U.S. House leadership debacle going forward

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/us/house-speaker-republicans-jordan.html
Jordan Activates Right-Wing Pressure Campaign in Push to Win Speakership

Allies of the Ohio Republican, who must persuade scores of his colleagues to support his bid for speaker, are threatening right-wing retribution to any G.O.P. lawmakers who dare oppose him.

Representative Jim Jordan and his allies have begun a right-wing pressure campaign against Republicans opposed to electing him speaker, working to unleash the rage of the party’s base voters against any lawmaker standing in the way of his election.

***
Everything Liz Chaney says about this despicable Ohio rep is right. GOPers who still have functioning moral compasses and Dems have to work together to stop the MAGA takeover of the House leadership position.

IF Jim Jordan manages to gain the House leadership position this week, it will be the MAGA coup that is much more consequential than the failed 1/6 coup everyone around the globe witnessed. This one is happening quietly and below the radar screen during this tumultuous period in the Mideast. Sadly, the GOP moderates appear to be acting like folding tents this week.

America ~ 2
Jordan and MAGA ~ ZIP

The Dems refusal to help save McCarthy's leadership job and the war in Israel have given the GOP moderates the opportunity to break free of the MAGA stranglehold on Lincoln's party and do what is best for the House and the country.

America ~ 3

Jordan and MAGA ~ ZIP

We dodged a bullet aimed at our democracy going forward.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/house-republican-says-his-gop-colleagues-are-p...
House Republican Says His GOP Colleagues Are ‘Peeing on the Electric Fence’ in Speaker Fight

“Well, Jake, you’re right,” Womack said. “Sometimes we can be slow learners. It is kind of ironic that we’re doing this interview in the shadows of the Will Rogers statue from Oklahoma right behind me. And you remember what will said about this whole business of learning: You can learn, people learn by reading, people can learn by observation, and sometimes people learn by just peeing on the electric fence for themselves.

***
The indicted people taking plea deals down in Fulton County in Georgia are smarter than these elected GOP reps.

I want to pause to offer congratulations to my Republican friends (who are presumably still hate-reading this). It is not every day that the Republican party rejects a pedophile's bid for power. That took some institutional courage, and should be commended. And considering it came on the heels of rejecting an avowed white supremacist, it's especially good news.

Perhaps some day it will be possible for a decent person to be a Republican again. Perhaps this will even happen in my lifetime (but I'm not counting on it).

Alison Rhodes is not a bot. 🌊 @AlisonR61423986 | 2:37 PM · Oct 21, 2023:
Retired IT Professional; History Geek, Lover of George Washington & our Constitution. Fighting Trumpism. Country over Party. Intellect over ignorance.

Only THREE of the 12 confirmed/potential Speakership candidates voted to certify the election. the other NINE voted to overturn the election. Note, the three who did are also abhorrent for other reasons. Here, did some homework last night on these candidates:

Table ( https://twitter.com/AlisonR61423986/status/1715799451439083537/photo/1 )

It is sad to realize that this Trumpism era has brought about the demise of Constitutionalists at all levels of the GOP. They all wear American flag pins and carry copies of the Constitution, but they are allowing a master con man and his MAGA groupies to destroy the party's future viability on a daily basis.

I find the fact that no women jumped at the opportunity to become the House leader very interesting and disgusting. I imagine the GOP gals know that GOP dudes in this era would never give a female that kind of power. Gents know that women are consensus builders and that would mean working with Dems which in their minds would be a swampy act of treason.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/breaking-tom-emmer-drops-out-of-speaker-race/
BREAKING: Tom Emmer Drops Out of Speaker Race

***
He held the nomination opportunity for about three hours!!!

MSNBC reporter at about 7:30 p.m.

Apparently, McCarthy is floating the idea of him being the speaker and Jim Jordan being his assistant!!! Lincoln and the Founders must be spinning in their graves.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/breaking-republicans-select-new-nominee-for-sp...
BREAKING: Republicans Select New Nominee For Speaker

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) became the latest Republican nominee for House speaker on Tuesday after receiving 128 votes in the House Republican Conference.

***
This dude appears to be a 1950's type guy. He is a fitting pick for a party completely out of step with life in 21st Century America.

>12 Molly3028: He might be their best chance. He's very right wing but in a low key way. Jordan without nearly the bluster. The architect of the Republican House's attempt to stall/steal the election in 2020 or the guy behind the amicus brief.

Johnson might be polite, and he may not have been involved in impeaching Biden, but his attitude about breeders--'er, women--leaves much to be desired, unfortunately:

Biden-Harris HQ @BidenHQ | 9:51 AM · Oct 25, 2023:

Here is Mike Johnson railing against Roe v. Wade, arguing that if women were forced to give birth to more “able-bodied workers,” Republicans wouldn’t try to cut Social Security and Medicare

0:26 ( https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1717177186086465983 )
----------------------------------------------

Johnson tweet on day Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade:
https://twitter.com/AndyKimNJ/status/1717187796547330055/photo/1

Johnson may not have been involved in effort to impeach Biden, however...

Robert Costa @costareports | 9:26 AM · Oct 25, 2023:
Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent for @CBSNews, co-author of “Peril” with @realBobWoodward, @Center4Politics Scholar at the University of Virginia

Important to know: Johnson was deeply involved in efforts to keep Trump in power starting immediately after 2020 election. Early Nov. 2020. I know because I spent months reporting on that period and he was part of letters and behind-scenes efforts with key outside groups. I’ve…

talked with key sources from that time about how Johnson — then all but unknown — worked with allied Trump groups and conservative leaders in a coordinated way to make sure that whole orbit was working together to help Trump. More soon.
------------------------------------------------

Howard Mortman @HowardMortman | 5:48 AM · Oct 25, 2023:
C-SPAN Comms Director...

Boos ... “Shut up! Shut up!” ... "Next question" when Rep. Mike Johnson is asked about efforts to overturn 2020 presidential election results ...
0:15 ( https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1717115960333611359 )

Bobby Kogan @BBKogan | 10:37 AM · Oct 25, 2023:
Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy for @amprog . Formerly: OMB46, Transition46, @SenateBudget (Murray & Sanders). CBO and OMB’s biggest fan!

As chair of the RSC {Republican Study Committee}, Johnson spearheaded budgets resolutions that called for ~$2 trillion in cuts to Medicare, $3 trillion in cuts to Medicaid+ACA {Affordable Care Act}, & ~$750 billion in cuts to Social Security.

Relevant to Collins on Approps, he called to immediately cut NDD {Non-Defense Discretionary} ~50%. Unfathomable.

