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McCarthy leaves the House Speaker race. Now what?

That already disorderly body of folks known as the Republican House members went ever farther off the tracks this morning with the announcement Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., — the front-runner for the job — would not seek the Speaker position.

McCarthy recently let the cat out of the bag that his party in Congress had purposely held hearings on the Benghazi episode to discredit the front-running Democratic candidate for the presidential race, Hillary Clinton. Oops! McCarthy told members he didn’t want to be a burden in the process of picking one of the most important seats in government. He said he didn’t want to make electing a speaker hard for members.

Two other top GOP House members had announced they too coveted the Speaker’s job: Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Daniel Webster of Florida. Chaffetz is known for his chairing the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, other than that, he bears a striking resemblance to a cartoon chipmunk. Webster is less known, despite a namesake who was a key antebellum orator and statesman who served in the Whig Party. The living Webster was a former Florida House of Representatives speaker. Whether he was elected on name recognition only is not known.

The Hill is reportedly all abuzz. That would be Capitol Hill, not the publication, flabbergasted over this sudden eruption in Republican leadership. The two announced candidates would not make me feel secure were I Republican. No one knows much about Webster other than his Florida House history which included his involvement in the Terri Schiavo case.

Obviously, Chaffetz is questionable as a House Speaker candidate due to the recent scandal over the Secret Service accessing the congressman’s personal file that noted when he applied for a job with the agency in 2003. He was turned down for that job for what was allegedly a “Better Qualified Applicant.” Some 45 Secret Service officials are known to have seen the file. So far, no information has come forward that tells the reason Chaffetz was rejected for the position he sought.

No front-runners have emerged since today’s announcement by McCarthy that he was dropping out of the Speaker’s race. Although I have not been in a position lately to speculate who might be a winning candidate, I know of a good many congressmen — about 425 or so and from all parties — I wouldn’t recommend.

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It’s crying time again, but not for the Speaker of the House

“Oh it’s crying time again you’re going to leave me/I can see that faraway look in your eyes … ” — ‘Crying Time’ — Buck Owens

John Boehner announced today that he was leaving his position as both a member and as Speaker of the House come the end of October. The Ohio Republican known for his tearful disposition did not have a faraway look in his eyes Thursday as Pope Francis delivered the first address by a pontiff in history. No, Boehner, a Catholic, looked as if it was all he could do to hold back tears.

One cannot blame the 65-year-old House leader. For someone whose job is more difficult than herding cats, day in and day out, the job of shepherding a GOP-led Congress could make many a grown men cry.

... "and 10 bucks for a f***ed up duck." White House photo by Pete Souza
… “and 10 bucks for a f***ed up duck.” White House photo by Pete Souza

A pot-calling-the-kettle-black quote from no less than New York Republican Rep. Peter King announced: “The crazies have taken over the party.” And all this time I thought King, who media critic Jack Shafer once described as “an exploding carbuncle masquerading as a member of Congress,” was a monarch of the crazies. Maybe King was not royal enough to be called King King of the Crazies, but at the very least he could be the Earl of Squirrels.

Perhaps the most personally encouraging news from the Boehner’s resignation is that the chance of a government shutdown has been lowered, at least according to some political experts. Whether that report from Politico is merely based on spin from some pols is hard to know. As was the case in the previous shutdown and all of those times such a lockout threat existed, this has not kept the government and its employee unions from telling workers to get ready. That is the only responsible move to make but that makes such warnings no less scary.

Boehner was seen by many as a moderate Republican although his more radical colleagues did not have the same opinion. His “go along to get along” attitude could often cast him as one with his crazy political family. My opinion of the speaker — as kindly as I can say — is he has been a rather talented political flake. There were times when I was tempted to admire him and a minute later declare what an ass****.

I have no reason to believe any of those mentioned who are

once Boehner is gone will be better for the country than what is around at the moment. I have to predict the worse because that is what we have received from Republicans for so many years, so many decades, now.

So read ’em and weep. But don’t cry for John B. I’m sure he’ll land a cushy lobbying job.

 

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No “gub-mint” takeover. We ur still Texans.

Take a breather my fellow Texans.

I woke up this morning and found no military forces standing at port arms with their automatic weapons at the ready.

When I turned on the TV, the damned thing didn’t work and I remember my remote falling from the table before I went to bed. So I had to spend about 30 minutes trying to reprogram the cheap-ass RCA remote. But when I did get the TV to work I tuned into CNN. And on was nothing more than the same old “All-Donald all the time.”

What I am trying to say is, the military didn’t take over the U.S. and giant billboards of President For Life Barack Hussein Obama did not appear. At least, they didn’t show up any place that I know.

Jade Helm 15 is over. And all those nutcases who got their knickers tied up in a knot were left with nothing more than a whole lot of egg on their face. All those of you whose fret over a revocation of the Second Amendment have no reason for concern. That is until the next imagined threat comes about.

Now I have some good friends in the Lone Star State, the place I have called home for almost 56 of my nearly 60 years. Some are gun nuts. Others are just plain nuts. That’s one reason they’re my friends. The best I can recall, all my exes live in Texas, kind of the way George Strait sang it except I’ve only been to the airport in Memphis. I had scant time to hang my hat in Tennessee.

