House Republicans Troll

I was upset in 2004 when Bush was re-elected, but then we got Trump. Now, we have Kevin McCarthy and his bunch controlling the "people's House." The immediate thing to do here (after it took him 15x to be elected) is to troll some.  

This sort of thing is what we get:

Allowing biological boys to compete in women’s sports is wokeness at its worst. It erases women. It can deprive them of the opportunity to be champions, excel at sports, and earn college scholarships.

Also, Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell are blocked from serving on the House Intelligence Committee. The so-called reasoning, especially regarding Swalwell (which if you are serious, is troublesome, since he actually helped the FBI investigation) is bogus. The real reason is revenge / ideologically motivated thing, especially with an impeachment manager.

The next step was to eject Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for various comments she made about Israel and its supporters.  As AOC (target of violent remarks and imagery, the reason Rep. Gosar was ejected, not merely because of ideological disputes) noted, this is bullshit.  Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene also was removed in large part because of her support of violent comments against Pelosi. 

It is racist, targets free speech, and is about the (evangelically influenced) special concern for Israel.  We will also get a special pro-Israel resolution, which Omar will support (like she could not) soon apparently.  And, even the House Minority Leader while defending her has to remind people how Democrats singled her out for criticism, unlike lots of other people with "vile" (to use one adjective tossed out there by Republicans) views.  

The usual suspects will say "Republicans are just awful," but there is a purity here. Other than someone voting "present" (ah a vote of conscience), there are no dissenters here. The "reasonable" ones, including those criticizing or making fun of McCarthy privately, go along. Why? Will they be punished if they show even a smidgen of dissent?  We got a bit of "maybe this would be too far," but they all went along in the end. 

McCarthy also was out there (this is so typical, it is almost not worth saying) tarring Democrats as "socialists" or socialist fellow travelers or something as well.  The horror of it all. What is "socialism" again, anyway?  Is something like regulating public utilities so hundreds of thousands of people (like currently in Texas) are not without power for days "socialism"?  

Public education?  Social Security?  

Anyway, I understand why the House has not yet done its reading of the Constitution. They want to get in as many things against its words and spirit as they can.  

Rep. Matt Gaetz did troll some by pushing for the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance before each meeting of some committee.  The House (not the Senate) makes a big show of doing that even when they have their few minutes pro forma sessions (ditto the prayer; the Senate gets things done in less than a minute).

"Troll" is a bit generous here if it means making a nuisance of yourself without much more intent.  These are ideological messages with real power and effect.  Rep. Omar adds something to the Foreign Relations Committee that others do not.  

The fact every.single.Republican (minus one who voted "present" and one who didn't vote) joined in here is telling. The barrier for the two (though all three have joined together) is purely on McCarthy though there are means to target him.  The Omar vote was put to the whole House.  They all joined in. This is on the whole Republican caucus, including those like Rep. Nancy Mace who from time to time make a little noise.

[I'm repeating myself here a bit, but it is worthy of repetition. Another thing that comes to mind here is that this is a rank violation of the rights of those who elected her.  

We are told that George Santos cannot be ejected or something -- for now, he voluntarily is agreeing to suspend committee assignments, which is not the same thing as formally ejecting him -- since he was elected.  But, she was elected too. She is not being ejected for stuff since then.  She is being ejected for past comments.  This adds insult.]

The Omar vote pissed me off.  The "people's house" doing this pisses me off.  It also pisses me off to see some accounts that suggest "both sides" because of the Gosar and Greene votes.  That's bullshit.  

The Speaker of the House, the person third in line to the president, promotes hatred of trans students.  Each Republican supports this guy. Shame on our country.  

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I guess I can add this bit of news since it is part of the overall horrible nature of Republican control of some branch of Congress.

The Supreme Court will have a special ceremony to honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  I am not fully sure if Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation was her dying fear, will be there.   

The Strict Scrutiny Podcast opens with a sexist joke from the Roe v. Wade argument and a Ginsburg line about taking a foot off women's necks. It still pains me to listen to it.