Below is my column in The Messenger on how the Speaker’s Chair has become the latest manifestation of our politics of chaos. This includes the truly bizarre suggestion of the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin that the GOP “invited” the terror attack in Israel by allowing eight members and the entire Democratic block to vacate the chair. While Rep. Steve Scalise (R., La.) received the most votes in the GOP caucus yesterday, the party remains divided between him and Jim Jordan (R., Oh.).
“Republicans’ weakness invites terror.” Those words on X (formerly known as Twitter) from the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin perfectly captured our new politics of chaos. Rubin and others either accused Republicans of benefitting or actually inviting terrorism with the removal of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
In reality, the vacant speaker’s chair will not materially affect our response to the massacre in Israel. Moreover, you have to take leave of any sense of reality to believe that Hamas was watching the U.S. House of Representatives to coordinate this attack. The massacre happened to occur on the anniversary of the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago.
And, no, the Yom Kippur War was not launched due to any looming motion to vacate the chair of then-House Speaker Carl Albert (D-Okla.). Indeed, when that war started, Vice President Spiro Agnew was preparing to resign over a tax-evasion scandal. No one suggested that his pending vacancy invited the 1973 attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria.
Those also were bitter political times, but there still remained a few red lines in politics. There were some things that the leadership of both major political parties would not do.
After House Democrats voted unanimously, along with eight Republicans, to vacate the speaker’s chair, many politicians and some pundits are now deriding the GOP for the chaos of not having a House speaker as a war rages in the Middle East.
The decision of House Democrats to support the effort of members like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to decapitate the House leadership was a defining moment for the House as an institution.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) expressed shock at the vote that she helped to engineer, intoning that “this is a solemn day in the U.S. House of Representatives … Right-wing MAGA extremism has enveloped the Republican Party and taken over the business of the People’s House.”
The moment represented a final collapse of any institutional loyalty in the House.
Some of us have a deep love for the House as an institution. I began my association with the House as a teenaged leadership page in the 1970s and continued through to my legal representation of the House in federal court. I have testified more than 100 times over the last four decades on a wide array of constitutional and statutory issues. I also have represented both Democratic and Republican members in court.
Over that long period, I never lost faith that the House would rise to the occasion when members had to act in the interests of not just the institution but the nation.
As a Madisonian scholar, my faith rested in the strong institutional interests left to members by the Constitution. While shifting majorities and political issues have often left bitter divisions, Madison gave all members incentives to jealously protect their institution in carrying out constitutional functions.
Despite our periods of political rage and division, no Congress has ever vacated the chair. That says a great deal about our politics today. There was a time when the Democrats would never have vacated the chair just to disrupt the institution. Doing so is the politics of chaos to fit an age of rage. It is the same rage that leads someone like Rubin to declare that “we have to collectively, in essence, burn down the Republican Party. We have to level them because if there are survivors, if there are people who weather this storm, they will do it again.”
Consider the choice that the Democrats made with this vote. Former Speaker McCarthy insisted that his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), assured him that she would never support such a vote if a member like Gaetz sought to remove him. This past week, she denied making such a pledge. However, putting aside who is lying, it was a pledge that she should have made and kept.
The Democrats elected to support a motion from a member — Gaetz — who they have denounced and despised for years. They did so despite the fact that McCarthy was facing opposition for having worked and compromised with Democrats to keep the government open. More importantly, they did so in the full knowledge that they were certain to get a more strident House Speaker when Republicans select a replacement. The chances of getting bipartisan legislation passed would be diminished, not enhanced, by the move. Yet, not one Democrat broke ranks and voted to prevent such chaos.
This week, McCarthy seemed to dangle the chance that he could be reinstated as the GOP divides between Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). A number of House Republicans are citing the war in Israel as calling for immediate action to fill the seat.
The fact, however, is that the Biden administration has all of the money and the ability needed to respond to this crisis. Congress has allowed billions in dollars to float around the Defense Department and other agencies. When the Obama administration effectively launched a war against Libya, it funded the entire campaign out of loose cash.
This crisis is not a vacuum of power — it is a vacuum of principle. McCarthy was a thrill-kill for his opponents. While expressing alarm at how the House could not operate with the speakership vacated, not a single Democrat crossed the aisle to support the institution by opposing the motion to vacate. Indeed, a small number of Democrats could have merely voted “present” to avoid the decapitation of the House leadership. Instead, they apparently wanted to disrupt the House.
