Mike Johnson

We have a House Speaker..finally. Are you liberals intending to condemn and ostracize him immediately? Will you unearth every ideological tenet he's supported since the inception of his being? Will you post links to photos depicting unsubstantiated  barn dalliances with sheep? Or, alternatively, will he get a chance? Was his announcement speech annoying to you? Were the theological / divine references just too much to tolerate? I'll speculate that your group will demean him way beyond his set of ideological principles ( principles that you'll claim he is bereft of). Hopefully, I'm wrong; regardless, it's your business. Have fun, ultimately.

Since his "ideological principles" include election denial and enthusiastic support of the Orange Turd, yes. I loathe him already. And he's exactly what you would expect a RepubliQ from Lose-i-ana to be: closed-minded, Bible-thumper, anti-nonwhite (and yes, I once again mention race. Shoot me, using your Second Amendment rights).

That said, I'll reserve my final judgment of him until I see if he supports or opposes the looming RepubliQ-fostered shutdown of the government. He's often railed against BIG GUMMINT A'SPENDIN' and among other things I could find, has a history of being rabidly against the Medicare/Medicaid expansion that was part of Obamacare. (That passed in 2016 in LA.) I don't really care about his ideological twists, because I didn't expect that the RepubliQ would prop someone up there who wasn't well to the right of Attila the Hun, but I do want to know if he's going to let himself be bullied by the Bitch Caucus aka the Not So Magnificent Eight, or he'll actually use his power and get the government's fucking bills paid already.

In other words, I don't hope for much beyond that he's not in the insane nutjob camp and that he doesn't consider the concept of compromise to be blasphemy. We'll see. I'm not optimistic. It's sorta like hoping that the SS guard assigned to your barracks doesn't randomly shoot prisoners for fun. It's all you can realistically hope for.

Yes, the theological stuff was too much. I grew up religious, am no longer religious myself but have have many relatives that still are. To me his claim as being chosen by god was an exercise in megalomania.  It also shows a detachment from reality that will make it difficult to govern. If you believe every position you take on an issue is devine because God chose you, how do you ever compromise to do very basic things like making sure the government pays it's bills?

He also demonstrated a detachment from reality by believing Trump won the 2020 election.  By all accounts he is a true believer like David Miller.  I'm sorry that's just a bridge too far for me. You have to be a believer in objective reality in order to successfully govern.

Democrats arent the ones who brag about not working with the other side.  Thats your clowns, Charles.  And you defend at every opportunity.   Joe Biden today said both parties should work together to find common ground and move forward.   Who is the last Republican Presidential, Senate, House candidate you voted for with a similar disposition?

As for Johnson himself - God told him to be an insurrectionist and try to overturn the free election in 2020.   No biggie, right?    I guess I'm just cherry picking petty details from his record and not giving him a chance.

The upcoming government shutdown and Ukraine funding bills will be his first test at governing.    Spolier Alert:  Prepare for the government to shut down.

The House R's ran around like beheaded yardbirds for 3 weeks during this Speaker decision. Gaetz and his additional 6 to 8 co-chickens didn't handle this fight well at all; there was a lot of public political damage thrust on the conservative / R party from the behavior / actions that specifically he and his crew initiated. Surely Johnson personally recognizes that..how could he not? Johnson is now the House GOP dartboard, as reps from both sides will be throwing them at him; it's inherent with the position. Like his recent predecessor and 3 potential failed candidates for the Speakership, he doesn't hold a ton of power on his own in this particular fight we've observed. We'll really see what type of negotiating skills ( rather than pure governing skills for those that might prefer to keep those skill labelings separate) he has in the next 2-3 weeks. I don't know how the House GOP will approach the upcoming budget negotiations with the D's, but they (we) suffered a lot of negative public opinion backlash largely due to the Gaetz crew grandstanding. It was politically costly.The R intra-party fighting is certainly not over, much less the remaining routine battles with your D reps on the budget and side-funding issues.  I won't under nor over support Johnson until he's actually standing out on that ruthless edge of the abyss in the next few weeks..he will be tested sorely and ran through the gauntlet in that time. We'll see how he responds to what he signed up for.

Regarding the government funding legislation due by the middle of November..who knows? It would not surprise me at all to see the collective House initiate yet another CR..in fact it's likely, imo. Pigs seldom fly in DC ( depending on one's interpretation of common weird events there), and the collective house has precious little time to haggle and arrive at a compromised path forward on the funding issue. We'll also discover if my party has developed some semblance of unity beyond this speakership vote ( just a hint of that has been demonstrated thus far). The voting public ( or my side's 40 - 50% of it, anyway) would like to see some unity from somebody in Washington...compromise and move on..etc., etc. In light of that, will your D members be willing to do that as well ( with the R's)? What are the odds? What's your party's level of give and take stances  presently? I include the Senate in that inquiry. Compromise is the only immediate palliative approach. What are you and your reps willing to give up? I personally am willing to sacrifice some things in an attempt to see a functional govt; it's in such dissaray...the cows are out on the highway...dogs are loose...disorder abounds. History supports all that( it's not the first time we've seen this level of division), but...?

Or rather, more of the same? High probability, likely. Aren't any of you sick of this? Any soul-based nausea, etc? Or, do you thrive on the inter-party conflict as seen in here hourly?

Enough about Mike Johnson. Let's talk about Charles Higgins.

He is a radical right-winger.

Proof: He supports an insurrectionist who wanted to cancel MY vote and who supports a nationwide abortion ban. And he is comfortable with him being second in succession for the presidency.

So Charles - lots of words - Higgins: Your moderate posture is just an act. I bet a younger version of you would be embarrassed by who you have become.

Just a fun fact, Charles.    Johnson is one of the co-chickens you referenced in your first sentence.    He voted to oust McCarthy.     That's not a very good omen as to his ability to negotiate and govern a caucus of people across a wide range of opinions.   If he can't work with McCarthy how well do you expect him to work with Pelosi?

Typically, you continue to  stir the pot, as that's your consistent manipulativeMO. I haven't judged Johnson yet..and stated so. I'm certainly right-wing on spending issues..agreed. You're rather miserable , aren't you?

Charles, this is what the co-chickens wanted is someone that will appease Trump by shutting down the government to create chaos. Trump thinks it will help him win the election. He also wants the Federal and state prosecutors in his criminal cases and the state prosecutor in his civil fraud case to be defunded and Joe Biden to be impeached for no reason other than he is Joe Biden.  I note the co-chickens including the new speaker want to give Trump all of these things.

Charles, IMHO, no election denier should hold public office--because if Congressman Joe Conservitard bleats that elections are fraudulent, well, what about the one that elected HIM, hm? THAT one was lily-white honest?

You evidently know how insanely right-wing radical Johnson is. Yet, you're withholding judgment. Fine--but do you really expect anything out of him besides fist-shaking pro-Trumpism and an enthusiastic support for shutting down the government? His rhetoric, for years, has been pretty consistent. And yes, he's a Bible-thumping fanatic who thinks that God elected him. I don't know whether that repels you or floats your boat.