McCarthey out as Speaker of the House - Bozo the clown on deck

[Loren Pechtel]

It is possible the Democrats looked at the situation and saw that there was no feasible GOP speaker in the current GOP lot. Instead of submitting to a disaster, they decided to let the GOP stew in their fetid mess to show the public how incompetent they are in the hopes of a longer term gain for the country and themselves.

The Dems hold the Senate so they can minimize any damage the House tries to inflict on the world

"Longer term gain" for themselves. The country only loses from this mess.
Again, Dems put party ahead of country.

In this case the interests of the Democrats align with the interests of the country.

The Republicans are trying to drive us into an insane theocracy. Think Iran.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yes. Vast majority of Reps voted to keep McCarthy.

Republicans are the House majority.

McCarthy lost his post because Republican members of Congress didn't vote for him. After a Republican, Gaetz, decided to to take it to a vote.
This isn't rocket science. The Republicans got rid of McCarthy for their own reasons. Pretending that it was because Democrats is painfully stupid.
Tom

The Republicans were engaged in foot-shooting. The Democrats simply handed them another round.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

So why again do you think it was a good idea for Dems to vote with Gaetz?

You’ve already been told. Because McCarthy’s word was shit. He reneged on deals and broke his word. There was no point in keeping him.

Actually, his crime was that he made a deal in the first place.

McCarthy was thrown out of the Speaker's chair because he made a deal with the Democrats to keep the government functioning for a couple months. That was his "mortal sin." The Poo-Flinging Monkey Caucus of the GOP wants a full-on long-term government shut down, and they will not settle for anything less. Johnson is there for no other reason. It matters not if he is a "good" or "bad" Speaker. He is there to crash and burn the federal government and then lead the MAGA contingent in dancing around the fire like a bunch of savages.

No, they want a shutdown until they get what they want and are willing to screw the country in order to get it.

Not very different than Hamas.

 

[TomC]

Yes. Vast majority of Reps voted to keep McCarthy.

Republicans are the House majority.

McCarthy lost his post because Republican members of Congress didn't vote for him. After a Republican, Gaetz, decided to to take it to a vote.
This isn't rocket science. The Republicans got rid of McCarthy for their own reasons. Pretending that it was because Democrats is painfully stupid.
Tom

The Republicans were engaged in foot-shooting. The Democrats simply handed them another round.

I don't think that the Dems even handed them another round. They just stayed out of the circular firing squad.
Tom

 

[lpetrich]

David Corn on X: "I had started listening to some of these podcasts. It was clear that they revealed Mike Johnson’s “biblical worldview“ that is not in sync with the views of most Americans. So I wrote this: (link)" / X

Mike Johnson Hates America, But He Believes He Can Save It – Mother Jones - “We’re living in a completely amoral society.”

In a 2016 sermon he preached at the Christian Center of Shreveport—while he was running for Congress—Johnson summed up his take on the United States. Standing before an American flag and an Israeli flag, Johnson delivered a 90-minute-long presentation in which he traced all present ills to the countercultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s that undermined “the foundations of religion and morality.” He ticked off the culprits: no-fault divorce, the sexual revolution, radical feminism, and legalized abortion. “Collectively as Americans,” he declared, “we began to get together in growing number and thumb our noses at the Creator and say we don’t believe that anymore.” The nation, he bemoaned, chose a path of “moral relativism.” He pronounced a harsh verdict: “We’re living in a completely amoral society.”

That was quite an indictment: the United States as a godless nation and a moral wreck. But Johnson meant it. He continued: “We’ve taught a whole generation, a couple of generations now, that there is no right or wrong, that it’s about the survival of the fittest, and you evolved from the primordial slime.” One result, he claimed, was school shootings. Yes, the teaching of evolution has led to these bloody massacres.

Except that his favorite book is full of "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" The earlier parts of the Bible have lots of genocide and commands to commit genocide. But I must note that the Sermon on the Mount went in the opposite direction, saying that one must love one's enemies and let them do nasty things to one.

With his wife, Kelly Johnson, as a co-host, Johnson has produced a podcast for the past two years. On the inaugural broadcast in March 2022, Kelly reported what for her was a disturbing poll: “Just 4 percent of Americans still adhere to a biblical world view.” Mike Johnson called that “a real shocking trend.” He remarked, “Even if you’re not a Christian, why should you care about a biblical worldview slipping away from us? Because it happens to be the foundational principle, the premise of the country.” In essence, the United States needs to stick to that “biblical worldview”—or else.