So, Democrats supplied all but eight votes to vacate the chair and then immediately ran to cameras to express alarm that the House was now unable to function.
In her tweet, Rubin showed how chaos is worth the effort by accusing Republicans of fostering the terrorism that massacred more than 1,000 Israelis: “How about this: With US House in chaos and US military promotions on hold, Hamas struck. Republicans’ weakness invites terror.” It takes pure rage to seize upon an unspeakable crime against humanity and use it as a cudgel against one’s political opponents.
Even without the war, vacating the speaker’s chair is not just dysfunctional but dangerous for a democracy. It shows that there is no longer a loyal opposition that would support either a president or a House speaker to preserve the functioning of government. The vote did not invite terrorism — it invited chaos. And it has now succeeded to a degree that should give pause to every House Democrat — and to the eight Republicans who joined them — when they next consider yielding to the temptations of the moment as members of Congress.
Jonathan Turley, an attorney, constitutional law scholar and legal analyst, is the Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law at The George Washington University Law School.
“Among the candidates running for President next year one stands out in particular.”
— He’s senile. Can’t walk. Can’t talk.
— When there’s a disaster, he mumbles about his own kitchen fires. And ice cream.
— His foreign “policy” endangers America and gets Americans killed.
— His economic statism impoverishes Americans.
— He criminalizes his political opponent.
— He smears his opponent’s supporters as semi-fascists and white supremacists.
— He and his kleptocratic family sold out their country to the world’s most corrupt governments.
— He’s an addled puppet for Obama and his cabal of power-lusters.
— He, and his countless alphabet agencies, censor dissenters.
— He’s destroying America’s energy industry.
— His weakness and anti-American policies drain America’s spirit.
— His promotion of the perverse and the incompetent, breeds perversion and incompetence.
I’d sooner vote for Donald Duck. He’s more articulate.
Oops. Forgot to sign in.
Hyperbolic misinformation from the MAGA cult.
Jonathan: Among the candidates running for President next year one stands out in particular. Here are some of the things this candidate has said or supports while on the campaign trail:
–He’s suggested the Joint Chiefs of Staff is treasonous and should be executed.
–He has posted the photo of a law clerk who works for the NY Judge presiding over his the civil fraud case, an invitation for violence against the judiciary.
–He’s told Republicans in California that shoplifters should be shot. He has praised Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has embraced extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspects without trials.
–He says the media is the “enemy” and pledges, if re-elected, to crack down on freedom of the press.
–He has made the annihilation of his opponents a center piece of his campaign. At a rally in Iowa a right-wing Christian pastor began the rally and offered this prayer: “We ask that those who stand against him be put to silence”.
It should be mentioned this candidate led the first violent attack on the nation’s Capitol to stop the certification of an election. Based on this candidate’s conduct and statements how many on this blog would nevertheless vote for this candidate in 2024?
Biden impeachment: gone from the news
Runaway inflation: gone from the news
Ukraine collapse: gone from the news
Global recession: gone from the news
Hunter Biden laptop: gone from the news
COVID vaccine deaths: gone from the news
The Biden regime needed a war.
@EmeraldRobinson
“Biden impeachment: gone from the news.” And the evidence is? Even JT says there is no evidence, but JT is in favor of a fishing expedition to find evidence. Please repost your desire for impeachment when evidence arrives.
“Runaway inflation: gone from the news”. Actually inflation is down. But then, that would take a critical look at the world around you.
“Ukraine collapse: gone from the news” Again, are you dreaming? Or more likely willfully ignorant.
“Global recession: gone from the news” So far, where is the recession? And when one does arrive, you and all the other partisans can blame Biden, Educated people are aware how complex the economy is and don’t make stupid comments.
“Hunter Biden laptop: gone from the news” Again, perhaps you need to rethink where you get your news from. Been all over the place.
“COVID vaccine deaths: gone from the news” Wow, really digging for anything here aren’t you. But I’m pretty sure Biden didn’t bring COVID to the world. I could be wrong on that one, let me know when you dig something up.
“The Biden regime needed a war.” Everyone loves an enemy. Tell me, does trump have any friends? Or at least any friends that have not been indicted or convicted of a crime?
