10/05/23

Good morning! It’s Thursday, October 5th.

National Do Something Nice Day.

That’s nice! Do it because you want to do something good, or just do it because you want to brag to yourself (don’t brag to other people, that’s gauche… I word I for sure know the meaning of, and didn’t just hear on Parks and Rec and then attempt to bring into my vocab without even knowing if it was used right.

And now, the news.

The Search for the Next American Speaker

-via CNN

Let’s start in the House because, even though nothing really happened there today, nothing can happen in the House until there’s a new Speaker.

Lest you think that, while the search for Speaker continues, the Republicans are going to really focus up and recalibrate… um… have ya met these yahoos?

On Tuesday night, the interim Speaker, Patrick McHenry, who is a long-time ally of Kevin McCarthy, kicked Nancy Pelosi out of her office so that McCarthy could have it.

The party in majority gets to decide on who gets which offices.

Why the move? Let’s see what Republican House Rep Garret Graves says: ““Look the deal is that the office that Pelosi is in right now is the office of the preceding speaker. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats determined that they wanted a new … speaker, and it’s Kevin McCarthy. So, he’s getting the office. I don’t know what they’re complaining about. They created this situation.”

Couple things.

First of all – Pelosi isn’t on vacation. She’s in California burying her friend, Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Also, yes correct all Democrats voted to vacate but the Democrats didn’t put up the motion. It’s not their job to save the Republicans from chaos. Which, by the way, they could really use. Because they’re currently just eating their own, since instead of going after the handful of radical Republicans who are grinding the business of the House to a halt, they’re blaming Democrats.

For what it’s worth, Pelosi didn’t even vote, since she was out of town.

They also kicked Democrat Sterny Hoyer out of this office.

Also, they’re so mad at the Democrats for not saving McCarthy but why would they – just a day after the Democrats voted with McCarthy to pass the CR and keep the government open, McCarthy went on TV and blamed the Democrats for trying to shut the government down.

What is with these fools? Find a spine. It’s like they can’t talk about the extremists that are ruining their party. Behind closed doors, McCarthy’s mad at Gaetz, but publicly he was the one to kick Pelosi out of her office.

And what will it get him? Dude is still not Speaker.

When someone tells you who they are, believe them. And what this class of Republicans are telling us is that they’re abuncha doinks who don’t deserve the majority next session.

Anyway, we still don’t have a leading leader for the Speakership. Sounds like McHenry is planning to hold a Speaker candidate forum on Tuesday, so it’s going to be at least a week before a vote takes place. A vote that I think anyone in the world expects will fly through in one go. So… congrats Republicans! The extremists, and the one’s too afraid of them, are all preventing the House from doing literally any work.

“Gee Kim, ya sound mad.”

Well, it’s embarrassing!

Kaiser Strike

-via NPR

Hot labor summer continues, as 75,000 Kaiser health care workers walked off the job in California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Wednesday morning.

The Virginia and Washington workers will strike for 24 hours, while everyone else will be on strike until Saturday morning.

They’re fighting against a short-staffing crisis. About 11% of union positions have been vacant since April.

Morgan State University Shooting

-via NBC News

Five people were shot Wednesday morning, during homecoming celebrations at Morgan State University.

As of this recording, police are still looking for a suspect, or suspects, in what they believe was a dispute between two groups.

The five people injured are not believed to be the intended targets, which is… none of this is great, but that’s particularly not great. The injuries are not life-threatening.

Can we please get some gun control here so that students can go to school to learn, make friends, fall a little in and out of love, and not have to worry about this?

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m so annoyed about this House Speakership.

But you know what? I’m proud of nice people doing nice things. It’s nice.

And because you’re nice… I’m proud of you.