Dear Mike: Just Fucking Quit

Even in a softball interview, Mike Johnson can't help but go all "woe is me" about being the Speaker/Puppet of the House.

And seriously? Stephen Miller is so white that all he eats is mayonnaise?? I thought that was satire, but as we've been finding out, the line between satire and the Orange Piggy Administration is almost invisible.

Questions and an Observation

The same questions sort of apply to the felon-in-chief, except that I suspect that he is not as wealthy as he pretends to be.

And now this:

There is nothing good. I can say about that man, either. I would not be surprised to learn that his diet includes helpings of roasted puppies. He seems to be truly evil, a man who uses the Bible to justify whatever ill intent he has for everybody else.

Bible Mike Does the Bidding of the Orange Traitor

Rep. Turner is hawkish on Russia. The Felon wants somebody who is more pliable, so ol' Spineless Mike complied.

Bravely Tackling Joe McCarthy’s Pet Issue

MAGA Mike has got the budget, Russian/Chinese aggression, and terrorism all under control, amirite?

The Democrats Now Run the House, and RFK,Jr.’s Wormy Brain

With a one-vote majority and batshit-crazy lunatics like Moscow Marjorie, Gym Jordan, Beetlejuice Boebert and Massie in his caucus, if Speaker Johnson wants to pass a bill that has a prayer of being passed in the Senate, he needs Democrats to vote for it.

Which means the Democrats effectively have a firm veto on what the House does. All the Republicans can do on their own, now, is to hold stupid hearings for the sole purpose of getting their former-president-petomane-loving faces on Fox News.

Meanwhile, I don't know how much snark I can add to the fact that a worm or worms ate part of Baby Bobby Kennedy's brain. Except to say: Yeah, that explains a lot.

One Lesson to Relearn About Mother Russia: Her Word is No Good

The US has new intelligence on Russian military capabilities related to its efforts to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space, according to multiple sources familiar with the intelligence.

The intelligence was briefed to Congress and key US allies, and some lawmakers say it is serious enough that it should be declassified and made public. While the intelligence is concerning, multiple senior members of Congress briefed on the information on Wednesday emphasized that it does not pose an immediate threat to the US or its interests.

The Outer Space Treaty, to which Russia is a signatory, bans placing nuclear weapons in space. That the Russians are looking into doing just that proves, once again, that only an utter fool places any stock in Russian promises.

Bible Mike says there is no cause to worry, that "steady hands are on the wheel". Which, given that he tanked a foreign aid bill on the TOFF's say-so and then demanded a new bill with the provisions that he already tanked, his word is no more valid than those of his Orange Master and his Orange Master's boss.

Putin/Bible Mike Repeats The Same Insanity in Service of His Orange Master

The Senate early Tuesday passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, pushing ahead after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.

The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours of debate to argue that the U.S. should focus on its own problems before sending more money overseas. But more than a dozen Republicans voted with almost all Democrats to pass the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that abandoning Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security across the globe.

Close to thirty Republicans demonstrated their fealty to the TOFF over the national security interest of the country. I'll get the list of who those shameful fucks are and post it.

The notorious Putin/Trump Poodle, Bible Mike, is saying the same old shit. He wants border security included, but, as we all know, he rejected the last bill because his Lord and Master, the Orange Jesus, threw a hissy fit.

Lock Him Up! Lock Him Up! Lock Him Up! (And Bible Mike Dons His Kneepads)

It now is pretty clear that the TOFF has been committing tax fraud for years and that it is provable.

Meanwhile, Bible Mike (R, Taliban) will do the TOFF's bidding no matter what. The border bill was a top priority for Republicans, until Dolt-45 came out against it and so, Bible Mike dropped to his knees to give his Orange Jesus a hummer.

Quisling Mike Admits That He is Taking Orders From the TOFF

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a central figure in border negotiations, said he has "frequently" discussed the issue with former President Donald Trump.

Johnson, who is digging in on hard-line demands for more restrictive reforms despite progress in the Senate on a bipartisan compromise, told Fox News that he and Trump talked about the matter on Monday -- before Johnson and other congressional leaders convened at the White House for a meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Trump has expressed opposition to any deal between Senate negotiators and the Biden administration.

"President Trump is not wrong," Johnson told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday night. "He and I have been talking about this pretty frequently. I talked to him the night before last about the same subject."

Johnson shortly after also appeared on CNN, where he told Kaitlan Collins that he speaks to Trump "every few days."

So Quisling Mike's the TOFF's sock-puppet. One thing is clear about Dolt-45: He does not give a tinker's damn about anything other than inflating his sense of importance. He doesn't give a damn about this country. If he did, he wouldn't have forbade his kids from joining the military.

Germany is Speaking. Is Quisling Mike's Caucus Listening?

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could expand beyond the neighbouring countries.

“We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day – most recently again against our friends in the Baltic states,” Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in an article published on Friday.
...
With his call for the Bundeswehr to become “war-ready” he also wanted to “shake up our society,” he said.

The minister expects proposals for re-introducing a version of compulsory military service by April. Germany ended mandatory conscription in 2011.