Quote
Lauren Fox @FoxReports | 9:19 AM · Oct 25, 2023
CNN Congressional Correspondent.

I asked Susan Collins what it would be like to work with Johnson on spending issues and she said she doesn't know him, but was going to Google him this morning

MAGA Mike is the new House leader.

Trump's crazy 8's got their way in the end!

November 17 is around the corner, now.

https://www.alternet.org/scripture-speaker-congress-god-ordained/
'Scripture is very clear': New House Speaker tells Congress God has 'ordained' them

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, in his first remarks after being elected Wednesday afternoon, told Members of Congress that “Scripture” and “the Bible” are clear that they have been “ordained” by God.

***
This is Jim Jordan with a Bible, a smile and a jacket.

How can we avoid a govt shutdown?

Yikes. Second in line to the presidency...although he can do enough damage as Speaker...This guy isn't just Trumpian, he's a True Believer of the most activist kind...women, gays, separation of church & state...

Israel & Book of Revelation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation)?

Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman | 8:54 PM · Oct 25, 2023:
News Editor @MSFreePress {Mississippi Free Press. Women-run nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom reporting causes, solutions, context. }
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1717342823572259075.html

Mike Johnson in 2016: "What’s happened, Alex, over the last 60 or 70 years, is that our generation has been convinced that there is a separation of church and state. Most people think that that’s part of the Constitution, but it’s not.”
(It is: See The Establishment Clause {1st Amendment}).
0:15 ( https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1717343855031312397 )

Two things you should be clear about Speaker Mike Johnson:
1) He's not some Republican pandering to the extreme religious right and Christian dominionists; he's a true believer.
2) He's not some ignorant yahoo. He's very intelligent and serious about writing his views into law.

Mike Johnson was a lawyer for Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian-dominionist-aligned far-right legal group that, among other things, wrote the Mississippi law at the center of the Dobbs case with the intention of using it to overturn Roe v. Wade.
https://www.mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-history-with-god-the-christia...

The ADF's tax filings said its goal was to "inspire a distinctly Christian worldview in every area of law, and particularly in the areas of public policy and religious liberty."
Mike Johnson worked for the ADF for years.
@MSFreePress story: https://mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-
Text excerpt ( https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1717355137432162304/photo/1 )

In 2003, Mike Johnson wrote that states should have the right not only to criminalize gay sex, but other sexual "deviancy"—like "the evils of sexual conduct outside marriage."
Mike Johnson doesn't just pander to Christian dominionists. He's one of them.
Johnson on homosexuality ( https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1717356173773373932/photo/1 )

Mike Johnson's Christian dominionist leanings have also been reported at @bayoubrief:
https://www.bayoubrief.com/2019/04/07/gimme-that-ol-time-dominionism-how-gene-mi... {"“Seven Mountains dominionism calls for believers to take control over seven leading aspects of culture: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government. The name is derived from Isaiah 2:2 (New King James Version): ‘Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains’.”"}

@FredClarkson {Senior Research Analyst, Political Research Associates...@Salon...@MsMagazine} on dominionists: "If people are serious about their beliefs they find ways to act on them. And I think one of the failures of our society is that these folks were not taken seriously, and they’ve been able to fly underneath the radar.”
More: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-history-with-god-the-christia...

When Mike Johnson says he believes God raises up the people in authority, you should absolutely believe him and absolutely understand he believes he was chosen by God for this job.
0:36 ( https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1717359117382152689 )

Be sure to follow @MSFreePress and read how Christian dominionists and the ADF—which Mike Johnson worked for—engineered the legislation, the appointment of judges and the court case that overturned Roe v. Wade.
This is all part of a long-term plan.
Link: 28:32 ( Here's the full 30 minute interview from 2016 with Mike Johnson. )
------------------------------------------------------

New House Speaker Sued for Government Subsidies to “Noah’s Ark Encounter” Museum
Peter Sinclair | October 25, 2023

...Answers in Genesis, which unsuccessfully sought tourism tax incentives for a biblical theme park in northern Kentucky, said Tuesday it will file a federal lawsuit against Kentucky for “viewpoint discrimination.”

The group expects to file suit on Thursday, attorney Mike Johnson said...
-----------------------------------------------------

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen @NoLieWithBTC | 9:18 PM · Oct 25, 2023:

Republicans’ new Speaker, Mike Johnson: “We don’t live in a democracy,” we live in a “biblical” republic.
From Ashton Pittman 0:14 ( https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1717349878823563481 )

>21 margd: He's not some ignorant yahoo. He's very intelligent and serious... take control over seven leading aspects of culture: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government... they’ve been able to fly underneath the radar... This is all part of a long-term plan

These things were said almost word for word about the Islamists who took over the governance of Sudan in the 1989 coup d'etat. In a rare unguarded comment to BBC shortly after the coup, leading Sudanese Islamist ideologue Dr Hassan al Turabi admitted that they had been planning and preparing for this for more than forty years. Any form of exclusivist and intolerant extremist theocracy is very dangerous indeed, whether it claims to be derived from the Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Hindu or any other faith - and I say this as a committed Christian myself. We only have to look at Sudan's recent history and current war to see a prime example of where this type of politicisation of religion can lead.

>21 margd: I've been planning on spending the next year abroad. Were it not for family issues, I might be inclined to avoid returning.

Max Blumenthal (of all people) wrote a book on these types over a decade ago. It's quite good.
Republican Gomorrah
Chris Hedges had one as well.
American Fascists

>22 John5918: "Seven Mountains Dominionism": according to Wikipedia, the number seven features prominently in Book of Revelation? As with Israel and end times, these folks take their marching orders literally from the Bible? Wikipedia says the Eastern churches rejected Book of Revelation as part of Bible. (I quote Wikipedia as Revelations is one book of the Bible I couldn't finish reading. I should: my son married into Christian fundamentalism... And now the fox is in the henhouse--judicial and legislative branches--and two heartbeats away from the administrative branch!)

>24 margd:

These folk take their marching orders literally from a misinterpretation or corruption of the bible, reading it with a literalism which focuses on individual bits of text out of context, ignoring the whole bigger picture of the bible, and projecting their own modern political ideologies onto it.

And yes, the number seven is quite biblical, but it's not only used in such destructive ways. The well known Catholic monk Thomas Merton, for example, entitled his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, and his take on Christianity is probably the polar opposite of these people.

Here's a good place to start learning about these people. It's no longer optional.
>24 margd: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/4/2133779/-Democracy-is-on-the-Ballot-M...

