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.
We need House Order when they do so FOR America
Gigi continues to be the poster child for abortion rights.
It’s noteworthy that not a single Arab country has offered to accept Gaza Palestinians. Not one. And they are silent about Egypt keeping closed the main passageway for the Gaza Palestinians to leave Gaza, because Egypt doesn’t want Gaza Palestinians coming into their country. Want more? Hamas Nazi leadership in Qatar has not asked Qatar, or any Arab country, take any Gaza Palestinians. Nor have Qatar or the Hamas Nazi leadership asked Egypt to stop blocking Gaza Palestinians from leaving Gaza. Of course, the Egyptians could house hundreds of thousands of Gaza Palestinians in the Sinai Peninsula. And no doubt the international community would assist with temporary housing, food, etc. But this would mean that the Arab world actually wants to help Gaza Palestinians rather than use their propaganda machine to attempt to turn Israelis into oppressors.
It’s also noteworthy that the American and European media don’t ask the Biden regime or the other leaders of countries around the world about any of this; they don’t even report it. Yet, because the Arabs will not provide refuge to the Gaza Palestinians, and because the Qatar-funded and Iran-funded Hamas wages war against Israel, and Israel must now lose Lord knows how many soldiers in urban warfare in Gaza, the media will report numbers, Israel will be told its response to the Hamas Nazis should be “proportionate,” and Blinken will continue to lecture Israel about rules of war when fighting terrorists who — by the way — are an exception to rules of war.
Who cares what anyone says about any proportionate response, the decades long kill death ratio is 24 dead pales to 1 dead isra
So all the screaming for proportionate for decades has done absolutely nothing. They do it every time. It’s one big zero burger, every single time.
It’s good to whine and play victim though, right.
Tell me shak, do those boogers taste good? How many low life scum bag palestinian terrorist lives would you trade for one of your family members?
I’m stunned, literally, that Turley is trying to blame Democrats for McCarthy’s ouster as Speaker. Democrats opposed the procedure whereby one member could raise a vote to vacate the chair. Turley says: “There was a time when the Democrats would never have vacated the chair just to disrupt the institution.” What about Republicans? THEY are the ones who brought this about. Democrats are NOT in charge of the House–Republicans are–and they can’t get their act together because they’ve allowed the looney-tunes faction of the party too much power–to wit: Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert. All of this is more fallout from Trump. He destroys everything he touches.
And, Turley’s criticism of Jennifer Rubin is also misplaced. She said that weakness in the House “invites” terror–she didn’t claim cause and effect, and she is right. The US is not in a position to pass even a resolution condemning Hamas, much less aid to Israel. We don’t have a Navy commander because of Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville priortizes preventing US servicewomen from getting legal abortions than providing leadership to our military branches.
Gigi the LIAR
“And, Turley’s criticism of Jennifer Rubin is also misplaced. She said that weakness in the House “invites” terror–she didn’t claim cause and effect, and she is right.”
Oooooh the house can’t pass a resoultion condemning terror, thats heavy stuff right there. Those Hamas savages, they were “invited” because we can’t pass a resolution. What an idiot.
Weakness, does invite terror, but you got the House wrong, nice try. It’s the White House, dum dum.
“We don’t have a Navy commander”
WTF are you talking about???
Secretary of the Navy—-Carlos Del Toro
Chief of Naval Operations—-Admiral Lisa Franchetti
Chief of Naval Personnel—-Vice Admiral Rick Cheeseman
You can go here and see the rest of the Flag Officers and their commands.
Not a single f-ing vacancy.
https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Flag-Officer-Biographies/
It is my sincerest wish that you STFU because you have NO IDEA what you are talking about, as usual.
Let me guess, Rachel Maddow told you we don’t have a “Navy Commander”, whatever the F that is.
FYI, Navy Commander is an O-5, one rank below Captain. And they are not confirmed by the Senate, but rather chosen by a board.
Commander is also used as a position title for Captains or Flag Officers in charge of multiple units, a designation to differentiate from the Commanding Officer of these individual units.
You can go to the Navy’s website to learn more about Naval history and some of the unique aspects and traditions of the US Navy, that set it apart from the other branches. You’re welcome.
Carry on smartly!
Sometimes I wonder if Gigi goes out of her way to be WRONG! It’s hard to believe someone could be that wrong that often by accident. Then there are the constant LIES….
Seriously, Gigi the LIAR, where did you hear that we don’t have a “Navy commander”? (this should be interesting)
From ABC News, dated yesterday:
Tuberville sticks with block on key military nominees after Hamas attack: ANALYSIS
The Hamas terror attack in Israel has drawn attention in the U.S. to the speakership fight in the House, with some lawmakers noting how that may stall congressional efforts to send aid as Israel responds.