The Germans are going to ramp up their spending and reinstitute the draft to get ready for an expanded war with Russia. And this is lrgely because Putin's Poodles in the GOP have been dragging their heels when it comes to supporting Ukraine.

When the history of this period is written, much of the blame for the course of the Russo-Ukraine War will be laid on Biden for his timidity in providing war materiel to Ukraine when it could have made a real difference in breaking Russia's military.

But, to be fair, American timidity in the face of a rising threat from Eurpoean dictators, as driven by the Right, is a recurring theme.

Quisling Mike Johnson is Likely Putin's Favorite Poodle

Johnson is saying that no aid to Ukraine is possible anytime soon.

Nothing has changed when it comes to the far Right and aggression by Euopean tyrants. They closed their eyes to it in 1914 and 1939 and they are holding their eyes tightly shut in 2024.

The bare naked fact is that Putin has designs on other Euopean countries, including our allies. We can stop the Russians where they are and it will only cost us more money.

Or we can turn our backs on Ukraine, the way that the Right wants to do now, and, like in the 20th Century, end up sending our young to fight and die to stop the Russians in 2025 or 2026 and spending a shitload more money to do it.

For some reason, the far Right loves dictators and hates freedom. They always have.

Why Bible Mike, Meatball Ron and the Rest Are Waging Culture Wars, or "Dude, Where's My Recession?"

Because that's all they got. Crime is down. The much-ballyhooed recession didn't arrive.

As for Abbott sending migrants to Democratic cities, maybe it's time for those cities to send them on to Republican cities. Drop off a few hundred in Jefferson City, MO, for example.

The GOP is Playing Putin's Game

After blunting Ukraine’s counteroffensive from the summer, Russia is building up its resources for a new stage of the war over the winter, which could involve trying to extend its gains in the east and deal significant blows to the country’s vital infrastructure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be hoping that relentless military pressure, combined with changing Western political dynamics and a global focus on the Israeli-Hamas war, will drain support for Ukraine in the nearly 2-year-old war and force Kyiv to yield to Moscow’s demands.

“As far as the Russian leadership is concerned, the confrontation with the West has reached a turning point: The Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, Russia is more confident than ever, and the cracks in Western solidarity are spreading,” said Tatiana Stanovaya, senior fellow with Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, in a recent analysis.

Between Bible Mike in the House, the Most Gutless Senator Alive (Graham) and Putin's Poodle in Hungary, Putin has lots of allies. Maybe Bible Mike and Miss Lindsey have other reasons for blocking aid to Ukraine, but the effect is the same of that of Orban's blocking aid to Ukraine.

Anyone who thinks that Putin will be satisfied with conquering Ukraine hasn't been paying attention to his stated ambitions. Putin wants to "restore" what he sees as the imperial Russian empire. That means conquering a lot of other nations, incluidng all or part of NATO members. That is also why Putin is backing the TOFF, for he believes that the TOFF will pull the US out of NATO, which will give him a green light to proceed.

A politician wins election to lead his country, turns it into a dictatorship and then begins threating his neighbors. Under the guise of protecting his ethnic countrymen who live in neighboring nations, he begins invading, first a portion of a neighbor and then moves to conquer one or more of those countries. The US and other European powers do nothing but wring their hands and flap their jaws until the dictator invades a country who has defense treaties with theose powers and then it is Game Fucking On.

We've seen this play out before. It boggles the mind that the Republicans are choosing to play politics with a growing fire in Europe, using a growing conflagration to score cheap political points. But it is nothing surprising, for Republicans have signalled over and over that they value party loyalty above loyalty to the country.

As someone said elsewhere, America First 2.0, but without Lindy [the Nazi sympathizer, if not asset].

The Lesson That the GOP is Teaching the Communist Chinese

The lesson is: Make it costly enough to support our allies and friends and the Republicans will fold and walk away. (If they even stand up for them in the first place.)

The second lesson is an old one: When it comes to choosing between democratic nations and dictatorships, the GOP will support dictatorships. Every freaking time. If another country is a democracy, the GOP will support whatever dictator seizes power.

If Bible Mike and his fellow appeasement monkeys get away with what they are trying to do to Ukraine, the chances of China invading Taiwan will rise significantly. Unless the Taiwanese agree to let Beijing take control. But, as was shown in Hong Kong, the "one China, two systems" promise was not worth the paper it was printed on.

The Republicans in the House Have Putin's Back, Whether They Intend to or Not.

That is the result of Bible Mike's refusal to advance a bill to help Ukraine.

His refusal is a little understandable. He's very likely sympathetic to Putin, who has outlawed being trans is trying to outlaw being gay and throws feminists in prison. The Christian Taliban sees Putin as their ally. That translates into the Batshit Caucus in the GOP doing everything they can to help Russia.

If you believe that Putin will stop at Ukraine, then grab your ears and pull your head out of the sand. He intends to restore the Russian Empire, which, if you are not historically illiterate, you know includes a number of existing free nations, including NATO members. We, the nations of the West, can either send money and weapons to Ukraine to help them defeat the Russians or we can send our sons and daughters to fight in the follow-on war.