Links here, which is a central clearinghouse of sorts:
https://politicalresearch.org/2022/11/04/101-dominionism

>25 John5918: seven sacraments? There's one story in the Bible, at least,that would be difficult to interpret in a positive fashion: ancient Israelites offered to let defeated (Canaanites?) marry Israelis if they were circumcised. Later that night the Israelites slaughtered the incapacitated, duped (Canaanites?).

>26 davidgn: Oh yikes. Nice enough individually, but together they are one scary prospect for others and for public life... Remember Kim Davis, the county clerk who refused to issue marriage license to gay couple? ( https://www.npr.org/2023/09/14/1199477637/kim-davis-same-sex-marriage-license-or... )

Worst possible outcome at worst possible timing. I don't normally drink, but somehow I felt the need to spike my coffee tonight.

I read this back in 2008. I repressed most of it.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2008/10/7/621837/-

Now:
https://religiondispatches.org/joels-army-is-already-here-the-obscure-20th-centu...

Plague of locusts indeed.
Will there be a locust flag? Will we be required to salute it?

I also read Sharlet's The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power in the hazy past.
Apparently Sharlet's got a new one out this year. The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War

RELIGION DISPATCHES
BY ANNIKA BROCKSCHMIDT MAY 25, 2023
WHAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT FASCISM IS INTERSECTIONAL AND EROTIC—’THY ROD IS THY GUN,’ WITH A HIP-THRUST

https://religiondispatches.org/what-we-need-to-understand-is-that-fascism-is-int...

Republicans continuing down the rabbit hole of anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti this anti that. What they're promoting intolerant christian fundamentalism doesn't strike me as appealing to the majority of voters all over the United States. They can certainly cause a lot of trouble and control a bunch of states but overall I think the republicans will lose more ground with this approach. Just on the abortion issue they've been losing elections and referendums left and right and that includes in more conservatives states and districts. I don't really see that changing. Whether they like it or not secularism in the United States has been getting stronger. You don't change people's minds by force.

>31 lriley: In North Carolina, at least majority of voters won't see their will realized. Even without gerrymandering, that seems to be so: on NPR/PBS a (history?) prof reviewed a number of issues in which majority held positions on Israel, abortion, universal heatlthcare, guns, etc. are NOT being honored by our government...$, special interests. US system of government was intended to protect small states (minorities?) but instead it's being used to dominate the majority?

North Carolina’s new GOP gerrymander could flip four House seats
Republicans are likely to pick up at least three seats, bolstering their thin House majority.
Zach Montellaro and Ally Mutnick | 10/25/2023

North Carolina’s new map, which was approved Wednesday by the state legislature,... packs as many Democratic voters as possible into three blue districts, while distributing Republicans across the remaining districts to make sure they remain largely out of reach for Democrats. The maps were drawn so Republicans would hold a strong majority of the state’s seats even in particularly bad years for the GOP.

...After the decennial census, the Republican-controlled state legislature drew a congressional map in 2021 that was heavily tilted toward the GOP — and the liberal state Supreme Court struck it down as an illegal partisan gerrymander. That led to the court-drawn map in use last year.

But Republicans flipped control of the state Supreme Court in the midterms, and the new conservative majority decided to rehear that decision — a highly unusual move. That court ultimately ruled that it would no longer litigate partisan gerrymandering, giving the Republican legislature a free pass to draw lines to their own advantage.

(The U.S. Supreme Court similarly ruled in 2019, in a case challenging North Carolina’s congressional map at the time, that the federal judiciary also wouldn’t police partisan gerrymandering claims.)...

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/25/north-carolina-congressional-map-gop-ge...

>32 margd: They are at work at shit like that because they don't have popular support. When we look at MAGA republicans implicit in everything they do is the realization that now and for the long foreseeable future they are out of touch with the majority of voters. This is just one of their strategies along with other vote suppression tactics for staying relevant and maintaining power. The thing is they will continue to wane even further in popularity with these kinds of strategies and without a coherent agenda that at least attempts to make voters lives even a little bit of a smidgeon better.......and it's not like the Democrats IMO are doing a great job of that themselves but the symmetry between the two parties has become very very stark. In any case they'll probably take back those NC districts and quite possibly lose them somewhere else like in my NYS. Not my NYS congressional district though....that's already hopeless. So I would say expect these kinds of machinations on their part.....expect them to pull whatever antidemocracy shit they can pull. Trump has shown them how to not respect elections or even voters and it's going to take some time for them to unlearn that if they can at all.

>31 lriley: Everything you say is probably true assuming that the machinery of our Republic holds up. With an anti-(r)epublican, failed coupist Speaker installed at a time when we are on the cusp of total war, and with a very uncertain election coming up, that is less than assured.
ETA:
You don't change people's minds by force.
No, but you can cow them by force.

I wonder. Seems like a number of culture warriors obsessed with homosexuality were later revealed to be closeted gays themselves?

New speaker of the House Mike Johnson once wrote in support of the criminalization of gay sex
Andrew Kaczynski and Allison Gordon | October 25, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/politics/mike-johnson-gay-sex-criminalization-kfi...

In expectation of shenanigans, I'm beginning to hope still in play House rule "only one member of Congress — Democrat or Republican — is needed to bring a "motion to vacate," which forces a vote on removing the speaker. That would need only a simple majority of the House to pass to oust McCarthy." (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-of-the-house-ousted-motion-to-vacate-rcna64902)

‘I’ve prayed for each of you': How Mike Johnson led a campaign of election denial
The new speaker, an unsung enabler of Trump’s last-ditch effort, privately urged his colleagues to oppose the election results the day before the attack on the Capitol.
Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu | 10/25/2023
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/25/mike-johnson-trump-election-gambit-0012...

https://www.lawdork.com/p/a-virtual-unknown-mike-johnson-and

"Enter Johnson, who was elected with no Republican opposition on Wednesday despite several better-known Republicans being unable to do so. Other journalists — excellent, full-time congressional reporters — will be writing important stories in the coming days about the process that got us here. I am going to focus here, today, in this post, on the extremism that the entire House caucus just voted into the speaker’s chair."

https://baptistnews.com/article/johnson-called-the-most-unabashedly-christian-na...

In nominating Johnson as speaker, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., cited the biblical story of God commanding Samuel to anoint David as king. Stefanik implied Republicans were following God’s direction in choosing Johnson.

Paul Raushenbush

On the other hand, Paul Raushenbush, president of Interfaith Alliance, responded to Johnson’s election by reminding him he was elected to serve all American people, not just Republicans or Christians.