But there’s another form of paralysis on Capitol Hill, on the other side of the building.
Multiple military officials with postings in the Middle East are currently languishing on the Senate floor amid Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing blockade of hundreds of Pentagon promotions.
Tuberville has been stopping all military confirmations since February over a Pentagon policy that reimburses service members for out-of-state travel to access abortions, which he opposes.
A spokesperson for Tuberville told ABC News on Monday that the senator intends to keep his hold in place. The crisis in Israel has not influenced his position.
The Senate is technically still able to take up military nominations through a more labor-intensive process that requires individual rather than batch votes.
Vice Adm. Charles B. Cooper, who was nominated to be deputy commander in charge of all U.S. military operations in the Middle East — the second-highest ranking officer in the region — has been awaiting confirmation because of Tuberville’s blockade.
Rear Adm. George M. Wikoff, the nominee to be the commander of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, is currently also awaiting a promotion from the Senate amid Tuberville’s resistance. Wikoff would be responsible for all naval and combined maritime forces in the region.
Both posts are currently filled by the nominees’ predecessors, making the stalls less of an obstacle to ongoing operations.
Adm. Lisa Franchetti is nominated to be the chief of naval operations, the branch’s top adviser to the president. She’s yet to be confirmed — which Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, singled out over the weekend. In the interim, she has been in an acting capacity.
Wikoff’s nomination is on hold even as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday ordered that the USS Ford carrier strike group, which includes the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, a guided-missile cruiser, and four guided-missile destroyers, be deployed to the Mediterranean Sea near Israel.
In a Wall Street Journal column on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the administration for deploying the strike group, calling it a “good first step.” McConnell has said he opposes Tuberville’s blocking of military nominations, but the Republican conference has not successfully persuaded him to change his position.
Georgetown University public policy professor Don Moynihan wrote on Sunday that the military nomination stoppage was part of a broader issue in the Senate of conservative lawmakers citing policy objections to prevent the confirmation of key posts, including the next ambassador to Israel.
“It would be hyperbole to suggest the these actions, by themselves, had anything to do with the attack, or that they have a dramatic effect on the outcome. But they do hamper the ability of the US government to respond at this time,” Moynihan wrote.
Tuberville has withheld his consent to move forward with confirming nominations in a bloc, insisting that if Democrats wish to advance nominees, they will need to do so one-by-one. That would break with Senate precedent on how nominations are confirmed.
The chamber’s majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has always had the option to sidestep Tuberville and last month he did just that, advancing three high-ranking military nominees, including Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr.’s nomination to serve as the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It is not yet clear whether Schumer will make a similar move to sidestep Tuberville and begin the process of confirming these Middle East-associated nominees when the Senate returns next week.
So, WHAT is “Chief of Naval Operations” anyway?
WHAT is the CNO? NOT the Commander of the NAVY.
The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office (10 U.S.C. § 8033) held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (10 U.S.C. § 151), the CNO is a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the secretary of defense, and the president.
Despite the title, the CNO does not have operational command authority over naval forces. The CNO is an administrative position based in the Pentagon, and exercises supervision of Navy organizations as the designee of the secretary of the Navy.
From your own posting. did you even read it?
“In the interim, she has been in an acting capacity.”
Go to the Navy website and you can get a complete description of the role of the CNO.
Here is the August 14, 2023 Announcement of Adm Franchetti “taking the helm”.
https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/3492496/franchetti-takes-the-helm-after-gildays-relinquishment-of-office/
This is why you should STOP getting your information from DNC outlets. You NEVER check the source for yourself.
The US NAVY has a CNO, her name is Lisa Franchetti. There are no empty desks at the Pentagon and your claim is BULLSH!T.
You people are hilarious. Readiness is not affected by Tuberville’s stunt. WTF kind of design would it be if we let a single senator cause us to not be ready to wage war??? It’s a buffoonish assertion on it’s face and you are a buffoon for repeating it.
Any more questions, Gigi the LIAR?
After calling me a liar and I submit proof that YOU are the troll and liar, you try to start splitting hairs. Regardless of title, the position of key naval advisor to the President has been held up. It is a fact that other key military positions are held up by Tuberville because he is trying to prevent servicewomen from exercising their right to a legal abortion. Some of the other key positions that are affected are those in the region where the Israel-Hamas war is being waged. AND, Republicans have also blocked the appointment of an Ambassador to Israel–you think that doesn’t matter? According to Georgetown Public Policy Professor Don Moynihan: “It would be hyperbole to suggest the these actions, by themselves, had anything to do with the attack, or that they have a dramatic effect on the outcome. BBut they do hamper the ability of the US government to respond at this time”. THIS makes us look weak–Repubicans just can’t stop trying to impose their will on women choosing abortion to take care of important business, like filling key military positions and an ambassadorship to Israel, even at this critical juncture. They can’t even get their caucus to come to a consensus on a leader.