In that same podcast, Kelly warned of socialism within the United States. “Socialism always turns into communism at some point,” she declared. Her husband noted that what was fundamentally wrong with socialism is that it “begins with the idea that there is no God.”

Bull doo-doo. I've never seen *any* self-styled socialist claim that. Yes, it is written in the Marxist Scriptures that religion is the opium of the people, but that is a secondary feature of socialism, at least as far as socialists agree on anything. There are plenty of religious socialists, like believers in  Christian Socialism

 

[lpetrich]

In a podcast with Jordan Peterson,

Johnson demeaned climate activists as irrational, and he contended that they “regarded the climate agenda as part of their religion.” He continued: “They’re not serving the people. They’re serving the planet…They have effectively replaced Father God with Mother Earth…They believe we owe fealty to Mother Earth. We are created by the Earth, they believe. So we must owe everything to the Earth itself.” He was saying climate advocates were anti-God.

Then,

When Peterson said that he found it “too convenient” that the solution to climate change is to grant power to governments to use “compulsion” to implement “their desired policies,” Johnson replied, “That’s exactly right.” The congressman noted that going along with “this agenda” required people to sacrifice “their freedom.”

I marvel at right-wingers who whine "Governments are so coercive! Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo!" Especially as they adore government military and police forces.

This was Alex Jones terrain. Johnson was agreeing with Peterson that climate change was a diabolical scheme cooked up by a cabal of global elites as nothing other than a power grab.

 

[lpetrich]

Finally,

In his first speech after becoming speaker, Johnson proclaimed, “I believe that scripture, the Bible is very clear. That God is the one that raises up those in authority.” He must be interpreting his improbable rise to speakership as an act of God—and a step toward the “biblical” United States for which he has long yearned.

So God fixes every election there ever was?

Including fixing the 2020 Presidential election to get Joe Biden into power.

Mike Johnson's Wife Runs Counseling Service That Compares Being Gay To Bestiality, Incest

The agreement states that Onward Christian Counseling Services is grounded in the belief that sex is offensive to God if it is not between a man and a woman married to each other. It puts being gay, bisexual or transgender in the same category as someone who has sex with animals or family members, calling all of these examples of “sexual immorality.”

“We believe and the Bible teaches that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God,” says the eight-page business document.

This agreement also refers to “pre-born babies” and says the company is committed to defending and protecting all human life, “from conception through natural death.”

On Sean Hannity's show,

In his Thursday interview with Hannity, Johnson said the Supreme Court “changed the definition of marriage that had been used by every human society for 5,000 years,” while also signaling he accepts the legal ruling.

“When five justices changed it, that became the law of the land,” he said.

Every human society for 5,000 years? He doesn't seem to have read his Bible very carefully, because the Bible has several marriages of one man and more than one woman, something that many societies have had. Some societies have had marriages of a woman and more than one man. Same-sex marriage may not have been common, but some societies have had "blood brother" and "brother-making" rites.

 

[TomC]

Except that his favorite book is full of "Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!" The earlier parts of the Bible have lots of genocide and commands to commit genocide.

It's different when prophets say it. Because then it's Godly.

 

[lpetrich]

http://onwardchristiancounseling.org/ - another dead link

Onward Christian Counseling Services | Benton, LA | Kelly Johnson at the Internet Archive

"Thankfully, we can take comfort in the fact that God has provided us the answers for every burden and challenge of life. There is no problem beyond His power, and He offers encouragement, restoration, and redemption to all. The Bible is clear that each of us is “fearfully and wonderfully made” by Him and inestimably valued."

Onward Christian Counseling Services - Leadership

Kelly L. Johnson is a Licensed Pastoral Counselor, a Certified Temperament Counselor, Professional Clinical Member of the National Christian Counselors Association, President of Onward Christian Counseling Services, LLC, and CEO of Onward Christian Education Services, Inc.

She has served as a leader in the pro-family movement for two decades, led various women’s ministries since 1997, and been a popular speaker at conferences and events. Kelly has previously served as a certified teacher in some of Louisiana’s top public and private elementary and secondary schools, taught apologetics and Christian worldview courses, and served as a communications officer for multiple Christian organizations.

Kelly and her husband, Congressman Mike Johnson, are the proud parents of four active children. For their work in promoting the institution of marriage and traditional family values, Kelly and Mike have been the recipients of many honors, including the “Champions of the Faith” award by the Southern Baptist Convention.

