… there seems to be a lot of clapping in MAGA-world this and last week.
The two big items?
MAGA-world in the US House of Representatives gaped an abyss:
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) on Tuesday became the first House conservative to explicitly state he is considering a push to strip McCarthy of the gavel over his recent [debt ceiling] deal with President Joe Biden.
“Absolutely,” Bishop told POLITICO in an interview, when asked about using the tool to force out a sitting speaker. “It is inescapable to me. It has to be done.” [Politico]
So? Leading members of the caucus Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) voted for the debt ceiling deal. Yep, here the Caucus thought Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) was their hand-puppet, and not only did he, apparently, trick them, but some of their caucus supported McCarthy.
Former President Trump (R-FL) is trashing his staffers:
Former President Trump slammed his onetime press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Tuesday, accusing her of providing the “wrong” poll numbers during an appearance on Fox News.
“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews. I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, using his nickname for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
“While 25 is great, it’s not 34,” he added. “She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!” [The Hill]
Just one of many, too.
And then SCOTUS came along and found enough votes to reject a gerrymandering scheme, shocking more than a few SCOTUS observers and assorted liberals in the process – oh, and conservatives who thought they could rely on SCOTUS as a backstop:
A divided Supreme Court said Thursday that the Alabama legislature drew congressional districts that unlawfully diluted the political power of its Black residents, an unexpected decision from a court that recently has been more skeptical of the Voting Rights Act’s protections.
The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., bucked the court’s recent trend of rulings that weakened provisions of the landmark 1965 act. He was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and the court’s three liberals, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
They upheld a decision by a three-judge panel that threw out Alabama’s maps for its seven congressional districts, which included only one with a majority of Black voters even though African Americans make up more than a quarter of the state’s population. [WaPo]
This and similar cases may result in more seats moving from the Republican column to the Democrat or Independent columns. Expecting Chief Justice Roberts to follow orders when it’s his legacy on the line? Incompetent.
And now MAGA-world shakes as the former President is indicted:
Donald Trump’s attorney Jim Trusty confirmed Thursday night that the former president has been charged with seven counts – and revealed that the charges “break out from an Espionage Act charge.”
“It does have some language in it that suggests what the seven charges would be. Not 100% clear that all of those are separate charges, but they basically break out from an Espionage Act charge,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Trusty called the espionage charge “ludicrous,” and added that there are also “several obstruction-based-type charges and then false statement charges.”
He said his team did not get a copy of the indictment but instead received a summons via email. Trusty refused to reveal when his team received the initial letter from the Justice Department that listed Trump as a target of their investigation.
Look for self-important Republicans claiming that this will make Trump stronger. Look for the Republican base to continue edging away from Trump as they slowly realize he’s a pathological narcissist. It’ll be slow because this is a blow to the ego of the base, because they voted for someone who’s turning out to be a criminal.
And look for those closely associated with Trump to run for the hills, but only if they think they’re not totally dependent on Trump for their positions.
And look for those such as former Governor Christie (R-NJ) begin to rebuild the Republican Party in a more sane manner by kicking out the nutcases.
And, yes, relying on constant lying to bail yourself out of jams is a signal red flag of incompetency.