So, go ahead and call me a liar and other names because you can’t handle the truth of what I post.
Splitting hairs??? LMAO when you don’t have a clue what you are talking about, it’s splitting hairs. I could have just said you’re wrong, but I took the time to explain why and you call it splitting hairs. As for Tuberville, he is a United States Senator, representing his constituents within the rules of the Senate. You may not agree with his actions or his reasoning, but that doesn’t give you cause to lie and spread misinformation regarding the effects. Tell me what changes the day Lisa is confirmed??? Not a goddam thing except your loss of a stupid talking point.
You’ve also mischaracterized his reasons for holding up the promotions, but who is surprised. And I don’t GAS what “source” you copy and paste unless its Tuberville’s own words. He answers to the people of the sovereign State of Alabama, not to you.
As I have said, you yourself are a good argument for abortion rights.
From Newsweek:
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Defense for comment via email.
Last month, the secretaries of the Navy, Air Force and Army warned in a Washington Post op-ed that Tuberville’s efforts were “dangerous” and “putting our national security at risk.”
Three military branches—the Army, Navy and Marine Corps—have no Senate-confirmed chiefs in place, the secretaries noted in the piece. “Instead, these jobs—and dozens of others across the force—are being performed by acting officials without the full range of legal authorities necessary to make the decisions that will sustain the United States’ military edge.”
Moynihan told Newsweek that “beyond the uniformed military appointments, these blockades just make it difficult to get anyone to agree to serve in appointment positions.”
He said: “It is already an arduous process, which can take months, and involve very intensive background checks. For many people who might like to serve, why bother putting yourself through the process if the Senate is not even agreeing to review candidates?”
On X, Moynihan said that the “inability of the GOP to govern also may complicate whatever new legislation might be needed to respond in coming days.”
The House remains without a speaker after the historic removal of Kevin McCarthy last week. House Republicans are trying to choose a new leader, which could be a prolonged process.
Update 10/9/23, 10:23 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include comments from Don Moynihan.
“THREE MILITARY BRANCHES–THE ARMY, NAVY AND MARINE CORPS–HAVE NO SENATE-CONFIRMED CHIEFS IN PLACE…” “Acting officials do not have a full range of legal authority necessary to make the decisions that will sustain the United States’ military edge” Is Newsweek ALSO lying?
That is absolutely lies you moron. You e been told before that it is CIRCULAR REPORTING. If 180 “news outlets say the same lie, its still a lie, sourced from EACH OTHER.
“have no Senate-confirmed chiefs in place,”.
That is true
“Acting officials do not have a full range of legal authority necessary to make the decisions that will sustain the United States’ military edge””
THAT is a LIE
The acting CNO has the exact same authority as her predecessor. Anyone who says otherwise is a LIAR.
Go to the source and STOP posting your horse manure. I sent you the link to the article on the NAVY website about the change of command. Its done.
Its like a broken record with you. I dont give a flying f*ck where you get your lies from. You post the lies from a “source”. I prove its a lie from THE source. U repeat the lie from another “source”.
Bottom line…give ONE SPECIFIC example of how EXACTLY readiness has been negatively impacted or stop repeating the LIE.
Not some bullsh!t quote from some pinhead professor. How many US Navy sailors has he commanded?
“We don’t have a Navy commander”——Gigi
That was your original lie.
Then you posted this as your “proof” that you are not a liar
“Rear Adm. George M. Wikoff, the nominee to be the commander of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, is currently also awaiting a promotion…
Both posts are currently filled by the nominees’ predecessors,…”
What you just “proved” is that you are a LIAR
Bu the way, the Commander of the 5th Fleet is not the Navy Commander. There is no ONE Navy Commander.
The piece QUOTES the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Are THEY lying, too?
“the position of key naval advisor to the President has been held up.”
ANOTHER LIE
The CONFIRMATION has been held up.
The “key naval advisor” is in place and advising the same goddam sh!t she would be advising if confirmed.
“Repubicans just can’t stop trying to impose their will on women choosing abortion to take care of important business, like filling key military positions and an ambassadorship to Israel, ”
And ANOTHER LIE
“women choosing abortion” has NOTHING to do with the hold up in confirming an ambassador to Israel.
“like filling key military positions ”
ANOTHER LIE
There are no empty desks at the Pentagon. The positions are filled, either interimly, or in the case of unqualifieds, not yet vacated by the outgoing . The CONFIRMATIONS are being held up.
