10-20-2023, 07:05 PM
(10-20-2023, 06:24 PM)Nately120 Wrote: 19 votes to get a grand total of 1 speaker who didn't even last a year makes me think the GOP should choose the willing democrat they find the least reprehensible.
Or maybe - and I know this sounds crazy - put up a moderate a handful of Dems can vote for.
It's not like the Dems don't have some accountability in this mess. The only reason we are where we are is because Dems wouldn't give a single vote to McCarthy the first time, either, and so he had to make that ridiculous agreement with Gaetz for the motion to be brought by a single rep.
Supposedly Pelosi said she would back McCarthy. I don't know if that was true, or if he went back on some promise/agreement with her. But this is a bipartisan mess. It almost happened to the Dems when they also had a slim majority, but I think it was like 15-20 seats instead of 8 or we might very well have seen a similar situation. Dems didn't even need to vote FOR McCarthy....all it would have taken was for a handful to vote "present" or just skip the vote.
Whether they blindly vote with their party, or commit "domestic terrorism" by daring to represent their district (as they're supposed to), people keep re-electing them so I guess we all deserve this. When you have a comfortable majority, people like Gaetz are little more than fodder for cable news. But with a slim majority, they suddenly gain power and influence through none of their own doing.
All I know is 20 years ago the minority party (either one) didn't uniformly oppose the majority on any issue of consequence. People like Gaetz can't take hostages unless the minority party is willing to go along.
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