But if you would rather have the man in power who despises anyone that does not offer him something aka trump, vote, and when they count the votes accept the results. You don’t like Hunter Biden because of his laptop but like the guy that loves to grab pussy and is a known rapist. Sure, makes sense to me. Perhaps you love to grab pussy and since he can do it you can? The guy that calls wounded and killed veterans losers. You really like the guy that calls wounded veterans losers? Go for it. But when they count the votes, accept the results.
Rep. Jamal Bowman pulled the firealarm to intentionally disrupt an official proceeding of Congress.
Why is he not charged and in prison right now?
If Rep. Bowman did it by mistake because he says he was confused….and he is being given that benefit of the doubt, when he is obviously lying, and he is a lawmaker who should be held to a higher standard of conduct — then why has that same consideration NOT been given to nonviolent J6 trespassers?
Why has this same consideration NOT been given to those mostly law abiding, good citizens who unknowingly walked into the Capitol BECAUSE the doors were opened to them and not one Capitol Hill police officer stopped them or informed them they were trespassing?
Why are those J6 grandmas being hunted by the FBI, charged to the full extent they can be, prosecuted, lives ruined, bankrupted by legal fees, all for simply not knowing they were trespassing or doing anything illegal?
Explain the difference, Dennis.
The explanation is this:
We have no justice sytem in this country BECAUSE the Left has destroyed it and corrupted it.
AG Garland is a bold and audacious LIAR who should be impeached and removed from office in total shame. He is beyond a disgrace.
while on the campaign trail:
–He’s suggested the Joint Chiefs of Staff is treasonous and should be executed.
[[He’s correct. You apparently do not understand what Milley did]
–He has posted the photo of a law clerk who works for the NY Judge presiding over his the civil fraud case, an invitation for violence against the judiciary. [[No invitation to violence in posting a picture]]
–He’s told Republicans in California that shoplifters should be shot.
[[He’s correct. Because of corrupt Democrats/Marxists we have no Rule of Law and no justice system, and no way for businesses or cititzens to protect themselves from criminals and crime]]
He has praised Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has embraced extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspects without trials.
[[How many J6 protestors are rotting in the DC gulag awaiting trial for YEARS now? Never having been convicted of a crime?]]
–He says the media is the “enemy” and pledges, if re-elected, to crack down on freedom of the press.
[[The media is fake news; they are the enemy of the people. Russia collusion was a LIE. How many wars have been started BECAUSE of media lying on behalf of corrupt government? Iraq ring a bell?]]
–He has made the annihilation of his opponents a center piece of his campaign. At a rally in Iowa a right-wing Christian pastor began the rally and offered this prayer: “We ask that those who stand against him be put to silence”.
[[And?? Put to silence means what to you? Has the President Biden, the FBI, the DOJ, the Intel agencies, the Uni/Democrat party and every corrupt DA, corrupt judge, corrupt media, etc, all made their sole purpose in life the “annihilation of Trump”? And not just Trump, but also the demonization and annihilation of his MAGA supporters? Yes. And Pres Biden specifically demonizes and dehumanizes MAGA voters every chance he gets.]]
It should be mentioned this candidate led the first violent attack on the nation’s Capitol to stop the certification of an election. [[No, he did not. And the truth about who was behind the J6 FEDsurrection will come out.]]
Based on (Biden’s) conduct and statements how many on this blog would nevertheless vote for this candidate in 2024? [[No one but Dumb, brainwashed Dems like you]]
He has praised Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has embraced extrajudicial killings of thousands of suspects without trials.
[[How many J6 protestors are rotting in the DC gulag awaiting trial for YEARS now? Never having been convicted of a crime?]]
ALSO…..how many conservatives, MAGA, J6ers, Trump supporters have been murdered by this corrupt regime, by the FBI? Republicans ARE being hunted, targeted and murdered by this government right now.
That is not hyperbole, btw, it is happening.
Just ONE example: the elderly man in Utah who was murdered by FBI. Where is the bodycam footage? Why not taken alive? Do not believe a word the FBI tells you. They are lying.
Another example: the murdering illegal alien from Brazil who escaped prison in Pennsylvania and terrorized citizens for nearly 2 weeks was captured alive. The FBI and authorities did not shoot to kill. Why not? Why was he captured alive? Was he sent back to Brazil to deal with? Or are we paying to give that animal legal representation, medical care, food and a bed in our prison system? Why?