I was reading today about this guy who lives down the road from me in Nederland, Texas. He heads the Texas Nationalist Movement. I see the fellow who leads it, Daniel Miller, around town every now and then. I’ve never talked with him. But Miller and his group are pushing a petition drive that would put Texas secession on the Republican Primary ballot. Yessir. The Texas Republican Party is less than thrilled, reports the Texas Tribune. I couldn’t ever imagine why.

If such a ballot initiative could only come with a (very short) federal government shutdown, I doubt we would see a GOP president for, well, maybe ever. Of course, I’m not wanting a shutdown. I definitely do not want a shutdown, please understand. I’m just saying that the Republican Party has a lot of dynamics these days that make it like death sucking on a Lifesaver.

But that’s Texas. That is all Texas. We are tall, and not so tall, Texans. We wear a 10-gallon hat. Mostly though, I wear a ball cap.

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Trump, Jeb, CNN women and Clark Kent gets accosted by writer with Bob Dylan references.

Ahh. Here I am with the television on and it seems Donald Trump is speaking. What is good about this scene? The volume is off.

Oh. Now there is a commercial. A firefighter is nonplussed because years of varied mouth abuse has left him with ugly teeth. Maybe it was all that firehouse food. Firefighter Bad Teeth goes to a dental implant place and afterwards he feels much better. I don’t know why.

The fireman guy looks 50-something. He should be ready for retirement. He can go on painting houses on his days off. Nothing wrong with that. My brother John was a painter. I worked with him some so I guess that makes me a painter. He paid pretty decently for a brother. Maybe I was only a painter’s helper. That’s better than being hamburger helper.

I actually painted a couple of houses by myself. I really hated doing that. Back to Bad Teeth. What does the fireman think a good smile will do? Will he use his dazzling smile as a beacon to find lost children in the city sewer system? Perhaps he will smile as a painter. His painting client will say: “That’s it. That’s the color I want. It’s off white.” The firefighter/painter says: “Damned dentists!”

Whoa. Back to CNN. Joe Biden is talking to a nursing student. Huh? Some reporter, who reminds me of Clark Kent, is speaking about something or the other. Now, back to the CNN desk. Here is a blonde. Wait, there’s a blonde. Everywhere there’s a blonde blonde.

Jeb Bush is on TV. Where have you been, Jeb? Jeb is also pictured with his Tweet, or is it tweet. Tweet, tweet. What do you want, little bird?. And heeerrree is Trump. Then it is back to Jeb’s tweet. Back to Trump. He’s looking grump(y). Grumpy Trump(y). Trump wants to make America better. Better than what?

Wow! Now there is one blonde, one white and one black. Hold on! That’s one white, one black, and one blonde. Is it the Mod Squad? No it’s only Gloria Borger. Isn’t she a brunette? “G.L.O.R.I.A. Gloria!” Sing it Van. Back to politics. “Trump Should Speak English,” that is what it says below Gloria. It’s “Developing Now.”

Isn’t the problem Trump is speaking way too much English?

Now another brunette speaks. Where did she come from? And what is that she is sitting on? Why it’s a book. Actually, it’s a book of poems and she handed it to me. It was written by an Italian poet from the 13th century. And this is where we are. Sitting here, with the TV on and the sound turned off — all tangled up in blue.

“Does anyone have a harmonica?”

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Who needs a headline: the cable news networks

CNN winds up on my s**t list every once in awhile. And lately that “awhile” is every f**king day!

First the cable news has a “presidential candidate” with whom it apparently has easy access. Reporter Athena Jones, just now, alluded to his having staying power. It’s what, 15 months until the election and even a year more or less, until the major party conventions.

Donald Trump, garnering more than 25 percent of GOP voters in one recent poll, seems to pop up for every CNN show with perhaps the exceptions of “Death Row Stories” and that of Tony Bourdain’s show.

I cannot remember CNN falling all over a candidate. I believe the interest in Trump and his willingness to spout all kinds of bulls**t via the electronic media is somewhat of a cable perpetual motion machine. It isn’t just CNN’s fawning. What about Fox? Well, I bet newsmen like Shep Smith has to bow and scrape before Megan Kelly.

Okay, it’s the silly season. The proof is in the pudding and desert won’t be served until Super Tuesday. A convention fight at the Republican National Shindig next year would be too much to hope for.

The problem is The Donald has gone beyond all reason and makes up these wild statements. Take for instant, his “plan” to deport all illegal immigrants and even their kids who were born in the U.S. Likewise, while not mentioning — perhaps even not knowing — the Fourteenth Amendment would require change, Trump said he would end an Amercan birthright for foreign babies born in the USA. Today, it sounds as if he was craw-fishing.

There are thousands, well 14, 16, however many Republican candidates. You may hear a bit about Jeb Bush. He would once and for all establish a Bush presidential dynasty. Or sometimes you hear Huckabee because he’s a preacher politician. It is the same with Democratic candidates. You hear how Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is pulling ahead of Hillary. And you only hear of Hillary when she is paired with emails.

Unlike the case with Fox News, I think the Trump fixation is not geared to elect him to the White House. It’s just laziness, going for the low-hanging fruit. Hell, if The Donald offer me a ride on his whirly bird I would take him up on it. Of course, if I had a chance to ride Marine One or Air Force, no matter who the CINC was I would go for it. Or, if Willie Nelson offered me a ride on his bus I would definitely accept. I best leave it there.

That is just how it goes for people who go all apes**t for a never-ending scandal. We don’t have a king or queen but we have our Fleet Street gossip mongers.