 

[TomC]

Finally,

In his first speech after becoming speaker, Johnson proclaimed, “I believe that scripture, the Bible is very clear. That God is the one that raises up those in authority.” He must be interpreting his improbable rise to speakership as an act of God—and a step toward the “biblical” United States for which he has long yearned.

So God fixes every election there ever was?

Including fixing the 2020 Presidential election to get Joe Biden into power.

Mike Johnson's Wife Runs Counseling Service That Compares Being Gay To Bestiality, Incest

The agreement states that Onward Christian Counseling Services is grounded in the belief that sex is offensive to God if it is not between a man and a woman married to each other. It puts being gay, bisexual or transgender in the same category as someone who has sex with animals or family members, calling all of these examples of “sexual immorality.”

“We believe and the Bible teaches that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God,” says the eight-page business document.

This agreement also refers to “pre-born babies” and says the company is committed to defending and protecting all human life, “from conception through natural death.”

On Sean Hannity's show,

In his Thursday interview with Hannity, Johnson said the Supreme Court “changed the definition of marriage that had been used by every human society for 5,000 years,” while also signaling he accepts the legal ruling.

“When five justices changed it, that became the law of the land,” he said.

Every human society for 5,000 years? He doesn't seem to have read his Bible very carefully, because the Bible has several marriages of one man and more than one woman, something that many societies have had. Some societies have had marriages of a woman and more than one man. Same-sex marriage may not have been common, but some societies have had "blood brother" and "brother-making" rites.

Even more to the point,
Whatever Jesus said about gay people, if anything, nobody bothered to record it.
Jesus was very clear about divorce, however.

Lets hear Johnson argue that divorce should be prohibited by U.S. law, and end the practice, and see how he fares in the next election.
Tom

 

[Harry Bosch]

Finally,

In his first speech after becoming speaker, Johnson proclaimed, “I believe that scripture, the Bible is very clear. That God is the one that raises up those in authority.” He must be interpreting his improbable rise to speakership as an act of God—and a step toward the “biblical” United States for which he has long yearned.

So God fixes every election there ever was?

Including fixing the 2020 Presidential election to get Joe Biden into power.

Mike Johnson's Wife Runs Counseling Service That Compares Being Gay To Bestiality, Incest

The agreement states that Onward Christian Counseling Services is grounded in the belief that sex is offensive to God if it is not between a man and a woman married to each other. It puts being gay, bisexual or transgender in the same category as someone who has sex with animals or family members, calling all of these examples of “sexual immorality.”

“We believe and the Bible teaches that any form of sexual immorality, such as adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, pornography or any attempt to change one’s sex, or disagreement with one’s biological sex, is sinful and offensive to God,” says the eight-page business document.

This agreement also refers to “pre-born babies” and says the company is committed to defending and protecting all human life, “from conception through natural death.”

On Sean Hannity's show,

In his Thursday interview with Hannity, Johnson said the Supreme Court “changed the definition of marriage that had been used by every human society for 5,000 years,” while also signaling he accepts the legal ruling.

“When five justices changed it, that became the law of the land,” he said.

Every human society for 5,000 years? He doesn't seem to have read his Bible very carefully, because the Bible has several marriages of one man and more than one woman, something that many societies have had. Some societies have had marriages of a woman and more than one man. Same-sex marriage may not have been common, but some societies have had "blood brother" and "brother-making" rites.

Even more to the point,
Whatever Jesus said about gay people, if anything, nobody bothered to record it.
Jesus was very clear about divorce, however.

Lets hear Johnson argue that divorce should be prohibited by U.S. law, and end the practice, and see how he fares in the next election.
Tom

Hard to believe how far right the republicans have gone. Now they've elected a speaker who favors eliminating gay rights, teaching creationism in school, elimination of separation of church and state; elimination of the constitution in favor of courts using the bible to enact law, and etc. I call these types of republicans as "Theocons"!

 

[lpetrich]

Mike Johnson’s Podcast Tells You Everything You Need to Know About Mike Johnson - POLITICO

Kelly tees up her husband: “Why are we the freest, most powerful, most successful, most benevolent nation in the history of the world, and why does every other nation on the planet look to us for leadership and even expect it of us?” she asks.

What self-congratulatory bullpoop.

Kelly tees up her husband: “Why are we the freest, most powerful, most successful, most benevolent nation in the history of the world, and why does every other nation on the planet look to us for leadership and even expect it of us?” she asks.