LIES LIES LIES
YOU ARE A LIAR
“trying to prevent servicewomen from exercising their right to a legal abortion.”
And guess what???
ANOTHER GODDAM LIE
That is NOT what Tuberville is trying to prevent. Now I want YOU to tell the truth about this. Not a LYING “source”. What is the truth, LIAR?
“Republicans have also blocked the appointment of an Ambassador to Israel–you think that doesn’t matter?”
As a matter of fact, I don’t. We have a functioning embassey, the friggin’ phones still work, there is someone in charge in the embassey in Jerusalem. Why don’t you tell us all the EXACT action that has been held up, the number of people who have died, the amount of aid that has been delayed, or ANY other FACT you may have, to substantiate that it has made ONE IOTA of difference.
ANOTHER LIE from Gigi the LIAR
From the Military Times, August, 2023:
Nearly 90% of the military’s general and flag officers could be ensnared in Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing nominations fight by the end of the year, a situation a top Democratic lawmaker blasted as a “shameful charade” during a Senate floor speech on Wednesday.
“Sen. Tuberville has targeted the men and women of the military itself, and their families,” Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in his remarks. “He knows the damage he is causing to our military families and our national security. It appears he simply does not care.”
Reed’s comments came one day after senators returned from their late-summer recess and just about three weeks before the scheduled retirement of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley.
If a resolution on the nominations hold can’t be reached before the end of the month, that will leave the military’s top uniformed job vacant. Three other Joint Chiefs posts are already empty: the Army chief of staff, the chief of naval operations, and the commandant of the Marine Corps.
WHO pays you to accuse people like me of lying? Is it the RNC or the Trump campaign? It must be someone. It’s straight out of the playbook used by alt-right media–attack anyone with whom you disagree as being a liar. I quoted RELIABLE media, like ABC and Newsweek. What I said was true.
And if, as you try to claim, “acting” chiefs have the same authority as Senate-confirmed chiefs, WHY is confirmation required? WHAT is your authority for claiming that Senate confirmation makes no difference in the authority and powers of a chief?
And, Tuberville IS trying to prevent servicewomen from being able to travel to states where abortion is legal. HE says so. His holding up of Senate approval for military promotions is NOT about reimbursing the cost for travel.
From “Foreign Policy. com”:
At the time of the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East, the United States had no confirmed ambassadors to Israel, Egypt, Oman, or Kuwait. The State Department’s top counterterrorism envoy position has sat empty for more than two years, the top human rights envoy position—the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor—has been unfilled for the entirety of the Biden administration, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has not had a top Middle East official in nearly three years.
These statistics offer a snapshot into how Washington’s hyper-partisanship is infecting foreign policy and serve as a preview of how numerous empty posts could hobble—though not entirely derail—the Biden administration’s ability to craft an effective response to the developing war between Israel and terrorist groups in the Palestinian territories.
“The State Department isn’t [the Department of Defense]: We don’t have weapon systems; we have diplomats, armed with experience and hard-won expertise,” said Alan Eyre, a retired senior State Department diplomat. “Not having Senate-vetted and -confirmed ambassadors in the field during a crisis is like fighting a battle with needed weaponry sitting in storage.”
The mostly empty bench is due to a nearly broken Senate confirmation process, where nominees have languished in limbo for months or even years due to the “new normal” practice of Republican senators placing sweeping holds on all nominees for different agencies over policy disputes with the administration. On the Pentagon side, hundreds of senior military posts are on indefinite pause due to Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s blanket hold on nominees over the Biden administration’s abortion access policies for the military—including senior officials at U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East. At the State Department, Republican Sen. Rand Paul has held numerous nominees over access to documents on the origins of COVID-19, while fellow Republican Sens. J.D. Vance and Ted Cruz have also previously issued holds.
Republicans, meanwhile, blame the Biden administration for not working to meet them halfway on policy disputes and dawdling on congressional outreach and Senate Democrats for not prioritizing floor votes on national security nominees that could override these blanket holds in an otherwise jampacked Senate schedule.
The end result is an under-equipped team composed of many lower-ranking officials in acting capacities fighting the biggest fire that part of the Middle East has seen in years—a crisis that could derail the Biden administration’s efforts to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. In public, administration officials insist their team is well-equipped to respond to the crisis and support Israel. In private, they concede that they’re starting this diplomatic offensive with serious handicaps.
All top Pentagon, USAID, and State Department posts, including ambassadors, require a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Unfilled posts are still covered by lower-ranking officials in acting capacities. But those acting officials don’t have the gravitas, legitimacy, or access in foreign capitals that a full-fledged ambassador has, no matter how skilled and experienced they are.”
