Mastodawn

mcc Oct 25, 2023

The speaker circus is over and the Republicans' selection is, as documented by TPM here, a thought leader in 2020 election denial/conspiracy theories. We're used to extremist Republicans but the third person in Presidential succession has openly opposed electing the President democratically, which is a new line crossed.

Once again, what gets reported as "Republicans embarrassing themselves!" is the Republican far right being very very effective at achieving goals

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/brief-update-key-election-denier-likely-on-the-cusp-of-speakership

Brief Update: Key Election Denier Likely on the Cusp of Speakership

It certainly *seems* – and I stress *seems* – like Republicans have finally managed to thread the Speaker needle and will elect Mike Johnson of Louisiana in a couple hours. When the caucus did a roll…

TPM – Talking Points Memo

mcc Oct 25, 2023

By throwing tantrums and acting in an apparently self destructive way, the far right was able to replace the speaker with a member from their faction. There is no sign there will be consequences for the far right for this, and there might not even be consequences for the Republican Party. (I'm sure the Biden Democrats think they'll cut wicked campaign ads from all this, but I dont remember the last time I saw a "campaign ad".)

What should the left learn from this incident?

A. Lizard Nov 7, 2023

Cuz like… the self destructive Republican behavior no longer seems self destructive to me at all. (Regular destructive, maybe.) It looks… effective, given the Republicans' specific goals.

My entire adult life I've been, as a leftist, told, and sometimes argued to others, that there's a particular way of gaining power & influence as a political faction. That way has never worked. What the evidence says is effective seems to be the opposite of how the center keeps telling the left to behave.

mcc Oct 25, 2023

Expect new horrors about Mike Johnson of this type to drop on your feeds at a steady pace for the next 2 to 120 months https://mastodon.lawprofs.org/@jvagle/111297449428097579

Jeffrey Vagle (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image In addition to being an election denier, the new House Speaker has written in favor of criminalizing gay sex. https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/politics/mike-johnson-gay-sex-criminalization-kfile/index.html

Lawprofs Mastodon

jonathankoren™Oct 25, 2023

@mcc I’m already gearing up for the media to declare him a moderate.

Everyone in the GOP is a whackadoodle. It’s just how loud they shout it.

Raven Onthill Oct 25, 2023

@mcc That's what they said about Trump, even as he rose to the presidency. In the long term, sure, this is self-destructive, but it can take down whole nations. Places have outbursts of fanaticism, everything goes off the rails, and in a generation people are regretting it. Look at Brexit.

mcc Oct 25, 2023

@ravenonthill People say things like this but it looks to me like the United States isn't going anywhere, it's just getting worse and worse. Same with Brexit, it was a catastrophe for the country but the right looks to have what looks like a permanent stranglehold on power even as their PMs have to resign one after the other. Maybe Brexit is a reason why the conservatives are unbeatable now, maybe a scared, insecure, poorer country is easier to govern with a politics of control

Raven Onthill Oct 25, 2023

@mcc it's hard to say - is one looking a blips or a trend? I do think that in a generation the British right will fail. The US right similarly will not last. Which, unfortunately, does not mean all lost ground will be regained. A great deal has been lost and will have to rebuilt in the face of a hostile world.

mcc Oct 25, 2023

@ravenonthill A generation is a long time. Will I even be alive by then

Raven Onthill Oct 25, 2023

@mcc probably, unless you are quite old. People survive and "The wheels of time pass you by." Me, I'm an old bird, probably not.

Nire Bryce Oct 25, 2023

@mcc the only way to fight it is to stop rewarding it

but that would mean more work for them

and mostly I just wish these things had any sort of pushback at all instead of 'ohh look at the bad man he's so bad'

Nire Bryce Oct 25, 2023

@mcc and like, the way to fight it realistically is to contest state elections and be able to control there in the states it can work in. or cordycepts the dem party -- the consultants who run it aren't that bright if you use the right words

and the dems at least watch the news even if they dont listen to advisors, so... stealing media attention still works, somehow

Paul Cantrell Oct 25, 2023

@mcc
I’ve been listening to a fascinating podcast on the political history of the Big Dig in Boston, and one thing that comes through is that the LBJ-ish way of gaining power & influence I assume you’re referencing — coalition-building, compromise, calculation, horse trading — really •was• effective once upon a time. The show presents the Big Dig as a case study of the twilight of that political era, and the transition to our current one.

Raven Onthill Oct 25, 2023

@inthehands @mcc That's what Biden is doing and it's pretty effective, but it can't stop fanatics. Those you have to fight.

mcc Oct 25, 2023

@ravenonthill @inthehands It's not clear to me Biden's approach is especially effective at a goal other than re-electing Biden. If my core goal is undoing the damage of Trump then I find it very alarming how many of Trump's signature policies are continued under Biden

Raven Onthill Oct 25, 2023

@mcc @inthehands consider the railroad workers, who got their sick days, the improvements in the CFPB, the judges, student loan forgiveness despite a hostile Supreme Court. (I know someone who didn't know about the railroad worker sick days until just a few days ago.) You're focusing on the worst failings of the Biden administration, without regard to its successes against enormous opposition.

Benjohn Oct 25, 2023

@inthehands @mcc I would think a path back to that approach would be highly desirable? I suppose at least some people are working towards that?

Paul Cantrell Oct 25, 2023

@benjohn @mcc
One of many compelling points in that series was that earmarks, what Reagan derided as “pork barrel politics,” were a huge part of why that approach used to work. Maybe you have some big idea that not everyone cares about, but you can build support by bundling it with small things that are important to just a few holdouts. Legislative bundling acknowledges that people want many very different things, but we’re in it together.

lieberal Oct 25, 2023

@mcc I think the total spinelessness "moderate" Republicans have shown is downstream of their fear of losing their primaries to hardliners. If Hakeem Jeffries was worried about losing his seat to a DSA member then the internal dynamics of the Democratic Party would be a lot different

Phil Betts Oct 25, 2023

@mcc yes! Not only how to gain power, but how to use power. When the Dems went along with booting the last speaker I asked "why? What do they gain?" The only answer was it would make Repubs look dysfunctional bad in the election. But when has congressional obstruction and dysfunction EVER blown back on them? What's different this time? Nothing, of course, and it won't. It's just 'clever' politics that will probably make things worse.

Phil Betts Oct 25, 2023

@mcc I'm sure for a couple of weeks it was well worth the smug jokes and memes, but what did they *actually* get out of it?

Panic In The Darkroom Oct 25, 2023

@mcc I think that some of you as US citizens can be leftist, but looking from here, it looks like you guys have no left parties at all. You have dems on the right, the gop on the far right, and some last 10-20 years , you have just plain dictators and tyrants who burn books and run people's lives as they see fit. Just my perspective, I don't mean to say any of that istrue, just that it looks like it.

mcc Oct 25, 2023

@zlatko On occasion, a left faction attempts to develop within the Democratic party, and the Democratic party invariably excises it with a brutal efficiency they never seem to achieve against Republicans