A roster of idiots

source

“I ran for leader with one mission: to fundamentally change how the Senate operates and upend the status quo so we can actually start representing the voters who put us here. When I announced, I said that we are in a moment where we need dramatic change. The voters confirmed that last week when they elected President Trump and Republicans took the majority in both chambers of Congress with a clear mandate,” [Rick Scott] said in a statement after losing the vote for Senate majority leader.

He added, “While it isn’t the result we hoped for, I will do everything possible to make sure John Thune is successful in accomplishing President Trump’s agenda. I would also like to thank John Cornyn for running a great race.”

[...]

Thune has served as Senate Republican whip, the No. 2-ranking position in the Senate GOP leadership, since 2019, and largely managed operation of the Senate floor since McConnell suffered a concussion from a fall in 2023.

He received 29 votes, to Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) 24. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) had been knocked out of the running on an earlier ballot.

  The Hill

Is Ted Cruz the only Republican Senator less liked than Rick Scott?

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) [faced] a barrage of opposition from Trump allies ranging from Tucker Carlson to Sean Hannity.

[...]

Hard-line conservatives are abandoning their plan to nominate a challenger to Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) bid for the gavel during Wednesday’s internal House GOP elections, opting for a different protest strategy to showcase resistance to his leadership, two sources familiar with the matter told The Hill.

The plan B being plotted by the House Freedom Caucus would involve forcing a secret, recorded vote on Johnson’s nomination, according to the sources, who were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive internal deliberations.

Because Johnson is running unopposed, the conference could nominate him for the top job by voice vote, which Republicans did in 2016 to give former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) the nod. Hard-liners, however, want to force a recorded vote — and avoid a voice vote — to make their reservations regarding Johnson’s leadership clear. One of the sources said members would have the ability to write in a candidate if they wanted to.

The strategy is a change from Tuesday afternoon, when conservatives were discussing plans to nominate an alternative candidate to Johnson for Speaker during Wednesday’s internal GOP elections. Those on the right flank were discussing whom to nominate. One source told The Hill three people were prepared to throw their hat in the ring.

  The Hill

Trump backs the Christo-fascist Johnson.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 01:24 pm:

Thune has never gotten along with Trump. He called on Trump to drop out of the race when the Access Hollywood tape broke in 2016. He was harshly critical of Trump in the wake of J6 - so much so that Trump endorsed Thune’s primary opponent in 2022. Thune then returned the favor by endorsing Tim Scott in the presidential primary against Trump. When asked if he would support Trump if he was the nominee, Thune refused to answer, saying only “I hope we will have better options.”

Thune had the backing of his mentor Mitch McConnell.

  Meidas Touch

I heard someone say that in the battle between Trump/Scott and McConnell/Thune you should bet on McConnell. I didn't think so. I would have lost.  Gladly.

John Cornyn was also in the race, which threatened to split the establishment vote, allowing MAGA challenger Rick Scott to make it into the runoff. But it was not to be as Scott finished 3rd on the first ballot, then Thune narrowly defeated Cornyn in the final vote.

[...]It was reported that Trump wanted to endorse Scott, but knew he didn’t have the votes so he didn’t want to back him only to be publicly humiliated. But Musk backed him, along with all the far-right MAGA Senators. The MAGA meltdown after the vote was fun to watch.

Mitch couldn't let the Democrats get all the photo ops

Guardian

The visit comes as a $40bn US military aid budget has stalled in the Senate over demands issued by the Kentucky senator Rand Paul for a watchdog to track the spending.

In a rare bipartisan request, McConnell and the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, offered Paul a vote on his amendment to the package. That offer was rejected with Paul saying he wanted changes to the underlying bill.

  Guardian

Rand Paul will always be a dick.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Trump's "defense" allies

[A]fter it all was over on Tuesday, my BFF from Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst, gave the entire game away.

Iowa caucuses are this next Monday evening. And I'm really interested to see how this discussion today informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus goers. Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not sure about that.

Check out the video. Look how pleased she is with herself, how happy she is to be so frank with the world, how she rejoices in saying the quiet parts out loud.

[...]