If the Founders had wanted a state church, they would have set one up.

Other episode titles: “The Christian Position on Border Security & Immigration” and “The Fight for Parental Rights".

"If it all sounds something like a Bush-era, southern evangelical radio show — replete with musings on gay marriage, abortion and traditional family values — that’s on purpose."

"Perkins is a lightning rod due to arguments like his insistence that natural disasters are divine punishments for homosexuality; Johnson’s political and religious beliefs dovetail with Perkins’ views."

 

[lpetrich]

He explains why he is an election denier, complete with forgetting his claim that God fixes elections.

“The reason that I and so many of my colleagues voted to sustain objections is very simple. The slates of electors were produced by a clearly unconstitutional process, period,” he said about objecting to slates of electors.

“In [Arizona and Pennsylvania], well-established rules for the administration of elections were changed in the months leading up to the election by individuals who clearly had no constitutional authority to do so. The violence never changed the plain and straightforward text of the constitution itself, and our obligation to adhere to it.”

Abortion?

“If you’re under 50, your graduating class in your high school should have been almost a third larger than it was,” he said on mic days after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

“But that number of your classmates was not allowed to be born and to join you — to walk across that stage — because of Roe v. Wade. It’s just a profound tragedy. … Many of us have worked for this day our whole lives.”

Jim Jordan? “You’re the quarterback of conservatives on Capitol Hill. … You have been a guiding light for me.”

His complaints about the left often relate to what he claims are distortions or misinterpretations of Scripture — in an episode nominally dedicated to border security, he says, “The left is using the Bible, citing it out of context, to discredit the people who actually believe in the Bible. … They’ve specifically targeted us in their attacks.”

As if the Bible 100% agrees with him. Especially since it doesn't agree with itself.

 

[lpetrich]

The Christian Nationalist Ideas That Made Mike Johnson - POLITICO - "A Q&A with historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez on the Christian nationalist ideas that shaped House Speaker Mike Johnson."

And this is where evangelical author and activist David Barton comes in.

Johnson has said that Barton’s ideas and teachings have been extremely influential on him, and that is essentially rooting him in this longer tradition of Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism essentially posits the idea that America is founded on God’s laws, and that the Constitution is a reflection of God’s laws. Therefore, any interpretation of the Constitution must align with Christian nationalists’ understanding of God’s laws. Freedom for them means freedom to obey God’s law, not freedom to do what you want. So really, Christian supremacy and a particular type of conservative Christianity is at the heart of Johnson’s understanding of the Constitution and an understanding of our government.

An autocrat's definition of "freedom".

As to MJ's positions being a throwback to the Bush II era,

First, I would say that any kind of split between the business conservatives and the social conservatives is not so clear-cut. It’s important to realize that one of Johnson’s core principles of American conservatism — as he reiterated them in his speech on Wednesday — is free enterprise. For conservative evangelicals, they don’t really see much of a tension between these, whereas the pro-business, old-school conservatives certainly would.

 

[lpetrich]

"I’ve noticed also in listening to his speeches that he is explicit about describing this country as a republic and not as a democracy."

Which countries are republics without being democracies? Countries like Communist China.

f you align with this value system, then yes, you have the authority to shape our laws. If you do not, you have no business shaping our laws. He once said: “We don’t live in a democracy, because democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what’s for dinner.” Meaning, the country is not just majority rule; it’s a constitutional republic. And the founders set that up because they followed the biblical admonition on what a civil society is supposed to look like.

I think that’s really important here: His commitment is not to democracy. He’s not committed to majority rule; he seems to be saying he’s committed to minority rule, if that’s what it takes to ensure that we stay on the Christian foundation that the founders have set up.

The minority being him and his favorite people. "I believe in dictatorship, but with me the dictator." Even if by proxy.

He also doesn't claim to speak for some  Silent majority, as Richard Nixon did.

What they’re doing is suggesting that the authority of the people in a popular democracy is constrained by whether or not people’s views align with … they would say the Constitution, but what they mean is a particular interpretation of the Constitution — one that understands the Constitution as being written to defend a particular Christian understanding of this country.

Thus making it in their likeness, because it was thoroughly secular. Also, the Federalist Papers weren't full of Bible quotes and Bible interpretation.

