A Tuesday Three-Points Shots, Just to Keep You on Your Toes
Last week was crazy. And the crazy has nowhere to go.
I am sorry that I did not publish a Three-Point Shots last Friday. My life has been temporarily overtaken by events, or “O.B.E.” as we used to say in Rodney Ellis’ office. I plan to be back on a regular schedule this week, and I appreciate your indulgence.
Welcome to another edition of Three-Point Shots, a part of my Life Its Ownself Substack page. If you enjoy reading it, please 1) hit the Like button, 2) subscribe to the Life Its Ownself, and 3) share it with others in the link below. Comments are welcome and encouraged.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 4:00 p.m.
1. Jim Jordan is tantalized with the Speakership.
The U.S. House of Representatives spent all last week dealing with the demoralizing prospect of selecting Jim Jordan (R-Insurrectionist) as its 56th Speaker. In the end, though, Jordan suffered the fate of Tantalus, as his fellow House GOP members voted 86-112 to eliminate him as their candidate after three unsuccessful ballots.
Tantalus was a son of Zeus, who made him king of Sipylus. Zeus favored him with invitations to dine with the gods, but Tantalus abused the privilege and committed a profound sacrilege. Eager to prove that they were not omniscient, he killed his son and served him to the gods at a banquet. Zeus retaliated with an extraordinary punishment:
For all eternity, Tantalus would be made to stand chin deep in a lake of water, whilst above him was an orchard of trees bearing every conceivable type of fruit. Also above Tantalus was a perilously balanced stone.
Every time Tantalus leant forward to drink of the water of the lake, the water level would recede out of reach, and every time Tantalus reached upwards, wind would blow the branches of the trees out of his reach again.
So for all time Tantalus would go hungry and thirsty, “tantalized” by the food and drink just out of reach. The stone above him would also provide eternal worry, a fear that the stone would one day overbalance and fall on the former king.
Thus will Jim Jordan spend his remaining days in the House, within a few yards of the Speaker’s rostrum but never able to claim the gavel. I take great karmic pleasure in this.
While we should celebrate Jordan’s defeat, we should pause to lament, however, the sad state of a nation where 200 members of the majority party are willing to vote for a man who, in Liz Cheney’s words, “knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for Jan. 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives…. Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election.”
2. The House is still leaderless, with no prospects in sight.
Unfortunately, his defeat does not solve the House’s problem, which is going into its fourth week without a Speaker. Of the 220 members of the House Republican Conference, around 219 of them think they’d be a better speaker than Any Other Guy. With no obvious candidate in sight, the House set up a cattle call for the next speaker. Members who wanted to be considered had to formally say so by Sunday night in anticipation of a caucus beauty contest Tuesday. There were seven candidates, who were whittled down in a series of secret ballots this morning. Among them – in fact, the first to be eliminated – was Pete Sessions (R-Also Insurrectionist) from Waco.
In the end, the Conference selected Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the Majority Whip, or third-ranking member of the leadership. But Emmers problems are just beginning. As Joe Perticone reported in The Bulwark,
In a follow-up vote among Republicans to gauge his level of support, Emmer learned he has to overcome 26 holdouts—meaning that he is still far short of the 217 votes needed to win the speakership on the House floor, assuming all Democrats show up and vote for Hakeem Jeffries.
And it cannot help that he got the stink-eye from The Donald himself:
So, Emmer still lacks 26 votes from MAGA-adjacent members, whose obstinacy is encouraged by Trump. Emmer probably does not have a path to the Speaker’s gavel unless somebody somewhere grows some balls and votes on behalf of the country.
BREAKING: Emmer announced this afternoon that, unable to get to 217 votes, he was dropping out of the Speaker’s race.
But don’t worry, folks. Several members, including Texas Reps. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock or Leave It) and Roger Williams (R-Used Car Dealer) have suggested they might put themselves forward if and when the House goes to another round.
3. Jonathan Stickland out at DTL-PAC – but what does that mean?
The Texas Tribune reports that Jonathan Stickland is no longer the President of Defend Texas Liberty PAC after he met for six hours with avowed neo-Nazi and white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Or, more precisely, after he was caught meeting with avowed neo-Nazi and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
DTL-PAC is a major funder of right-wing candidates and organizations in Texas, itself funded by megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. They famously gave Dan Patrick $3 million this summer as he prepared to preside over Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial. Coincidentally, Patrick engineered Paxton’s acquittal, unless you believe there are no coincidences in Austin.
It is unclear, however, what Stickland’s demotion really means. The PAC sat at the middle of a spider’s web of right-wing advocacy groups, including the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility and Empower Texans. All of which received substantial funding from Dunn and Wilks. And DTL-PAC paid Stickland’s Pale Horse Strategies $828,000 in consulting and contract fees in 2022. So it seems unlikely that Jonathan Stickland is moving into the poorhouse, much less becoming persona non grata in the right-wing.
Thank you Deece for your expertise!!
Where the heck is the so-called problem solvers caucus? Can’t they find 217 people to vote for a non-idiot speaker? What’s the point of having power if you don’t/can’t/refuse to use it for something other than holding on to partisan power? Do you like being seen as just human hamsters on the running wheel? The speaker needs to preside over the House, run the proceedings without brawls, and be prepared to act as president if needed. If a state as partisan as Texas can find people from both parties to nominate and vote for a speaker of the Texas House, surely there are 217 people in the US House who give enough of a damn about this country to climb out of their partisan pigpens to do the same. What the hell is wrong with you people? (Sorry Deece--not aimed at your readers. I’m just incredibly frustrated watching these idiots run around like chickens with their heads cut off.)