Are they also liars?
“Georgetown University public policy professor Don Moynihan. But they do hamper the ability of the US government to respond at this time,” Moynihan wrote.”
WTF seriously??? Public policy professor??? WTF does he know about military readiness? May as well ask the janitor at the Pentagon, he probably knows more.
I can assure you, Lisa Franchetti awating confirmation has ZERO effect on our “ability to respond”. Thats the dumbest sh!t ever, and people like you lap up that dog chow like it’s caviar.
LIAR and repeater of LIES
“Repubicans just can’t stop trying to impose their will on women choosing abortion to take care of important business, like filling key military positions“
And even another LIE
Its ONE Republican, you said so yourself.
LIAR
And since you didnt have the balls to post the truth about Tuberville, I will. What he is protesting is the Pentagons new policy to reimburse members for travel across state lines to get an abortion.
Background: Abortion, when chosen as a method of birth control, is an elective procedure, and as such is NOT eligible as free medical care afforded service members by CONGRESSIONAL ACT. Moreover, the travel reimbursement associated with this elective procedure is absolutely horsesh!t whether you agree with abortion rights or not. I wanted lasic eye surgery when i was active duty, but it was elective and therefore NOT covered. I had to pay out of pocket to have 20/20 vision. You want fake boobs, the Navy wont cover it. You want a butt lift? Not covered. Whiter teeth? Not covered.
it appears your Hamas brothers are not feeling any love from their Muslim neighbors. Arent you thankful you live in America and parrot Hamas talking points? If you lived in Gaza, none of your neighbors would welcome you. Actually, nor do Americans but there you go
Egypt discusses Gaza aid, rejects corridors for civilians, say sources
https://newsrescue.com/egypt-discusses-gaza-aid-rejects-corridors-for-civilians-say-sources/
NUTCHACHACHA
IS
Hysteria and incoherence.
Oh, and abortion!
After the 24 hours of fertilization, if one does not abort the embro-cum-fetus-cum-infant, that very young human being will live and develop for an average of 76 years.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“LIFE EXISTS DURING GESTATION AND EARLY STAGES”
“UNBORN CHILD IS A PERSON AT ANY STAGE OR CONDITION”
“TAKING AN UNBORN BABY’S LIFE AT ANY POINT IN GROWTH…CONSIDERED HOMICIDE”
“38 states have written and passed laws against fetus homicide. 29 have distinguished, indicating that life exists even during gestation and early stages. Alabama’s code has declared an unborn child a person at any stage or condition. Arizona followed, agreeing that taking an unborn baby’s life at any point in growth could be considered a homicide.”
– MyLawQuestions.com
“Smith (CURRENT NAVY COMMANDER YOU DIMBULB) released a Twitter message on Tuesday announcing that he will be performing the duties as commandant in the interim.” X
Wrong again dumb dumb. nothing is stopped nothing is on hold.
this is the guy telling the dimmocrats in the house what they must do right now – the ruler over your stupid lies
https://www.wsj.com/politics/temporary-speaker-patrick-mchenry-steers-house-on-the-fly-546f83ff
Better luck next time.
“. . . weakness in the [White] House ‘invites’ terror . . .”
Now the statement’s accurate.
Jake Tapper: “These last few days have been a real eye-opening period for a lot of people, a lot of Democrats, a lot of progressives, in terms of antisemitism on the left.”
These last few days, huh? What a lying, piece of shiitake mushrooms, Jake Tapper is. We have known that Democrats, progressives, the Left are the worst offenders of hating, demonizing, inciting violence against a people merely because they think, look, believe differently than themselves.
The blood of Israel is on the hands of Democrats
Rubin prays, Oh rock speak and tell me if a Republican is hiding behind you so that I can set him on fire. Hamas prays, Oh rock speak and tell me if a Jew is hiding behind you so that I can kill him. The Klan says, Oh rock tell me if a black man is hiding behind you so that I can lynch him. There’s not an ounce of difference in their prayers even if one of them lays her head on her pillow in the lap of luxury at night and prayers for a fiery end to her enemies.
Mass torturing 2.3 million people for 11 years doesn’t count not just the same but worse ?
All of you sound like BLM now and cannot see your own sins.
Mass torturing lol
Washington Post, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Miami Herald, Boston Globe and on and on including supposed journalist at the Associated Press write and broadcast “Sophistry” and Jennifer Rubin is just one shining example. They lack humility, modesty, are intolerable, vain, are discursive with intended obfuscation, lacking in coherence and above all are full of grievances. Their words and action are heard/read by the leftist in this country with Rose Colored glasses and an idealized brain full of mush, having no understanding of history past or current events.