But I think what has escalated things in the last decade or so is a growing alarm among conservative white Christians that they no longer have numbers on their side. So looking at the demographic change in this country, the quote-unquote “end of white Christian America” and there’s where you can see a growing willingness to blatantly abandon any commitment to democracy.
It’s really during the Obama presidency that you see the escalation of not just rhetoric, but a kind of desperation, urgency, ruthlessness in pursuing this agenda. Religious freedom was at the center of that. And it was, again, not a religious freedom for all Americans; it was religious freedom to ensure that conservative Christians could live according to their values.

Because they could see this kind of sea change on LGBTQ rights, they could see the demographic changes, and inside their spaces, they have really played up this language of fear that liberals are out to get you, and you cannot raise your children anymore.

Thus explaining why they don't talk about how they are the silent majority being imposed on by a loudmouth minority.

Tor Christian nationalists, this is God’s country, and all authority comes through God. And the only legitimate use of that authority is to further God’s plan for this country. So what that means is any of their political enemies are illegitimate in a sense, and those enemies’ power is illegitimate, and they need to be stripped of that power. And it’s really been kind of shocking for me to have observed these spaces in the last handful of years, where conservative evangelicals are much more comfortable in just making that plain and no longer feeling a need to pay lip service to democracy or voting rights or those sorts of things.

 

[lpetrich]

What we've learned about Mike Johnson so far - POLITICO

He can expect some grace from the right: Johnson won’t necessarily face the same pressures from conservatives that predecessor Kevin McCarthy did as he seeks a way forward on government funding. Most hard-right members said they are willing to give Johnson room to maneuver on a continuing resolution given (1) the short timeline and (2) his own history as a conservative hard-liner.

...
He’s plotting a careful media strategy. In the not-quite two days since he was elected speaker nominee, Johnson has spoken in broad platitudes and brushed off pointed questions in his brief appearances before reporters. On Tuesday night, he responded to a question about the Supreme Court brief he authored in support of reviewing the 2020 presidential election with, “We’re not doing policy tonight,” and gave a similar response the next day.

To hardline R's, it may seem like he's wimped out and become a RINO.

 

[lpetrich]

New House speaker pushed for ‘hard labor’ for abortion providers after fall of Roe | Republicans | The Guardian - "Mike Johnson of Louisiana has continued to champion anti-abortion bills even as some in his party beware US voter backlash"

noting
Speaker Mike Johnson on X: "BREAKING: Late yesterday, the La. Department of Health informed abortion facilities in our state that the right to life has now been RESTORED!
Perform an abortion and get imprisoned at hard labor for 1-10 yrs & fined $10K-$100K.
(pic link)" / X
and
Biden-Harris HQ on X: "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 (vid link)" / X

New Speaker Mike Johnson Wants Women to Pop Out 'Able-Bodied Workers,' Blames School Shootings on Abortion
notes
House Judiciary Dems on X: "During a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Mike Johnson attacks Roe v. Wade, insisting that if only women were compelled to bring more "able-bodied workers" into the world, Republicans wouldn’t need to slash Social Security and Medicare. (vid link)" / X

In his remarks, not only does Johnson claim Roe “gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children,” but he rails against the imagined economic detriments of abortion, pushing his caucus’ outlandish claim that by depleting a hypothetical workforce, abortion has defunded social security: “Think about the implications of that on the economy. We’re all struggling here to cover the bases of social security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest,” Johnson says. “If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this... Roe was a terrible corruption.” Mind you, social security and health care have been gutted in the last several years by Republican lawmakers, not people who choose to end a pregnancy.

Noting
House Republicans Blame Depleted Social Security Funds on Abortion, Fetuses Not Showing Up to Work - "Sorry if my abortion prevented you from being able to retire—I thought that was because billionaires weren't paying their fair share of taxes?"

 

[steve_bank]

And now we have an Evangelical as speaker.

When asked about his views he said just look in the bible.

 

[bilby]

No, because that would be taken as evidence he was right.

Now, if he were to stroke out during a TV broadcast...

It would be handy if something happened that could be described as "And the Lord God did smite him before the people..."
Tom

He plays a lot of golf. His getting struck by lightning is a real possibility.

I just hope someone is recording it.

 

[Patooka]

No, because that would be taken as evidence he was right.

Now, if he were to stroke out during a TV broadcast...

It would be handy if something happened that could be described as "And the Lord God did smite him before the people..."
Tom

He plays a lot of golf. His getting struck by lightning is a real possibility.

I just hope someone is recording it.

Unfortunately, Grown Up Joffrey doesn't play golf in the rain. It musses up his hair apparently.