The chaos is over, let the chaos begin.

The decision to allow guns in committee meetings is a bow to the insanity of the base when it comes to firearms.

 

It is Biden who is refusing to negotiate over the debt ceiling threatening to shutdown the government.

 

Jordan fires off first subpoenas against Biden admin

Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan unloaded the House GOP’s first subpoenas a month into the new majority, demanding records about certain Biden administration decisions regarding threats against school officials during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jordan (R- Ohio) on Friday sent subpoenas to Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona — requesting a laundry list of documents by March 1, according to a review of the three subpoenas by POLITICO.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/03/jim-jordan-subpoena-biden-administration-00081179

A nutbag like Gym Jordan shouldn't be within a thousand miles of subpoena power. He is on the verge of looking in to all manner of Crazy conspiracy theories and contrived POT grievances.

 

Rightly so. Never negotiate with terrorists.

 

Your snide remark aside it is Biden threatening default and chaos.

 

Did the Repubs who are making as yet unspecified demands on spending cuts while threatening to cause the US to default on its debt obligations make similar threats when Trump was running up enormous deficits? Biden is asking that the Repub Crazies not put the global economies in jeopardy. They have refused.

 

Yeah, obtaining the speakership, McCarthy was willing to do anything, cede anything, make any and all promises to whomever. When it became apparent you had those 20 or so holdouts who were demanding control over the speaker, McCarthy should have withdrawn, said have at it. The main thing was those 20 holdouts didn’t have anyone else in mind. It wasn’t like they wanted someone else for the speakership. Just to have McCarthy cave to them. They wanted to make McCarthy their puppet on their strings. They succeeded.


All McCarthy has is the position of speaker. The name speaker, but without the power of the speaker. That power lies with the 20 or so holdouts whom McCarthy handed the power of the gavel to in order to obtain the position and name of speaker.

 

You disclose in the negotiations. Has Biden who refuse to submit his budget as required by the law? Why is he threatening a shutdown and chaos refusing to negotiate?

 

You have it backwards. But you already know that.

 

Jim Jordan’s Circus Comes To Town

The House GOP’s hilarious-if-it-weren’t-so-corrupt subcommittee to attack the same federal law enforcement apparatus investigating many House Republicans and Donald Trump kicks off its first hearing today. It’ll be a doozy. It’s titled “Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.”

This is a full-frontal attack on the rule of law masquerading as a probative investigation. Period. End of sentence.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/hearing-on-the-weaponization-of-the-federal-government

Gym is going to provide plenty of entertainment in the coming months. His target audience, MAGAnuts, will work themselves in to a frenzy over an endless supply of hysterical nothingburgers.

 

DOJ fires back at Jim Jordan over Wray, Garland subpoenas

But in a response letter to Jordan, the DOJ called a subpoena "premature" as it has offered to engage with the committee.

"We remain ready to discuss next steps for the Department to address your informational needs while also respecting Executive Branch interests," wrote Carlos Felipe Uriarte, assistant attorney general for the Office of Legislative Affairs. "We have offered to engage with the Committee and provide information voluntarily, so a subpoena is premature."

"The overwhelming majority of congressional requests for information are resolved through voluntary discussion and cooperation. This process of accommodation is also constitutionally mandated. Both Congress and the Executive Branch are required to negotiate in good faith to meet the informational needs of Congress while protecting the institutional interests of the Executive Branch," the letter said.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-fires-back-jim-jordan-wray-garland-subpoenas

It seems Gym got overly excited and spooged in his shorts too early.

 

Sandy Shanks said: ↑
This is what the intelligence-challenged rural base of the Republican Party wanted -- revenge, not working for the interests of the people. Most of that rural base are anarchists. By electing people like Comer, Jim Jordan, M.J. Greene, George Santos, and others, the rural base is not interested in the government functioning. They are doing everything to prevent the government from functioning.
**********************************************************************************************************************************************************

WOW! DOUBLE WOW!!

CNN reports, "Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the special counsel investigating Donald Trump and his role in January 6, 2021, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

"Special counsel Jack Smith’s office is seeking documents and testimony related to January 6, the source said. They want the former vice president to testify about his interactions with Trump leading up to the 2020 election and the day of the attack on the US Capitol.