“As Speaker Johnson takes on the responsibility of leading the U.S. House of Representatives, he must remember that he was elected by the people, not by God as he appeared to be indicating in his speech in Congress today. I would remind the Speaker that he swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, not the Bible.

“Our nation includes people of diverse religions and beliefs, a wonderful mix which is the result of the promise of religious freedom found in the First Amendment. Unfortunately, America is faced with a rising tide of Christian nationalism that threatens the very foundation of our democracy, and the civil rights of our people.

“The fear that many Americans share today is that the speaker’s worldview is ruled less by a commitment to the American people, but rather a desire to impose his narrow religious vision upon the rest of us. As a pastor and a citizen who loves this country, I am fine with the speaker turning to his personal faith to inspire him, but he must use his leadership position to protect freedom of religion and civil rights, as well as the separation of church and state that make our nation a home to all.”

Nathan Empsall

Likewise, Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America, called out Johnson’s Christian nationalist track record and support for Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“This is who Republicans just elected to be second-in-line to the presidency: an insurrection-supporting politician who will do anything to grab power, no matter who it hurts, simply to enforce his brand of right-wing Christianity on the rest of us. It is certainly good for Christians to run for office and to let Jesus guide us in everything we do, including holding the values of love, equality, dignity and justice in public life. But that is not the same thing as using secular law to force others to adhere to our religion in their private lives, nor is it the same as trying to punish those who are different from us by stripping away their freedoms and their right to vote.

“House Republicans can take God’s name in vain by slapping the words ‘Christian’ or ‘biblical values’ on these harmful, anti-democracy values if they want, but you can also call a goose a llama if you want, and it will still be a goose. The policies, behavior and values of Speaker Mike Johnson — just like those of Donald Trump, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz — are a distortion of the gospel and not the acts of love, peace and service to which Jesus calls us.”

Tony Perkins, head of the rightwing advocacy group Family Research Council, went on Newsmax to laud Johnson, his friend of 25 years.

“He comes to this not really seeking it. He stepped forward when there was no other option for people. He felt led to do this and he comes to it with a sense of confidence and peace and tranquility that was communicated in the speech,” Perkins said. “He is a very, very sharp guy and he’s going to be able to navigate that terrain — not to say that he’s not going to draw fire from the left and will — but it’s going to be hard for them to make it stick because of his style and his personality and the fact that he genuinely likes people.”

Logan M. Davis
@LoganMDavis
It also appears that the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is up to his neck in Christian Nationalism, of a Seven Mountains Mandate (7M) nature.

He has considerable ties to Gene Mills' Louisiana Family Foundation, an explicitly 7M organization.
6:27 PM · Oct 25, 2023
·
43.8K
Views

Logan M. Davis
@LoganMDavis
·
18h
Not familiar with the Seven Mountains Mandate? Here's an excerpt from a piece I published a few months ago.

I don't want to be dramatic, but it's probably not *great* that the person third in line to the Presidency has ties to this movement.

https://twitter.com/LoganMDavis/status/1717307649161679298/photo/1

The Seven Mountains Mandate is a movement within dominionism to conquer the “seven mountains of society” for Christ. The seven “mountains,” according to movement adherents, are the cultural spheres of religion, family, government, media, business, entertainment, and education. Thanks to his syndicated radio show and his series of Truth & Liberty Coalition events, Andrew Wommack has emerged as a leader of the movement, specializing in the “mountains” of government and education.

Though representing a hyperminority of American Christians, some leaders within the Seven Mountains Mandate movement have risen to prominence in right-wing circles in recent years, such as Donald Trump’s spiritual advisor, Paula White, and Rafael Cruz, father of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, who is a pastor and a 7M adherent. Conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been linked to the movement as well.

From different places in society, these leaders are all pulling towards the same destination, the conquest of society for Christ, using the Seven Mountains as a roadmap to get there. And they believe that when they get there – on that glorious day when the dominionists have finally seized the seven mountains of society – they will receive the reward they have been striving for: the apocalypse.

https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2023/08/davis-onward-christian-soldiers-a-wood...

I get John's defense of his christianity when he brings it up but here in the United States the intersection between religion and politics has become very toxic and it's getting worse all the time. Fact is I find very little good will towards other from christians.....they tend to use their faith as a hammer to bash people who don't share their beliefs. This idea that Johnson and others peddle that what is the USA was founded on christian principles is quite the stretch.

>40 lriley:

Fair comment. I can't disagree with you there. With global mainstream churches such as Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, etc there is at least a hope that the US members of our churches will be moderated to some extent by their international brothers and sisters (although the Catholic Church is experiencing difficulties with some toxic elements amongst our US members, as can be witnessed even by some posts on LT), but part of the US Christian phenomenon has been the development of large independent Christian churches which take no interest either in Christian history or in the broad mainstream global Christian consensus on many facets of scripture, theology and praxis.

So, on the plus side, Louisianian (?) Johnson is not a raving racist. (Add to polite.)

SOUND UP. "The reality is - and no one can tell me otherwise - my (adopted Black) son Michael had a harder time than my (White) son Jack is going to have simply because of the color of his skin. And that’s a reality." ~ Speaker Mike Johnson
1:50 ( https://twitter.com/DonLew87/status/1717730623563977150 )

- Don Lewis @DonLew87 | 10:31 PM · Oct 26, 2023:

>23 davidgn: and >30 davidgn:
Well, here we go. Jeff Sharlet and Chris Hedges together.
The Trump movement is turning America fascist w/Jeff Sharlet | The Chris Hedges Report
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtrkSeTOv7g
(As it happens, they don't discuss the Speaker. Perhaps pre-recorded?)

>42 margd:
Another plus

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/speaker-mike-johnson-angers-far-right-declares...
Speaker Mike Johnson Angers Far Right, Declares ‘We Can’t Allow Vladimir Putin to Prevail’ in Ukraine

Accountability ~ yes
Allowing Putin to win in Ukraine ~ NO

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/watch-new-york-republican-moves-to-expel-georg...
WATCH: New York Republican Moves to Expel George Santos From Congress In Absolutely Devasting Floor Speech

https://www.businessinsider.com/house-speaker-mike-johnson-biden-cognitive-decli...
New House speaker Mike Johnson knocks Biden's 'cognitive decline' but can't remember all the times he attacked LGBTQ relationships

***
IF Mike Johnson (R-La.) keeps on saying he loves EVERYBODY, he may be setting up his re-election defeat for next year! The majority of voters in his district may have voted for him because of the hard anti-gay stances he has projected over the last eight years but doesn't recall now.

