kentuck
kentuck's JournalThe number of crimes are simply over-whelming.
Everything from defamation to espionage.
How can anyone possibly keep track?
It's understandable that most folks are numb to all the information.
One bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, there is no doubt.
The latest report about passing sensitive information about nuclear subs is just another brick in the wall.
The number of crimes committed is mind-numbing.
The closer we get to a jury room, the more desperate he becomes.
You wonder if he has maybe talked with Sidney Powell? Her trial is coming in less than three weeks.
He simply could not restrain himself at his civil trial. He attacked the Judge with everything except a tomahawk. He returned to his old racial tirades, calling people such words as "peekaboos". Finally, he had to get out of town, before the entire nation saw his head explode on live television.
We should expect more of this behavior in the coming weeks and months. His desperation leads toward violence.
My bet is that Nancy Pelosi is busily working the phones.
She will be trying to work out a deal to make certain that Donald Trump is not the next Speaker of the House. She is not naive enough to ever think they would ever permit Hakeem Jeffries to take the position. They would see the country go under first.
My hunch is that she is talking with a dozen or so more serious Republicans about who they would want to see as their Speaker? She would not expect, nor ask, them to support Jeffries. She realizes that the times are too serious to play games.
But if they could find a small clique of Republicans that were willing to work to keep our government open, willing to support our allies, especially Ukraine, and willing to debate how best to fix the border problem, then there might be the possibility of a coalition to restore our Congress and help our country?
Like a dog returneth to its vomit, the criminal returns to the scene of his crime.
The Defendant [Trump] is scheduled to meet with the Republican caucus on Tuesday. That would be the first time he has been back to the Capitol since he led an insurrection on the same grounds on January 6th, 2021. If nothing else, he has a lot of gall.
Surely his appearance will help to bring everyone together. 
This would be a big mistake by the Republican Party, to have the Defendant come to the Capitol and endorse Jim Jordan, or himself. Naturally, he would be looking for any escape route to get out of the criminal charges levied against him. Perhaps, he is under the illusion that if he becomes Speaker, he is somehow immunized from present prosecutions?
Nobody knows what direction the Republicans will take? They are a Party in chaos and this could be the last official act of turning their Party over to the MAGAs. This is their last chance, in my opinion.
If our government is to continue functioning, it must have a Speaker of the House. If there is no Congress, there is no government.
The Defendant [Trump] is doing nothing to help the situation.
What role did Trump play in the removal of McCarthy as Speaker?
Would Matt Gaetz have sought the removal of McCarthy without the approval of Donald Trump?
If Trump had disapproved, wouldn't he have said something about it?
After all, Trump was very angry that Kevin did not permit the government to shut down. Somehow, he thought it was going to personally benefit him?
So today, like scattered cattle during a thunderstorm, Trump is trying to round up the scared Republicans and get them to vote for Jim Jordan as Speaker. Reportedly, he is planning on visiting the Republicans in the House next Tuesday. Will he be able to persuade all of them to get on board with Jordan?
Republicans will eventually see that it was Trump that was leading the removal of Kevin McCarthy, it wasn't Matt Gaetz or the other 7 Republicans. Kevin had left the reservation and had to be punished.
For Republicans, they can continue to blame the Democrats or they can continue to follow the siren song of Trump and his MAGA followers in the House.
Oh, what a tangled web they have woven!
Republicans are not angry at Democrats... They are angry at themselves.
People are waking up to find that no one is in charge at the House of Representatives. They have an acting-Speaker, personally chosen by Kevin McCarthy, Patrick McHenry.
Who is he working for? Who knows, for sure?
But why did Trump and McCarthy lose the House, at the impetus and votes of MAGA Republicans in their own Party? There were 8 MAGAs that betrayed the Republican Party. They were:
Andy Biggs of Arizona.
Ken Buck of Colorado.
Tim Burchett of Tennessee.
Eli Crane of Arizona.
Matt Gaetz of Florida.
Bob Good of Virginia.
Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
Matt Rosendale of Montana.