Ashley Babbitt was murdered. That cop shot to kill. That cop was promoted.
J6 grandmas are being hunted by the FBI, terrorized, humiliated and prosecuted while actual looters, criminals, murders are not prosecuted, instead being released back to the streets to continue terrorizing citizens and businesses. Those looting gangs could be stopped tomorrow IF THE FBI wanted to. They are choosing to LET IT CONTINUE. Why?
On and on it goes….
“…an invitation for violence against the judiciary.”
Oh really, now it is an invitation to violence? HOW is this different than the “invitation to violence against the judiciary” coming from Chuck Schumer, or AG Garland, or any of the leftwing biased media, or any of the reckless and irresponsible rhetoric coming from Democrat lawmakers?
Explain the difference.
People like Dennis who spew garbage leftwing lies and propaganda, hate and intolerance should not be allowed to get away with it without massive pushback.
The silent majority is SILENT NO MORE, Dennis. YOU and your brainwashed ilk WILL be smacked down every time you open your mouth. Count on it.
The sad thing is that people like Dennis, et al, are so brainwashed and propagandized that they don’t know it, and they don’t understand they are useful idiots. You can’t fix stupid. So I suppose we should just pray for their lost souls.
Democrats have their own weaknesses. Lack of independent thought. They travel lock step with their own leadership out of fear. Who their leadership protects in and out of Congress are a problem.
“They travel lock step with their own leadership out of fear.”
Wow, you describe trump supporters perfectly.
Anti-Semitism and bigotry run deep in Democrats
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the first Jewish Senate majority leader in history and a staunch ally of Israel, faces a tricky divide in his caucus and the broader Democratic Party over how to respond to the attacks against Israel.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4253456-schumer-faces-democratic-divisions-on-israel/
Anti-Semitism and bigotry run deep in Republicans. For example, Eric Trump is hosting a Holocaust denier at Doral.
Many more Jews are Democrats than Republicans.
Well that’s interesting, it sure looks like the usa and israel have been exchanging notes.
How about that. I wasn’t wrong at all.
https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1711329340804186619
Scalise has just withdrawn his name from consideration as Speaker.
Democrats destroyed America, the US military and the US Border, and put us in harms way. The threat has not been Russia. The threat has all along been China, Hunter Biden’s employer, so as to gain access to the Biden Brand™. The threat has been our home grown, radicalized terrorists: Democrats
Hillary and CNN argued Trump supporters must be deprogrammed. Perhaps Democrats and their supporters should be sent to Gaza to join their own kind especially since China supports Hamas.
US ‘ill-prepared’ for nuclear challenge from China and Russia, says report
“Commission urges overhaul of US arsenal to tackle growing threat from two peer adversaries”
The bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the US, which is tasked with examining American strategic policy, warned that Washington was “ill-prepared” to tackle the challenge posed by having two peer nuclear adversaries for the first time…
The growing sense of alarm has been largely sparked by the rapid expansion in China’s nuclear arsenal, which the report said was occurring “on a scale and pace unseen since the US-Soviet nuclear arms race that ended in the late 1980s”.
Financial Times
A fungible $6 billion is a fraction of what the Biden administration has provided Iran. Try $50 billion!
In a recent article, senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former National Security Council official Richard Goldberg traces the money trail. He confirms: It is so much worse than we think.
Goldberg lays out the numbers. The $6 billion you’ve seen in every (other) headline is only the money being transferred from our friends in Qatar. But this is separate from the $10 billion of assets being transferred from Iraq, which Goldberg says will continue on “a rolling basis.” Then there are the reports that Iran will be allowed to access $7 billion in fiat currency by trading drawing rights with the International Monetary Fund. He also says Japan is scheduled to transfer $3 billion to Iran.
“Money is fungible,” and even the funds that have not yet been unfrozen are likely being treated as good credit in Iran’s ledger.
The revelations do not end there. U.S. officials have also quietly acknowledged that they’ve uncapped Iranian oil exports to China. These export levels, previously held around 775,000 barrels per day under Trump’s sanctions, are now estimated to be between 1.4 and 2.2 million barrels per day. Modest estimates value this relief at $25 billion annually.