>46 Molly3028: Unfortunately, "better" is worse here. He knows exactly what he's doing. The more presentable he makes himself, the less attention he draws to himself now, the more effective he will be when it comes down to carrying out his plans. The man is a constitutional lawyer and a coupist, and he's sitting in the Speaker's chair going into a very turbulent election. What could possibly go wrong?

Never, for one minute, let your guard down regarding this man.

capitolhunters @capitolhunters | 6:39 PM · Oct 27, 2023:
helping organize crowdsourced information about the 1/6 Capitol attack

Dear News Media discovering now that our new House Speaker Mike Johnson has - just today - deleted his podcast webpage: all the podcasts are saved and archived. Because we figured this would happen. https://mikeandkellyjohnson.com 1/
Screen shot ( https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1718034705218445326/photo/1 )

No one has had time to sort through them yet but they are downloaded and can be made available to reporters. Those who understood Johnson's role around Jan 6 realized that he would scrub his online presence. 2/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d
Table ( https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1718034708028653902/photo/1 )

In fact Mike Johnson's podcasts remain up for now on Apple Podcasts so you can grab them too if you want. 3/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/truth-be-told-with-mike-kelly-johnson/id16...

Archiving is key for establishing truth. The January 6 archiving effort has been ongoing for 3 years now, coordinated by @justhelpingout6 . There are tens of thousands of videos saved, over 6 TB. You can find them indexed here. 4/
https://jan6evidence.com/#/media-items
Screen shot ( https://twitter.com/capitolhunters/status/1718091427974894019/photo/1 )
---------------------------------------------

artmoreorless @artmoreorless
They're on Spotify too.
https://open.spotify.com/show/28MS3PqvgbgoU9pula7DeY?si=5bFEYgQZRvet6IYGjbkswQ&a...
_________________________________
e.g.,

Episode 69: Who We Are and How We Should Lead (in Washington and Around the World) Truth be Told with Mike & Kelly Johnson | 8 Oct 2023

As chaos ensues on Capitol Hill and in foreign affairs, and a war begins in Israel, Mike is working around the clock in Congress to help resolve the unprecedented crises that will quite literally determine the future of our nation—and the survival of freedom around the globe.

At the center of it all is an open debate about who we are as conservatives and how we should lead. It made us think of a very important and timely conversation that Mike had last summer with one of the living legends of the movement, and we decided to share it again this week.

Everyone will benefit greatly from the priceless advice and perspective given here by Dr. Lee Edwards, the 90 year-old former Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at The Heritage Foundation, a leading historian of American conservatism, and the author of more than 25 books, including biographies of Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, William F. Buckley, Jr. and Edwin Meese III.

NEXT WEEK: Mike and Kelly will share their personal insights and much more about the truly historic developments occuring as we speak.

SHOW NOTES:
Lee Edwards, Ph.D. (Heritage Foundation publications)
www.MikeandKellyJohnson.com
Produced by Strong Wave Media, LLC
© 2023 Mike and Kelly Johnso

https://open.spotify.com/episode/00ReDB14as7vkbe0mi3tat

As mentioned in >46 Molly3028: and >48 margd: ... The Great Forgetting...

Mike Johnson Suddenly Has Amnesia About His History of Anti-LGBTQ Comments
CAN’T RIGHTLY RECALL
AJ McDougall | Oct. 26, 2023
https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-house-speaker-mike-johnson-suddenly-has-amnesi...

>48 margd: I listened to it. No smoking guns there. (Really, the most notable point is that his guest argues that Sen. McCarthy got a raw deal.)
Otherwise, comes off as anodyne conservative, rah-rah-Reagan (in this specific episode).
I hope people keep digging.

Mike Johnson's Campaign Contributions From Company Tied to Russia
Oct 27, 2023 at 8:20 AM EDT

...Russian nationals were able to donate to newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson's campaign in 2018 by funneling the money through a U.S. company.

The Texas-based American Ethane company previously donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of Louisiana Republicans including Johnson, who was voted by the House to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as Speaker on Wednesday following three weeks of GOP chaos in the lower chamber.

While American Ethane was run in 2018 by American John Houghtaling, 88 percent of the firm was owned by three Russian nationals—Konstantin Nikolaev, Mikhail Yuriev, and Andrey Kunatbaev...

https://www.newsweek.com/house-speaker-mike-johnson-donations-russia-butina-1838...

Mike Johnson Conducted Seminars Promoting the US as a “Christian Nation”
The new House speaker called for “Biblically-sanctioned government.”
David Corn |28 Oct 2023

..In a time of political upheaval, cultural clashes, and war, it’s clear that Mike Johnson believes he has the solution. It’s not government of the people, but government shaped by his fundamentalist worldview. As his wife and partner-in-preaching says, nothing else makes sense. They possess the truth, and now, as he has become second in the line of presidential succession, he has the opportunity to meld power to this truth and serve the goal of making America a Christian nation.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/mike-johnson-seminars-christian-nat...

Welcome to MAGA Mike’s House
Mike Johnson, until recently a Louisiana backbencher, isn’t as cartoonishly Trumpy as Matt Gaetz or frothing on Fox News like Jim Jordan, but he’s perhaps even more dangerous: a zealot in an unassuming suit.
Molly Jong-Fast | October 30, 2023

...Republicans seemed to forget the actual demands and challenges of the Speakership by handing it to someone considered the “least experienced” for the job in 140 years. Instead of picking a veteran House member who knew everyone in the caucus and was able to appeal to their particular political needs when it comes to whipping votes, Republicans landed on someone who was so unknown that few disliked him.

...Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, rallied other Republicans around an amicus brief that was tied to a Texas lawsuit attempting to dismiss the results in several battleground states. He echoed the same demented fantasy pushed by Powell, the former Trump lawyer, which involved “rigged” Dominion voting machines and long-deceased Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez. Nearly three years later and Powell is pleading guilty in a Georgia election-subversion case and Johnson is second in line of succession to the presidency.

...almost no proficiency in fundraising.

...House Republicans...(a)re clinging to a four-seat majority, with one of those members—the not-so-talented Mr. George Santos—in dire legal straits...Republican candidates in 18 congressional districts that were won by Biden now supporting a far-right Speaker.

... “MAGA Mike” Johnson’s biggest problem will end up being his enormous catalog of comments showcasing his wildly out-of-the-mainstream, religious views...abortion...shootings...LGTBQ+

...government only funded until November 17, along with other pressing matters. According to Punchbowl, “House Republicans are planning to try to offset the $14 billion for Israel with spending cuts elsewhere.