And if you don't understand the risks of a general hot war in Europe, where both sides possess nuclear weapons, then man, you need Special Agent Jethro Gibbs to administer a few dope slaps. There is no such thing as tactical nuclear weapons. From the use of a tactical nuke to the massive irradiation of the American

There is also the point that the GOP is becoming a fascist party. Those on the right don't care, because they believe that an American fascist dictatorship won't affect them.[1]

You can see that the TOFF knows the impact of his fascist plans being called out, for his well-used tactic is to accuse his enemies of doing the same things that he wants to do. It's a rhetorical style that can be summed up as the "I know you are, but what am I?" style of argument.

The GOP crap is frustrating on another level. When we give armaments to Ukraine, who the hell do they think we buy them from? The bombs, shells, missiles, trucks, tanks and so on and so forth are made here.[2] Military production creates jobs for Americans, and, generally, not low-paying ones. It's the same thing when food aid is given to other countries, the food is produced here. The war has also shown that any near-peer war will result in going through ordnance at an astonishing rate, this is an impetus to build up that production capability now.[3]

What bad happens in Ukraine because aid doesn't get there quickly enough, the GOP owns it.
___________________
[1] One wonders why, if they admire Russia so much, they just don't go there.
[2]The same was true of Lend-Lease.
[3] This is not a new lesson, it's one that goes at least as far back as WW2.

Will the Children of the Freedom Caucus Now Oust Bible Mike?

The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to prevent a government shutdown after new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle to Democrats when hard-right conservatives revolted against his plan.

The bipartisan tally — 336-95 with 93 Republicans voting no —showed Johnson’s willingness to leave his right-flank Republicans behind and work with Democrats to temporarily keep government running — the same political move that cost the last House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, his job just weeks ago.

Bible Mike was one of the clowns pushing for a shutdown when Gutless Kevin was Sepaker, but as he's now found out, being in charge brings responsibilities for what goes on.

Mike Johnson and the Christian Taliban's Law Skool

Johnson was involved in trying to start a law school that focused on "Biblical principles" instead of common law, rules of procedure and case law; you know, the stuff every real law school teaches.

It burned through millions of dollars and was named after an alleged pedophile. Johnson quit as the dean of the school, but he was associated with them for years afterwards.

Johnson is a right-wing religious thug and, by his actions, he is an ally of Putin.

Mike the Christian Fascist is Trying to Scrub His Tracks

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has taken down the website for the podcast he did with his wife.

But all 69 episode are still available for download for anyone to archive.

The Internet doesn't forget much.

Johnson is a member of the Christian Taliban, and he and his wife ran a business based on those ideas:

The wife of newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., recently deactivated the website for her company after HuffPost found that the business' bylaws likened homosexuality to bestiality and incest.

Kelly Johnson is the owner and chief executive of Onward Christian Counseling Services, a pastoral counseling service rooted in faith, per a Friday report from HuffPost. Johnson's website, which was yanked from public access on Saturday, featured a link to an eight-page operating agreement from 2017 that detailed how the company was structured around the belief that any sort of sexual relations other than those between a man and a woman were considered "sinful and offensive to God."

“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,” reads a section of the document.

The Johnsons are no different from the Iranian mullahs in their belief that their twisted views should be used to guide the lives of everybody, and if they don't like it, lock them up (or execute them).

It Was Their Problem to Fix

GOP "thinkers", including Megan McArdle, continue to blame Democrats for the fix that Republicans got themselves into by first ousting Hapless Kevin and then by choosing a Christian extremist as Speaker.

AOC got it right when this whole mess got underay:

Contrary to how McCarthy’s defenders are behaving, men failing up is not a Constitutionally protected right.

The man made risky decisions and faced the natural consequences of them. I am not his mom, and my job is not to put pool noodles around hard corners for Republicans.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 4, 2023

Absent a deal, the minority party doesn't vote for the majority party's candidate for Speaker. No Republican was going to make such a deal, because that would be political suicide.

McArdle's piece is how conservatives see things: Republicans are permitted to be selfish, bomb-throwing political children. Democrats are supposed to save Republicans from their own folly with nothing in return.

Fuck that noise.

Meanwhile, the TOFF continues to praise Hamas. Because he adores people and groups that practice murder and terrorism.

The New Speaker

I don't find anything to like about this clown, other than there's now a warm body in the Speaker's chair.

• He thinks women should be forced to give birth to able-bodied workers.
• He hates gay people, teachers, unionized workers, senior citizens and poor people.
• He tried to steal the 2020 election for his Orange Lord.
• He’s a tool of the oil industry.
• He has Putin's back.

In short, he is a modern Confederate whose is a member of the Christian Taliban. The TOFF and Putin must be over the Moon with this guy. He looks like a nice, affable white guy, but his track record is that of a trafficker in religious-based hatred of everyone else who doesn't believe as he does. The only good thing, I suppose, is that he's not worn Klan robes, but don't be surprised if he has a pressed white sheet/robe in a garment bag deep in his closet.