Why should Democrats have saved McCarthy? Without his participation, since 2021, we may have avoided this present tragi-comedy? His trip to Mar-a-Lago sealed the deal. He did nothing to defend our Constitution or to assist the Democratic Party. Many might say, "Good riddance!".
It was Matt Gaetz that led the MAGA's against McCarthy. Did the others just follow, or were they being encouraged from elsewhere? A couple of them seemed to be rational people, such as Ken Buck and Nancy Mace? When they got rid of Kevin, they dissolved the Republican leadership in the House, in effect.
But, Republicans insist on blaming the Democrats for not bailing them out. Why should they have? He and his Party were doing nothing to help our country. The MAGA was a movement to keep one man in power.
Everybody knows who that is. He wanted the government to shut down. When Kevin disobeyed that wish, then he was toast. Matt Gaetz followed those orders to the floor of the House of Representatives, without any assistance from any Democrat, and proceeded to dismantle the leadership in the Republican-led House.
Blame who you wish but do not blame the truth.
What should be the Democrats' strategy if Republicans choose Trump to be Speaker?
I don't think it is an impossibility.
Trump may see some "security" from prosecution if he was the Speaker. It might be a better bet for him than trying to beat Joe Biden for the Presidency. And it would be immediate. There would be several advantages for Trump, in his efforts to escape accountability.
What could the Democrats do if Trump is chosen to run for Speaker?
It would be a predicament.
I suppose Democrats could get behind a more moderate Republican and defeat Trump with Democratic votes? But that idea is almost unthinkable.
However, if some Republican could garner 8 or 10 other Republicans to support her/him, the Democrats might be tempted to support that Republican, just to keep Trump from being the Speaker?
Is this something Democrats might want to think about?
It took 15 votes to make Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House?
How many votes will it take to get the next Speaker?
I cannot imagine any of them getting confirmed on the first vote.
At this time, it looks like the government may be shut down for lack of a Speaker of the House.
The Republicans in the House have a big decision to make. Do they continue with their MAGA minority leading them by the noses or do they cut them loose? They will probably have 3 or 4 Trumpster MAGAs that will never vote for any Republican that does not support Donald Trump? They would still have a majority without the MAGAs, if they could pull all the others together.
But, I would be very surprised if it happened quickly.
I could see a long, drawn-out battle for the next Speaker of the House.
Kevin McCarthy's "accomplishments"?
He stood on the floor after January 6th and put the blame squarely on Donald Trump. That was his last rational moment.
Three weeks after that, he was down in Mar-a-Lago, bending the knee and kissing the ring of Donald Trump. It was a total 180 degree turnaround for the new Speaker. Obviously, Trump's power of persuasion was good enough to win him over.
He defended and lied for Trump at every turn. He was the leader of the MAGA movement in the House.
He turned over the security tapes from January 6th to Tucker Carlson when he was at FOX news.
He agree with all the demands of Trump and the MAGA members, including beginning impeachment investigation against Joe Biden.
The only time he disagreed with them was when they wanted him to shut down the government. He did now want that responsibility or the anticipated blame that was to follow.
He broke with the MAGA members and agreed to keep the government open for 47 more days. That was too much for Trump and Gaetz.
After all his "accomplishments", McCarthy is now gone.
"I'll huff and I'll puff and I will blow your House down!"
So said MAGA, the Big Bad Wolf.
"Bring it on!", said the Speaker, McCarthy. So they did. No doubt at the behest of the leader of the MAGA movement, the Defendant Trump.
Matt Gaetz, always an agent of Chaos, was willing to do whatever his Leader requested. His Leader wanted to shut down the government, but McCarthy negotiated a deal with the Democrats in the House and they agreed to keep the government open for the next 47 days.
McCarthy, who showed no loyalty to anyone except Trump, was all alone at the end. Trump did not rush to protect him and he had no power to stay in the much-compromised Speakership. So, he was ousted.
Perhaps he thought the Democrats would put up just enough votes to save him? But it didn't happen.
What's next for the Republican majority in the House? Who can they put forth as Speaker that will appease Trump, the MAGA members, and the remainder of spineless Republicans? It will not be easy.
They are like the dog that caught the car. Now, what do they do with it?
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