...Johnson still hasn’t changed the one-person motion to vacate {speakership}...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/maga-mike-johnson-speaker?mbid=social_tw...

No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen @NoLieWithBTC | 8:44 AM · Nov 3, 2023:

Wow. Pete Buttigieg just responded to Mike Johnson saying his same-sex marriage is the “dark harbinger of chaos and sexual anarchy” that will destroy the country.

From The Late Show
1:19 ( https://twitter.com/NoLieWithBTC/status/1720421566847094810 )
------------------------------------------------

Biden-Harris HQ @BidenHQ | 10:50 AM · Nov 3, 2023:

Sec. Buttigieg on Mike Johnson’s opposition to marriage equality: If he really wants to support families, then he’d support President Biden’s push to have insulin be $35. He’d support the child tax credit which cut child poverty in half, and people like Mike Johnson let expire

1:13 ( https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1720453448833933443 )

Meanwhile in Russia: state TV is celebrating Mike Johnson's speakership, because of his anti-Ukrainian stance. They also appreciated Virginia Foxx yelling "Shut up!" to a reporter. This too is in total alignment with Russian values and interests.

Russia is thrilled about Mike Johnson (2:29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ8g0f0USX8

- Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews | 3:14 PM · Oct 26, 2023:
Columnist @TheDailyBeast, creator of the Russian Media Monitor, sanctioned by Russia, member of @TheEmmys. I watch Russian state TV, so you don't have to.
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1717620633884869076

Speaker Mike Johnson Promoted an Anti-Porn Cell Phone Spy App
Troy Matthews | 11/5/2023

A video was recently unearthed of House Speaker Mike Johnson promoting an app called "Covenant Eyes" which tracks all activity on cell phones and other devices and sends a weekly report to a so-called accountability partner.

...The right-to-privacy implications of these type of apps are staggering...

This could all prove very troubling if Johnson is Speaker if and when the Supreme Court overturns Lawrence v. Texas, Obergefell v. Hodges, or other right-to-privacy laws in a post-Roe world.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/speaker-mike-johnson-promoted-an-anti-porn-cell...

At least one writer for The Guardian has gotten it right.
Mike Johnson, theocrat: the House speaker and a plot against America
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/04/mike-johnson-theocrat-house-spea...

Sean Casten @SeanCasten | 8:37 AM · Nov 10, 2023:
US Rep, IL-06. Engineer. Former CEO.

It's hard to explain how dysfunctional the @HouseGOP is, and the degree to which their own internal divisions are superseding every normal function of government. But I'm going to try with a short story about this week in the house. Thread:

1. First: We operate on a 9/30 fiscal year but the (McCarthy) led house couldn't agree on how to fund prior to. They tried to just say "cut everything by 30%". That didn't pass. So they said "let's just fund at current levels for 45 days". That cost McCarthy his job.

2. For context, when Dems had the majority we got all our appropriations done by August 1 so the Senate could finalize and POTUS could sign. @HouseGOP still hasn't done that.

3. Also, you may recall this summer the @HouseGOP threatened to default on US debt unless we agreed to future spending rules. A deal was struck that passed the House and was signed into law to do so. The 30% cut was not consistent with that law. (AKA, it was illegal)

4. By contrast, the straight 45 day continuing resolution that cost McCarthy his job was legal (in the sense that it did not violate the June agreement and bought us time to do so). OBEYING THE LAW WAS A RED-LINE FOR THE @HOUSEGOP . So they fired McCarthy.

5. They then used the first 20 days of that 45 day period to fight over a new speaker. Should we pick someone who hates gay people, fought to overturn the election or creeps on his son's porn? It took a while, but the @HouseGOP finally said YES to all three.

6. That leaves a lot of work to do by a party that doesn't like laws, is at war with itself and an inexperienced leadership team. But off we went. Last week, we were supposed to vote on transportation funding. Rs couldn't agree so Johnson never brought a bill to the floor.

7. (This isn't just a Johnson problem. McCarthy previously chose not to bring an agriculture funding package to the floor because Rs couldn't agree. Still don't have a path on that one.)

8. This week, we were supposed to vote on a funding package for our financial services & general government. Minutes before we were supposed to vote on that yesterday they pulled it on account of internal squabbles too.

9. Note: ALL of these bills violate the law we passed last June. But having discovered that Ds won't vote to break the law, they are trying to pass these with all R votes. But they're big mad at each other so even that's not possible. https://twitter.com/RepCasten/status/1722293526031917544

10. Now to the question on the mind of every libertarian troll who's read this far. "If government is going to run out of money and you aren't even voting on bills to fund it why are you wasting my tax dollars in DC?" Well, here's what they did bring up for votes this week:

11. A bill to prevent the government from using the word "latin-x" - a bill to cut WH press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's salary to $1 - a bill to defund the office of gun violence prevention - a bill to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -

12. A bill to cut SEC Chair Gary Gensler's salary to $1 - a bill to defund the office of gun violence prevention - a bill to prevent the government from developing greenhouse gas disclosure rules - a bill to eliminate 50% of the budget for the consumer product safety commission.

13. These things aren't urgent. They aren't helpful. And they aren't going to become law (See: laws require Senate + POTUS approval). But they keep the idiot wing of the @HouseGOP from turning on their rookie manager. And waste 435 people's time on the House floor.

14. And so now we are 7 days from a shutdown. Still no path to fund. Still no sign of anyone in the @HouseGOP willing to stand up to their extreme fringe. Still no discernible leadership talents from their new Speaker. Right now it's annoying. But in 8 days, its disastrous.

15. Because if they can't get their s**t together, 8 days from now soldiers, air traffic controllers, food safety inspectors, IRS agents, border patrol... all go without pay. Some will be furloughed. Food, heating, housing assistance. Every government function.

16. PLEASE @HouseGOP. Grow up. Stop fighting with your brother and sister in the backseat. Either act like the adults you claim to be or at least have the dignity to go to your room so the adults can babysit your sorry selves. Too much is at stake. /fin

Inside Mike Johnson’s Ties to a Far-Right Movement to Gut the Constitution
The new House speaker has longstanding ties to the evangelical inspired Convention of States cause.
Laura Jedeed | 11/10/2023

...For the last 10 years, the “Convention of States” movement has sought to remake the Constitution and force a tea party vision of the framers’ intent upon America. This group wants to wholesale rewrite wide swaths of the U.S. Constitution in one fell swoop. In the process, they hope to do away with regulatory agencies like the FDA and the CDC, virtually eliminate the federal government’s ability to borrow money, and empower state legislatures to override federal law.