They twist the meaning of the Constitution, laws, and words in hopes their views will be adopted, as exampled that man can be woman, free speech is only free to them, and evil only exists in those they despise. Their product be it, written or verbal has and continues to cause harm and derisive attitudes amongst the population. They refuse facts and project their individual truths to camouflage known’s. These charlatans must be exposed.
“The Politics of Chaos: Disorder in the House Did Not Cause a Terror Attack in Israel”
– Professor Turley
____________________
American weakness, produced by the irrefutably ineligible, anti-American Barack Hussein “Barry Soetoro” Obama and his nationalist, extremist, anti-American, Iranian advisor, Valerie Jarrett, through their puppet and proxy, Joke Buydem, caused the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the provision by North Korea of ammunition to Russia, the finalization of Chinese plans to invade Taiwan, and the heinous, terror attack on Israel by Iran through its proxy Hamas.
Why would any dictator worth his salt wait for Donald Trump to be back in office?
So did Biden need the House leader to be in position to send a Navy fleet to the shores of Israel? Rubin of the Post will take any opportunity to take a shot at Republicans. Even the deaths of children in a Israel can be used in her political quest to burn the enemy to the ground. Just like her compatriots in Hamas want to burn Israel to the ground. It’s always east to say by people who will designate the striking of the match to others while they remain in the defense of their bunkers where the truth goes to die.
When asked about the decapitated children in Israel all the Democrats could do was to slither down the halls to their offices as fast as they could. There are a handful of Democrats who condemned the flying of the Palestinian flag in front of the office of a Democratic Representative of Congress. Where are the rest?
Can someone please explain to me what exactly the “chaos” is? Don’t they just elect another speaker?
My understanding is that one reason the 8 Republicans were upset is that McCarthy refused to allow members enough time to read bills before voting on them. That alone seems like reason to bring in some adult supervision. The US House is not the kindergarten student council!
There’s also a temporary speaker, McCarthy as all priors chose one it is given to the “recorder” or whatever I forget the house name so that if a vacancy comes they are the temp speaker.
It’s one of McCarthgy’s buds he is temp speaker now, starts with a C (last name) I believe.
So they are all blowing smoke. What absolutely terrifies them is accountability is here. It’s terrifying because they might not just be able to say they take accountability like they have been doing, they might have to actually practice some or get stomped. Further they cower in fear because the genius Gaetz used their own demoncrat depravity against them to shove the institution in the direction it needs to go for that. JT admonished the demoncrats for it.
So you’re seeing the usual – smoke and mirrors.
“Chaos” was the word of the day in the DNC email, thats all it is.
In 2006 I considered nancy Pelosi to be the most dangerous woman in America.
When she says McCarthy is lying about being assured by Pelosi she would not support a vote to vacate, this is pure Pelosi.
Let’s remember this woman rammed through a 1.2 trillion dollar piece of legislation in December right before the GOP was to take control of the House in January of 2023 —
Nancy should be at the top or near the top of real Americans’ list of evil politicians — those who need to just go — retire —
I am no Pelosi fan. But you really want this guy to lead the country…
Yes actually, that increased his appraisal by men. He’s cutting it up and the kid laughing at his top end jokes – he even uses the tic tac as prop and you can hear it rattle.
It’s tremendous, absolutely perfect.
Professor Turley neglects to mention that in order to become speaker on the unprecedented 15th vote, one of the concessions McCarthy made to Gaetz & other GOP holdouts was introducing a set of House rules which allowed a single member to make a motion to vacate. Turley buries the unassailable fact that every single House Democrat voted against McCarthy’s new House rules & warned that it would make the House ungovernable.
Turley publicly lobbied House Republicans to open an impeachment inquiry on Biden. When McCarthy finally followed suit, Turley was the first witness to testify on opening day. One week later, Gaetz filed a motion to vacate. Now Professor Turley wants us all to believe that if a motion to vacate was filed against Nancy Pelosi one week after she launched Trump’s impeachment inquiry, Turley is absolutely positive every House Republican would cross the aisle to support the institution by voting to keep Pelosi as speaker because Republicans know vacating the speaker’s chair is not just dysfunctional but dangerous for democracy. Seriously, JT?
Judging by Turley’s 22 months of massive influence peddling allegations against Biden, the professor seems to be pinning his hopes that McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry will finally lead to his thrill-kill of Biden.
Professor Turley neglects to mention that in order to become speaker on the unprecedented 15th vote,
The why and how are irrelevant to the Profs message in his post. Turley is just pointing out tha the Dems demand others follow traditions of decorum….until it benefits them politically.
