northern hinterlands west of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, begged off due to other commitments, namely leading the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. Meuser said he spoke with Trump and got the OK to drop out, but if he’s ever in trouble, Trump will claim he never even met that weird weasel-faced guy.
People who complain that America doesn’t make quality goods anymore have plenty of ammunition in the Republican Party – they can’t manufacture a scandal worthy of the name. James Comer, the Kentuckian driving the impeachment Klown Kar, bragged that he had evidence of a direct payment to Joe Biden. He did, too – his brother James repaid a $200,000 loan. Yes, it says something that Biden had 200 large he could spare for six weeks, but I didn’t realize Trump’s attitude toward repaying loans had spread to the rest of the party his cult.
Republicans are so desperate for a Biden scandal they tried to concoct one out of his stroll on a Delaware beach. Maybe they could interview disgruntled Secret Service agents who got sand in their shoes.
Need a little rage to start your day? Check out this ProPublica report about Federalist Society poobah Leonard Leo buying up state Supreme Courts the same way he bought the SCOTUS. A reminder that people like Leo, not the people who stand for elections, are the ones running the country.
The floor’s yours.
BREAKING: Yet another Trump attorney to plead guilty in Georgia RICO case. This time, Jenna Ellis:
“A onetime Fox News regular who was hired in late 2019 as a legal adviser to the Trump campaign, Ellis was part of the post-2020 election legal team, appearing alongside former New York mayor and personal Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell at press conferences where she echoed false claims of election fraud.
She worked closely with Giuliani, traveling to battleground states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania where prosecutors say she spoke to lawmakers urging them to reject the popular vote results in their states. The Georgia indictment also pointed to memos she wrote for Trump outlining how Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the election results.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/10/24/jenna-ellis-plea-deal-georgia/
As she cried in court saying she didnt do her due diligence and listened to other attorneys with more experience – yet she continued the same lie for YEARS even though the due diligence had been done for her by every major news organization not named FOX (where she regularly got paid for her appearances). Seriously, after she reads this statement how does the judge not question her about stuff like this? SHe is openly lying to the court IN COURT
Found this gem in a youtube comments section. Enjoy !!
@perceivedreality7933
When Putin speaks I listen, when biden speaks I laugh.
When biden stumbles up the stairs, I laugh some more.
When zelensky and netanyahu speak I hide my wallet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XEpRjjbokQ
Don’t spread that stuff here, even in jest.
Democrats could indeed help select the next Speaker. They appear to not oppose Tom Emmer because he voted to certify the 2020 election.
If Emmer’s name gets to the floor, and if there aren’t enough R votes to elect him, he could still gain the speakership if enough D’s ‘take a walk’, thus lowering the majority required to elect since the number is governed by ‘present and voting’.
It’s at least being talked about.
“… if enough D’s ‘take a walk’, “– El Som’
What are they asking Emmer for in return for their “walk”?
If it’s what I’ve heard so far, Congressional D’s ought to stop taking walks and start taking stands.
Well, it’s a backdoor way of taking a stand. The D’s can’t elect a Speaker. But, if Emmer is the nominee, they can indirectly provide support since he didn’t buy the stolen election argument, and voted to certify the election. By ‘taking walks’, they can lower the threshold required to elect Emmer.
I don’t know what else they may be asking for.
BREAKING: Emmer is the Speaker Designee, with somewhere between 115 to 120 votes. It will be up to Emmer to determine when to call for a vote.
Just reported that Emmer wants to go to the floor for a vote this afternoon.
”…he didn’t buy the stolen election argument,” is thin 2 years old gruel.
The D’s ought to ask that he schedule M4A for a floor vote. Or deny votes for BS wars.
You DO understand, don’t you, that any R nominee can afford no more than a few defections.
As it turns out, Trump has now trained his sights on Emmer, and it looks like he won’t have the votes.
ANNNNDDDDD, just like that, Tom Emmer drops out of the Speaker’s Race.
The last three days are no longer operative.
Un-fucking-believable.
I’m wondering If this goes on long enough, will the Capitol Police, US Marshals, Secret Service and other status quo enforcement agencies consider how this impacts their paychecks and weigh in.
They should just cut to the chase and go to the guy who came in last on their first ballot. They’re going to knock off everyone else anyway.
P.S. — At the rate they’re going, George Santos may be the last prospect standing.
MORE BREAKING NEWS:
ABC reports that Mark Meadows has been granted immunity from Jack Smith. Meadows has reportedly told Smith that Meadows told Trump over and over again that Trump’s claims of a stolen election were false and deceptive.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/chief-staff-mark-meadows-granted-immunity-tells-special/story?id=104231281
Lots of big news today. This is the biggest.