As far-fetched as this idea might sound, the movement is gaining traction — and now, it believes, it has a friend in the speaker of the House...

...Article V of the Constitution...: If two-thirds of the states petition Congress, it must call a constitutional convention, where multiple amendments could be proposed at the same time. The Constitution does not specify how to select delegates from states to this convention, provides no limit on the scope of such a convention, and offers no guidance on how the convention would ratify these new amendments. Once the convention developed a method to pass amendments, the slate of amendments they selected would return to the states for consideration. In order to become law, three-fourths of states would need to approve the slate of amendments, either through their legislatures or through statewide conventions — at least in theory...

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/11/10/mike-johnson-rewrite-constitut...

>59 margd: That is a game of Nomic that I very much do not wish us to play.

Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch | 3:38 PM · Dec 6, 2023:

Mike Johnson told a gathering of Christian nationalists last night that weeks before he became House Speaker, "the Lord told me very clearly" to prepare to become a "Moses" who will lead the nation through a "Red Sea moment."

1:17 ( https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1732499752644702649 )

American Moses: Mike Johnson at the National Association of Christian Lawmakers Gala
Kyle Mantyla | December 6, 2023
https://bit.ly/3Ni4oZH
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/american-moses-mike-johnson-at-the-national-...

>61 margd: Because Mr. Johnson when he speaks to his people has to couch all his nonsense in biblical overtones to appeal to the infatuations of his christian ideologue audience. Give them some drama to speak to their frustrations when the very best part of their week is the day spent in church angry at everyone who doesn't fall in line and believe in the same shit that they do. So of course they want to believe God is talking to Mike Johnson. Why wouldn't they? He'll lead them out of the land of Pharaoh. That's the country the rest of us in the United States are living in by the way. Where exactly this new spot free from all sin is here is anybody's guess but apparently Michael is going to let them know. Maniacs.

Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX) tells a gathering of Christian nationalists that they have been called by God to establish Christ's kingdom and government here on Earth.

From Right Wing Watch
1:12 ( https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1753546087791538432 )

- The Intellectualist @highbrow_nobrow | 5:29 PM · Feb 2, 2024
-------------------------------------------

Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 @AdamKinzinger | 5:29 PM · Feb 2, 2024:

{Jesus: "I have nothing to do with this."}
Image ( https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1753546305501037002/photo/1 )
·

Axios graph, "Bills enacted by Congressional session":
https://twitter.com/SundaeDivine/status/1755220916668146136/photo/1

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/speaker-johnson-reportedly-gave-horrible-talk-...
Speaker Johnson Reportedly Gave ‘Horrible’ Talk at GOP Meeting, Made Attendees Feel Like They Were ‘At Church’

Johnson discussed religion and history for about a third of his presentation.

Mike Johnson blames mass shootings on “no-fault divorce laws,” “feminism,” and Roe v. Wade.

0:29 ( https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1761397675511980309 )
From DNC War Room

- The Intellectualist @highbrow_nobrow | 9:28 AM · Feb 24, 2024

The Berkshire Hathaway guy ~ Buffett ~ has a son who forked over $500m in humanitarian aid to Ukraine as the House members are failing to do their governing duties this election year!

Yikes--this is guy with fingers around purse strings of nation, two days from closing down government agencies?

Opinion: What’s up with Speaker Johnson not reporting a bank account?
Catherine Rampell | November 7, 2023

...In his most recent annual financial disclosures, released last year, Johnson (R-La.) reports no assets at all. Zero.

There are no retirement accounts, no money-market funds, no stocks, no crypto, not even a basic checking or savings account. Even more peculiar, his disclosures have never listed any checking or savings accounts on any of the forms he has filed going back to 2016, the year he was elected to Congress.

This is confusing. Where is his congressional salary being deposited? How is he paying his bills?

...Rank-and-file federal representatives...draw a sizable congressional salary of $174,000 (which gets bumped up to $223,500 for the speaker).

That’s not Johnson’s only income, either, as he earns another $30,000 annually for teaching at Liberty University. His wife receives multiple salaries, too; the exact amounts of her salaries were not disclosed in Johnson’s most recent financial reports, but based on prior years’ data, the household is likely pulling in at least $211,000 total. That’s close to the 90th percentile. And note that other members of Congress of “modest” backgrounds still somehow report having bank accounts.

Or maybe he had bank balances so low that they’re below the required reporting threshold — which is $1,000 for any given account, so long as the combined value of all bank accounts (including those of spouses and dependent children) is over $5,000.

...Politico reported that his office told its own reporter that Johnson does indeed have a bank account. His account does not pay interest, though, which makes it exempt from House disclosure rules...

...Whatever Johnson’s motivation for managing his money this way, the effect is to obscure what his resources actually look like and whether he’s under the kind of financial strain that other parts of his disclosures might suggest.

...the public has a right to know whether their elected officials are facing serious financial difficulties — particularly ones that might make them targets for unsavory characters and influence-buying or that might tempt them to misuse campaign funds. This is not exactly unprecedented...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/11/07/mike-johnson-speaker-bank-acc...
----------------------------------------------------------

Inside the Shady Finances Behind Mike Johnson’s Longtime Pastor
Roger Sollenberger | Jan. 25, 2024

Speaker Mike Johnson’s “dear friend” and longtime pastor {ultra-conservative Christian fundamentalist Brad Jurkovich} has quite the story about his flock turning on him.

...In 2022, congregants filed two lawsuits leveling a number of serious allegations against Jurkovich and First Bossier Baptist Church, in Johnson’s hometown of Bossier City, Louisiana. The plaintiffs claim Jurkovich and other leaders violated the church’s bylaws when he was hired in 2014, alleging that church leaders improperly rewrote the 80-year-old rules in a “power grab” that transformed the congregation into a Jurkovich-led “dictatorship,” giving him essentially absolute control over financial and strategic decisions.

...Johnson was a prominent member of First Bossier {Baptist Church} for years, leaving under cloudy circumstances around the time the lawsuit was filed. {...May 2022, the Johnson family had changed its affiliation to Cypress Baptist—without explanation.} Until that time, Johnson exerted a powerful influence within the community. He also tied the church—and Jurkovich specifically—to his political life.