Do those boogers taste good?
Yesterday, Trump praised President Xi and Hezbollah as “very smart,” while also criticizing Israel.
During World War II the Japanese and Germans were very smart. They built the best fighter aircraft and tanks in the world. When you think your enemy lacks intelligence you underestimate their capability at your peril. The strength of the Japanese and the Germans was grossly underestimated. Facing reality has nothing to do with praise for your enemy.
So insulting our allies and praising our enemies is a good thing? There isn’t a dictator or despotic leader in the world that Trump has not praised.
On the contrary, it’s quite easy to accurately assess the enemy without praising them publicly, and especially not in the same speech where you denigrate an ally.
You do you, President Trump walks his own path. Which is why he is 40 points ahead of his rivals….that refuse to speak clearly.
He isn’t 40 points ahead of Biden, and Biden has spoken quite clearly about the conflict.
Biden eats boogers. And so do you.
The reason the chair is vacated is because the chair is a liar and we finally have a small contingent that is targeting the crime of continuing resolutions and bundling votes and excessive overspending thus the weakening of the world reserve currency and massive inflation – the speech Gaetz gave was right on 100% and is the extension of the crushed Tea Party the oligarchs and congress wanted out of their hair so they could suck the teat forever.
JT admits we will get a “harsher” replacement but all that means to us who are sick of the wacko budget is we won and it is possible some restraint will be implemented.
We have McCarthy doing the ukie war side deal in secret – HAHAHHAHAHAHA you blew it son.
So looking back we can thank the “chaos” for likely extending the life of the nation. CHAOS MY BUTT.
There’s a temp speaker McCarthy picked before he started as is the rule and HE IS THE SPEAKER NOW.
Notice how the chaos criers don’t mention that – they pretend the seat is empty.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, $5-25 𝐓riliion or 𝐃efault or 𝐖𝐖-𝐈𝐈𝐈, just a matter of time until the Fat Lady sings …
𝐅𝐞𝐝’𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐔.𝐒. $𝟓 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 $𝟐𝟓 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 – 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐃𝐏
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens ~ October 12, 2023
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2023/10/feds-vice-chair-for-supervision-says-another-financial-crisis-could-cost-u-s-5-trillion-to-25-trillion-potentially-as-much-as-100-percent-of-gdp/
Noted in the article the banks are all taking profit and loading it into stock buybacks for corpo bonuses and personal wealth and dousing dividends to get away with it – they are doing it exceeding their earnings for the year, thus reducing their liquidity and capability of sustaining in a downturn.
So the idiots in charge know this but haven’t stopped it.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries is telling reporters that Democrats could work with the GOP on a consensus Speaker choice. “It means partnering to reopen the House,” Jeffries said, “and changing the rules that were enacted in January that empower…extreme members.”
“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.” So……I guess the democrats are part of the “Right-wing MAGA extremism” because they voted with the “Right-wing MAGA’s”, right????? How totally ignorant are these LEFT-WING LEMMINGS???
By the tone of your response you are likely a trump supporter. So you rag on “LEFT-WING LEMMINGS???” while the R party can do nothing unless it has the express endorsement of the pussy grabbing rapist trump who lobs infantile insults like a well educated pre schooler. Yep, makes sense to me.
Bob is a pinhead
There are those among us who try to separate Palestinians from Hamas. The Central Elections Commission released the final results on Sunday, 29 January 2006, and announced that Change and Reform (Hamas) had won 74 of the 132 seats, while Fatah trailed with 45. According to the results, Hamas won the large majority of the constituency seats but was more narrowly ahead on the lists. Since then what has Hamas done to improve the lives of the Palestinian people? How many millions of dollars were used for the cement to line the walls of the tunnels into Israel? The people of Gaza are poor but their leadership spends billions on some of the most sophisticated weaponry available in the world. When the people of Gaza protest the actions of their leadership they will gain my support. Until then they should be considered complicit in the slaughter and should be dealt with accordingly.
Half of “the people of Gaza” are children. Do you want them slaughtered too?
Anonymous, I see your Gaza children and up your bet with the decapitated children in Israel. Children in Gaza may indeed die because they are use as human shields by Hamas. Hamas has military installations in the same buildings where children live and go to school and then uses the death of the children when their military locations are destroyed as a propaganda lever. Just like you just did.
So your answer is “yes.”
No.
The answer is hamas as taken actions tha will result in the death of palistinian children. I cant care for children if their own parents refuse to.
Unless you’re Thinkitthrough and you’re sockpuppeting, I didn’t ask you.
And you CAN, but you CHOOSE not to.
Do those boogers taste good?
“Half of “the people of Gaza” are children.”
