Hell hath no fury like a "Speaker" scorned..

In the fourth attempt to vote in a Speaker to replace Kevin McCarthy, Mike Johnson of LA was chosen by the majority of the Republican caucus. However, 43 voted for Kevin McCarthy.

Why did they vote for McCarthy? Does McCarthy think he can be Speaker again?

How angry is McCarthy that Trump and Gaetz teamed up to throw him out of his position? He got on Trump's bad side by agreeing with the Democrats to keep the government open for 45 more days.

McCarthy now sees that his loyalty to Trump was worth nothing. He was stabbed in the back at his first misstep. After all he had done for the indicted former president.

McCarthy wants revenge for the way he was treated, in my opinion.

Walk On Boy - Billy Strings

Republicans were fearful that Democrats might support Emmer?

Is that why he was shown the door so quickly? Why his nomination was not brought to the full floor?

Because they thought that with Democratic votes, he might win the race for Speaker?

So, at the request of their indicted Leader, they stopped it from going to the full floor?

Their plan seems to be to shut down the government if they cannot get a Trump stooge voted in as Speaker?

That was a rather quick move by Emmer.

The race for Speaker is between Emmer and Trump.

No doubt, Trump will have his small cadre of supporters that will follow his orders and vote against Emmer for Speaker. He does not like the fact that Emmer voted to certify Joe Biden as President.

Democrats need to see how many votes Emmer can garner on the floor before they make a decision on whether or not to support him?

If Emmer can get within 20-25 votes of winning, the Democrats could decide that this is the best that they are going to get from the Republican Party. They may decide to put Emmer into the Speaker's chair until the next election in 2024.

It would be a defeat for Trump.

A Party Held Hostage

And the ransom keeps changing.

Republicans are a sad and despicable lot. They tied their wagon to a former reality show host and they have been unable to escape, even if they wanted. There is little proof that they wanted. They seemed quite happy with the direction their Party was headed.

Now, the time has come to pay the piper and they have nothing with which to pay. They sold their souls and now have effectively shut down the Legislative Branch of our government for three weeks. They are unable to appoint a Speaker to lead them in the House. Congress is frozen at this moment.

The dictator-wannabe has them by the balls. They have put themselves in the position that they cannot elect a Speaker if he does not meet the approval of their indicted former Leader. They are stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place.

It was their choice. They chose to be on the side of the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the insurrectionists.

They chose to be on the side of a criminal.

They chose to over-run the Capitol. It was by their own free will.

We can trace where we are today by the bad choices of those that followed the siren call of a Cult Leader. They chose to believe, without evidence, everything that he said.

We live with our choices every day.

But there is no reason is for us to live with their choices. They are not deserving of any credibility.

Someone is watching the race for Speaker very closely.

Tom Emmer, a Congressman from Minnesota and the Majority Whip for the Republicans in the House, has thrown his hat into the ring to be the new Speaker. He may be the new front-runner.

There is only one problem with him.

Donald Trump has already expressed his opposition to Emmer. Why?

Emmer voted to certify Joe Biden as President.

The lines are drawn in the House.

It almost appears that the Republicans do not want a new Speaker? They are OK if the government shuts down.

Could it be that some in the House feel the heat of the Special Counsel breathing down on them?

Jim Jordan, especially. He wanted to use the Speakership to protect himself?

As did many that voted to make him Speaker?

There are a lot of guilty Congressmen that were involved with the insurrection of January 6th. In fact, the majority of Republicans that voted to not certify Joe Biden as President were probably in the conspiracy.

This fight in the Republican Party is really about their survival and their desire to stay hidden from the criminal investigation. And what roles each of them played in the attempted coup to overthrow an election?

How many more votes until they find a Speaker?

In my opinion, the more the better.

This appears to be separating the wheat from the chaff in the Republican Party, one by one. There doesn't seem to be a lot of wheat.

If they go about a dozen more votes, Democrats will have an idea of how many Repubs they can work with. Perhaps they can figure out some "bi-partisan" plan at that time?

The reality is that the Republican Party is broken. The majority of them are not that interested in governing or saving democracy.

My advice to the Democrats is to let them finish their quixotic process, then try to find a bi-partisan solution with those that are serious about governing.

Judge threatens Trump with "imprisonment" for violating gag order.

His lawyers were quick to apologize for him. They blamed it on campaign operatives. The Judge reminded them that Trump was still in charge of the operation.

In my opinion, this is a story that needs to be at the forefront.

Because the more people that read that he has been warned that he might go to jail, the less the possible opposition if the eventuality happens. It will help to discredit the former president by showing his blatant disregard for the law.

People need to see that he has been given more chances to be cooperative than any average citizen would ever see.

Just my opinion.