...Dec. 10, 2018, about three months after Jurkovich blessed the House, a three-alarm fire destroyed about 75 percent of First Bossier...The lead investigator’s findings...say that while he could conclude with an “acceptable amount of certainty” where the fire started, he “cannot name, with an acceptable amount of certainty, the ignition source,” acknowledging the “possibility of an electrical device malfunction.”...

The report also notes that a dog with the K-9 unit had “hit” on accelerant material next to the computer back-up battery. A subsequent forensic analysis was inconclusive, citing an insufficient amount of material for classification, though lab reports showed the presence of known accelerants including ethyl benzyne, ethyl toluene, and toluene.

...in the weeks ahead of the fire, the church’s financial records were being sought in a separate legal proceeding. Those records, according to the lawyer in that case, along with other financial documents that had come under scrutiny, were all held in the room where the fire originated.

...In the wake of the devastation, First Bossier collected several million dollars in insurance money, which Jurkovich put towards the new $20 million facility—complete with a nine-hole golf course...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-shady-finances-behind-mike-johnsons-lon...

Govt shutdown, border, Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan--oh my!

Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 @AdamKinzinger | 10:25 PM · Feb 28, 2024:

At this rate, the @HouseGOP and @SpeakerJohnson will work about 4 days in the last 30 days.

No wonder they’ll sell their souls to get reelected.

Lisa Desjardins {PBS} @LisaDNews | 11:00 PM · Mar 7, 2024:

Speaker Johnson adjourned the House even as POTUS was still here. Lights now going off as POTUS still in the center aisle.

This is highly unusual/not normal. (Someone correct me if wrong.)
----------------------------------

Stan Dorn @standorn
Biden is closing down the joint. Damn.

Skeletired ❁ @skeletired
Rude, but I mean Pelosi did rip up Trump's speech that one time. (and I liked it)

Don Scotch @mindgulp
This happened at {Biden's} last SOTU, he stays and talks to anyone that wants to talk to him.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/speaker-mike-johnson-surprised-by-ken-bucks-retire...
Speaker Mike Johnson ‘Surprised’ by Ken Buck’s Retirement: ‘I Did Not Know’ It Was Coming

Buck is retiring NEXT week!

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/house-republican-reveals-he-got-a-text-from-ma...
House Republican Reveals He Got a Text from Marjorie Taylor Greene Saying She Wants to Fundraise off Speakership Drama

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) railed against the spending bill that passed on Friday and filed a motion to vacate the chair.

https://apnews.com/article/mike-gallagher-resigns-house-republicans-majority-73f...
Rep. Mike Gallagher says he’s resigning early, leaving House Republicans with thinnest of majorities

Gallagher, age 40, announced he would resign his position on April 19. It will leave Republicans with a 217-213 majority in the House, meaning that they cannot afford to lose more than one vote on a party-line vote. The thin majority has already proved to be a challenge for Republican leadership and forced House Speaker Mike Johnson to work with Democrats to pass practically any legislation.

Gallagher had already announced he would not seek re-election.

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/cowards-led-by-morons-democrat-blasts-house-re...
‘Cowards, Led by Morons’: Democrat Blasts House Republicans After Marjorie Taylor Greene Tweets ‘Repent’ After Earthquake

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4579289-intel-chair-turner-absolutely-true-ru...
Intel Chair Turner: ‘Absolutely true’ that Russian propaganda has infected US Congress

House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) stressed the expansive reach of Russian propaganda and said Sunday it has even presented itself on the floor of the U.S. Congress.

In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, Turner said he agreed with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who singled out conservative news outlets and said, “Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/boooooo-marjorie-taylor-greene-sparks-uproar-b...
‘BOOOOOO!’ Marjorie Taylor Greene Sparks Uproar in the House by Calling for Vote on Speaker’s Fate

***
Like all previous empires on this globe, ours is rotting away from the inside. Sadly, the Trump era has jump-started the inevitable fate that befalls all such entities.

>76 Molly3028: To be fair, it was pretty far gone already.

Robert Costa @costareports | 11:03 AM · May 14, 2024 {X}:
Chief Election & Campaign Correspondent for @CBSNews, co-author of “Peril” with @realBobWoodward, @Center4Politics Scholar at the University of Virginia {DC}

An elected official with significant constitutional power, second in line to the presidency, weighing in on an active criminal case as a jury hears evidence this morning

Quote
Natalie Allison @natalie_allison | 10:12 AM · May 14, 2024
National political reporter @Politico. Previously @Tennessean.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says at presser outside Trump’s hush money trial that he told Trump “I wanted to be here myself and call out what is a travesty of justice.”

Photo (https://twitter.com/natalie_allison/status/1790384603582156823/photo/1)
____________________________________

Acyn @Acyn | 10:37 AM · May 14, 2024 {X}:
Senior Digital Editor for http://MeidasTouch.com {LA}

Speaker Johnson attacking the judge, prosecutors, and the current witness Michael Cohen who is currently testifying
0:47 C-SPAN (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1790390995974234352)
_____________________________________

Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney | 8:56 AM · May 14, 2024:
Have to admit I’m surprised that @SpeakerJohnson wants to be in the “I cheated on my wife with a porn star” club. I guess he’s not that concerned with teaching morality to our young people after all.

Quote
Jake Sherman @JakeSherman | 7:34 AM · May 14, 2024:
Founder of @punchbowlnews. @nbcnews /@msnbc. {DC}

🚨NEWS — @SpeakerJohnson is expected at the courthouse in NYC this morning in support of former President Donald Trump.
________________________________

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins | 9:30 AM · May 14, 2024:
Anchor of The Source at 9 p.m., CNN

A packed front two rows of the courtroom and a stark change from how this trial started: Gov. Doug Burgum, Vivek Ramaswamy, RNC co-chair (and Trump daughter-in-law) Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Rep. Byron Donalds and Rep. Cory Mills are all here today. No sign of Speaker Johnson yet.

Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins | 7:59 AM · May 14, 2024:
The courtroom is quickly becoming the new tryout for Trump’s VP and Cabinet hopefuls: J.D. Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tommy Tuberville and now today Doug Burgum is expected to attend. Other political allies from the Hill have also joined, like Sen. Rick Scott. Speaker Johnson will be in the room today.

Andrew Bates @AndrewBatesNC | 4:53 PM · Jul 15, 2024:

.@SpeakerJohnson to @FoxNews on 7/1: "Unless the president is reading off a teleprompter, I don't think he's capable of making these big decisions."

Speaker Johnson today after his teleprompter malfunctions: "And there goes the teleprompter..." {walks off to triumphant music}

0:29 (https://x.com/AndrewBatesNC/status/1812953664769913219)