Perhaps Hamas and Iran should have thought of that before they invaded Israel, and before they butchered Israeli adults and children. But those totalitarians do not care about their own children. To them, children are merely fodder to be sacrificed to an evil ideology.
In Gaza, at least 1,417 people have died and another 6,268 have been wounded since Saturday, according to the latest numbers.
At least 447 children and 248 women are among those killed in Gaza.
695 out of 1400, so very near HALF the dead are women and children.
That’s great targeting, the best targeting the world. LOL WOW ISRAEL THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT BRAGGING ON IT… HAHHAHA
“Hey shak, dont you know… israel has best save the non coms special targeting bombs that make sounds flyers warnings blah blah blah blah blah BLAH BLAH BLAH PUUUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !”
Guess what – I DON’T BUY IT.
They all died because of the direct actions of hamas. Hamas pulled the metaphorical trigger. A culture that celebrates suicide bombers does. not. value. human. life. Period.
Never had misreported casualties by muslims before, eh?
2,000,000 sounds like a good start
“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.”
Then what, Professor, should happen when the House, Senate, and Executive branches choose to institutionalize their own Power above the enumerated limits imposed by the Constitution – as in, “We don’t need no stinking 9th and 10th Amendments!” Do you agree the ongoing institutional acceptance of government’s growing overreach today is something Madison would not approve? If so, why continue to admire that particular institution?
Do you agree the ongoing institutional acceptance of government’s growing overreach today is something Madison would not approve?
Good question JAFO.
Some days I wonder if Jon doesn’t have a ghost writer using his name in his absence, Olly. Today is one of those days. I mean it *sounds* like the professor, but his even bothering to respond to an absurd leftist correlation that missing a House Speaker *caused* a massacre in another country seems…beneath Turley.
I understand your point JAFO, but I do believe JT authored this post to chastise the entire political class for their disrespect of constitutional order and by extension, the American people.
Jonathan: Talk about “chaos” inside the House GOP, you need look no further than George Santos. The DOJ has just filed a superseding indictment against Santos. The total counts have gone from 13 to 23! The new counts allege Santos was involved in wire fraud and theft by using donor credit card info to steal money from donors and family members and pocketing the money. NY members of the GOP want to expel Santos. Do you think whoever becomes the Speaker will go along? Not likely. The new Speaker need every vote. When Santos thought Jim Jordan would become Speaker he went to him and said he would support Jordan if he would protect him. Santos has done the same thing with Scalise now that he is the frontrunner. Santos is the ultimate scammer and fraud.
And if the above is not sufficient just look at the “chaos” over at Fox News. Fox host Greg Gutfeld claimed on his broadcast earlier in the month that “elections don’t work” and the nation is in “peril and chaos”. Why? Because street criminals get lower sentences while the Jan. 6 insurrectionists go to prison for years–“We have no border. We have crime everywhere. Every facet of society is in peril and chaos because our elections don’t matter”. Gutfeld called for a new violent Civil War.
All this “chaos” is not coming from the Dems. It’s coming from the House GOP and Fox News. That’s the “chaos” you apparently don’t want to discuss.
No. Chaos is being slaughtered in Rwanda, a million of them, while clinton was getting head from Monica even as he pretending he just didn’t know. Those poor black folk, burned alive and hacked to death, knew chaos.
YAWN
Harvard Student Leaves Lecture On Microaggressions To Attend ‘Kill The Jews’ Rally
CAMBRIDGE, MA — A Harvard University student later identified as Luke Dillon left a lecture on microaggressions a little early so he could make it to the “Kill the Jews” rally on time.
The University happily hosted the rally for mass murder and rape after being assured that no one would be misgendered. “Hate speech has no place here at Harvard,” assured President Claudine Gay. “We affirm everyone’s right, regardless of gender, to feel safe to express their deep hatred and longing to kill Jewish people. That’s why Harvard is more than a school – it’s a family.”
A group effort, the “Kill the Jews” rally was lovingly organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee with help from the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund. The rally’s aim is to spread awareness of the plight of the Palestinian people who currently have to live in a world where Jewish people are alive and breathing.
“We will continue to band together until the Jewish people are rendered extinct and a free Palestine is established from the river to the sea,” said Mr. Dillon. “Jewish breathing is a clear microaggression and if you disagree with killing Jews, that just makes you a Nazi. As we all know, only Nazis support Israel! Boo, Nazi Israel!”
At publishing time, Harvard had proudly announced that its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department would be hosting a “Yay, Holocaust” night next week.
https://babylonbee.com/news/harvard-student-leaves-lecture-on-microaggressions-to-attend-kill-the-jews-rally