McCarthyism

Fittingly, the new Republican House will be a chaotic face from the first second:

Representative Kevin McCarthy of California was still laboring on Tuesday to lock down the support he needed to be elected speaker in a vote expected around midday, with ultraconservative holdouts digging in for what could become a chaotic floor fight at the dawn of the new House Republican majority.

The standoff hung over what was supposed to be a day of jubilation for Republicans, exposing deep divisions within the party as it embarks on its first week in power. It all but guaranteed that even if Mr. McCarthy eked out a victory, he would be a diminished speaker beholden to an empowered right flank.

In a vote planned for Tuesday afternoon, when the new Congress convenes, Mr. McCarthy must win a majority of those present and voting — 218 if every member of the House were to attend and cast a vote — to become speaker. Republicans are to control 222 seats and Democrats are all but certain to oppose Mr. McCarthy en masse, leaving him little room for defections from his own party.

In ordinary times, you might assume that McCarthy would grind out the votes, and he still might, but it must be kept in mind that the far right of the murder of Republicans is 1)genuinely radical and 2)mostly very dumb people incapable of anything remotely resembling strategic thought on any time horizon.

But don’t say that they have no accomplishments:

In the first sign of the new GOP majority, House officials removed the metal detectors that Nancy Pelosi had installed after Jan. 6. The removal came as the 118th Congress convened at noon— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 3, 2023

Make violence on the House floor great again!

…he’s already short with fewer than 100 votes counted. 2 of the “other” votes (including one from Lauren Boebert) are for Gym Jordan. This is gonna be a grind that makes Republicans look appropriately ridiculous.

UPDATE: the first ballot is complete, and LMAO.