The total? $50 billion.
https://thefederalist.com/2023/10/11/the-u-s-money-trail-with-iran-is-worse-than-you-think/
It seems MSNBC, NPR, the usual Leftist agencies, can not stop mentioning the casualties in Gaza “due to Israel”. OTOH, there has been no mention from Attorney General Merrick Garland, DOJ, FBI, or their trojan horse, the infamous “watchdog” of gate groups, the SPLC on pro-Hamas groups in America. That is no accident. If these were Proud Boys, Q Anon, yada yada yada.
Democrats = Hamas
SPLC conspicuously silent on pro-Hamas groups in US
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/10/12/splc-conspicuously-silent-on-pro-hamas-groups-in-us-n584342
Every Republican Speaker Since Newt Gingrich Has Fallen To Dysfunction
The shutdown was deeply unpopular, and the public (rightly) blamed Republicans for the impasse. The only way out was to strike a deal with the Democrats. But 15 of the True Believers said no. A nonfunctioning government suited them just fine; after all, wasn’t that the end goal of their antigovernment politics?
Edited From:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/opinion/scalise-mccarthy-gingrich-house.html
…………………………………..
KEY PASSAGE FROM ABOVE:
“A nonfunctioning government suited them just fine; after all, wasn’t that the end goal of their antigovernment politics?”
***
The paragraph above refers to the government shutdown that occurred at the end of 1995 when Newt Gingrich was Speaker. Gingrich eventually left Congress after Democrats made surprising gains in the 1998 midterm elections amid the Clinton impeachment crisis.
Since Gingrich’s demise, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy all left the speakership under pressure from far-right factions of their own party.
This brings us back to our key passage:
“A nonfunctioning government suited them just fine; after all, wasn’t that the end goal of their antigovernment politics?”
JT argues that Dems should’ve voted for McCarthy. But he won’t suggest that some Repubs should vote for Jeffries.
But he won’t suggest that some Repubs should vote for Jeffries
Too stupid to grasp what our host was saying. Democrats constantly wail about the erosion of democracy….but when the could have acted, instead of pontificating, they choose political vengeance instead of taking the actions that support their empty words.
McCarthy contributes to the erosion of democracy.
All the dummies keep thinking the house is in chaos or disarray –
https://www.wsj.com/politics/temporary-speaker-patrick-mchenry-steers-house-on-the-fly-546f83ff
There’s the CURRENT SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
Take a look, then carry on with the lying and dissembling.
Learn some civics. The Speaker Pro Tempore is NOT the Speaker.
Eat some boogers
Sen. Fetterman calls on the Senate to vote to expel Sen Menendez following new charges in today’s superseding indictment, which charge Menendez with being a foreign agent for Egypt.
Fetterman: “We cannot have an alleged foreign agent in the United States Senate. This is not a close call.”
ROFL – The ridiculous 3rd world DOJ demoncrats liars from the day they were born
What does Sen. Bubblegum-Head say about a President who is a foreign agent of China and Ukraine?
If Republicans were competent at governing, they’d quickly elect a new Speaker. But they’re not competent. And it’s not the Democrats’ job to save them, though Jeffries has made it clear that Dems are ready to work with them if they can come up with a non-extremist. Neither Scalise nor Jordan fall in that category.
They have enough votes no help needed minority short, sit back and watch how pressure is applied for the people dimbulb.
Who does?
Larry Hogan.
Yep we know what “governing” means to a democrat. March in LOCKSTEP to the pipers tune. Leave your f-ing principles at the door and do what you are told to do by the party.
When the day comes that the extremists run the ENTIRE show on the R side like they do on the D, then you’ll see the same results. For now they are just a PITA, and the caucus has trouble coping, because they won’t just succomb to them like the Dems do theirs.
For everyone trying to blame Trump or Republicans in some way for the Hamas attacks, see “Report: Hamas Began Planning Attack on Israel Two Years Ago — After Afghanistan”, [https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/10/12/report-hamas-began-planning-attack-on-israel-two-years-ago-after-afghanistan/]:
“Senior Hamas official Ali Baraka told Russia Today on Sunday (via the Middle East Media Research Institute) that Hamas had been secretly planning the invasion of southern Israel for two years — which would mean after President Joe Biden took office, and after the disastrous, deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.”
Maybe you should bother to read the Hyde Amendment: https://www.nrlc.org/federal/ahc/hydeamendmenttext/
Only an idiot or a liar claims that travel falls under federal “health benefits coverage.”
We need House Order when they do so FOR America