Of course, the Biden campaign jumped on this with both feet, albeit with language that typically was fitted with orthopedic shoes, tweeting:

Iowa caucus-goers take note. Joni Ernst just spilled the beans. She and Donald Trump are scared to death I’ll be the nominee. On Feb. 3rd, let’s make their day.

[...]

Even more remarkable than Ernst’s blundering into her own left-hook, Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming took it upon himself to read some minds.

I was watching Elizabeth [Warren] and Bernie [Sanders] and Michael [Bennet] and Amy [Klobuchar] and they were really eyes wide open during that part of it [Bondi’s routine].

Turns out that these people should leave the gaslighting to the experts in St. Petersburg because, frankly, they’re better at it.

  Charles P Pierce

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Dems in La-La Land

Harry Reid gave a farewell speech. And then he gave some interviews. He probably should have stopped at the speech.

To hear Reid tell it, the party’s electoral collapse wasn’t a result of poor messaging or even a bad candidate. It stemmed from looser campaign finance rules, FBI Director James Comey and the influence of a few powerful individuals — namely the Koch brothers, his long-running nemeses. The outgoing Senate minority leader is unapologetic on behalf of his party, and remains resolute that Democrats don’t need to chart a new political course after their 2016 debacle.

[...]

"I don’t think the Democratic Party is in that big of trouble,” Reid said in a half-hour interview with Politico on Wednesday, one day before he’ll deliver his farewell address. “I mean, if Comey kept his mouth shut, we would have picked up a couple more Senate seats and we probably would have elected Hillary.”

  Politico

He's old. Perhaps that's why he's tone deaf.

If Comey kept his mouth shut? Hey, if nobody realized what a crooked bag of shite they would be putting in office, Hillary probably would have won.

Though the filibuster is Democrats’ best weapon against Trump, Reid said it would be a “mistake” for his party to reflexively oppose whatever Trump proposes. But the outgoing minority leader also wants Democrats to stand firm for their core principles, urging lawmakers to do “everything in their power” to block “wacky” Supreme Court nominees and to not be “complicit” in supporting GOP priorities like tax cuts for the rich and repealing Obamacare.

Does he realize that they don't have the power to do much of anything now? By the way, just what are their core principles? It's not obvious that they have any principles.

And Reid called [Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming] a “loser” for his tirades against the Affordable Care Act, Reid’s signature legislative accomplishment as majority leader.

Harry, I would stay away from calling anyone in the other party a loser just now.

Reid’s most controversial move as leader — invoking the “nuclear option” on Senate confirmations — will leave his party essentially powerless to halt Trump’s Cabinet selections.

Nice move, Harry. 

When the Dems were in power, they seemed to think they always would be. Delusional people that they are, they vested even more power in the president, and Harry, in his great wisdom, got the Senate to change their rules so that confirmations could be made with a mere majority, and not the 60 votes necessary in the past.

Reid insisted that it was the right thing to do.

“I don’t know if it’s my biggest achievement, but I’m satisfied we did it. We had to. Look at why it was done,” said Reid, who turned 77 this month. “We got almost 100 judges approved … we saved the integrity of different agencies of government. No, think of what our country would’ve been without that.”

We can't, Harry. Because we're too flabbergasted over thoughts of what our country is going to be now with Donald Effing Trump as president and the GOP with control over both houses of Congress.

Reid’s decision to water down the filibuster prompted now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to declare that the Nevada Democrat will be remembered as the “worst majority leader ever.”

Three years later, Reid says he understands why McConnell responded the way he did.

“I have no ill will toward him. He was mad,” Reid said. “He got his rear end kicked, OK?”

Ah, the dignity of the office. And now, whose rear-end is going to get kicked?

Reid even admitted that while he disagreed with McConnell’s retaliatory tactics, which led to Merrick Garland being blocked from being confirmed to the Supreme Court, he had to give Republicans credit for the result: control of Congress and the White House and, in all likelihood, a more conservative Supreme Court in time.

Bingo, Harry. Bingo.

UPDATE:

And here's their answer to what just happened:

Four weeks out from Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, Democrats may soon be launching a few unorthodox, mega-rich candidates of their own.

  Politico

Tone deaf. And clueless.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.