"The subpoena marks an important milestone in the Justice Department’s two-year criminal investigation, now led by the special counsel, into the efforts by Trump and allies to impede the transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election. Pence is an important witness who has detailed in a memoir some of his interactions with Trump in the weeks after the election, a move that likely opens the door for the Justice Department to override at least some of Trump’s claims of executive privilege."

Imagine that! The Republicans voted for a President who is accused of insurrection, inciting an attack on our capitol, and obstruction, and the vice-president has been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice.

Do we want Republicans to chose our leaders again?

 

I noted the subpoena on my " The Great Unraveling continues" thread. My comment follows......Mike once defiantly said while being interviewed that the 1/6 committee had no right to his testimony. He was wrong about that. A stance he no doubt took so as not to further alienate The Following in case he runs for prez. Jack Smith, he couldn't give a good ****** about Mike's political aspirations. Mike and Don had some private conversations leading up to the coup attempt and Smith wants to know what was said.

 

Jim Jordan Showed on His First Day How Unfit He Is To Lead the Judiciary Committee

On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, gaveled in the first hearing in what he promised will be a crusade against the Biden administration: “We won’t stop until we get the truth to fix the problem for the American people.” The hearing—supposedly about the “border crisis”—had little to do with truth, though, instead going off on wild tangents, highlighting MAGA disinformation, and exploiting human suffering. That was to be expected given the record of the man who led it—one of obstructing investigations, spreading disinformation, and sowing false doubt in the minds of the American people. It confirmed what we knew going into the hearing: Jordan is unfit to serve on the Judiciary Committee, much less lead it.

Jordan is a classic demagogue. When presented with facts or evidence which plainly debunk his position, he doesn’t concede or even attempt to further inquire into those truths. He instead seems content with pretending as though he was never presented with the truth at all, repeating his talking points incessantly without even acknowledging contradictory facts presented to him. This was seen most recently in an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, during which Jordan just flat-out ignored his interlocutor, Chuck Todd. Under his leadership, the committee’s aim to “fix” anything is a false premise, as Jordan has made clear he is out to get President Biden and his administration.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/02/jim-jordan-first-day-unfit-judiciary-committee.html

Beyond the issue of Gym's hypocrisy after refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena and stonewalling the Ohio State investigation is the more simple matter of his problem with the Crazy.

 

Who Exactly Is James Comer, The Bomb-Throwing Head Of The Oversight Committee?

You’ll be hearing about Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the new chair of the House Oversight Committee, a lot in the coming months.

But unlike other wacky and sinister far-right firebrands on the panel, such as Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Comer was not consistently a bomb-thrower in the years before his ascent to the chair.

Interviews with people who know Comer and an examination of public records presented a more complicated view of the man who has spent the last six weeks railing against Hunter Biden’s art purchases and flirting with vaccine skepticism. His reputation in Kentucky was that of a “bipartisan backslapper,” said Adam Edelen, a former Democratic state auditor who spent years working with Comer.

Now, he’s helming one of the party’s highest profile platforms for spreading conspiracy theories, a job that he’s already begun to use to to promote ideas that, for the past few years, have mostly been consigned to Fox News opinion programming and Newsmax.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/...bomb-throwing-head-of-the-oversight-committee

Looks like James has been infected with the Crazy.

 

Matt Gaetz Busted For Touting Chinese Propaganda In House Hearing

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was in the midst of doing his usual anti-Ukraine schtick yesterday in a hearing on U.S. funding for its ally when he teed up what he clearly thought was going to be a gotcha moment. He ended up being the one who got got.

Laying what looked like a trap for one of the witnesses, Gaetz asked if a far-right group in Ukraine has access to U.S. weapons. The witness, under secretary of defense for policy Colin Kahl, was immediately wary and pressed Gaetz for any information he might have to support the question. Gaetz pounced, citing a “Global Times investigative report,” which he quickly moved to enter into the record. The committee chair, hearing no objections, ordered it entered into the record. The teeth of Gaetz’s trap thus closed … on his own leg.

Kahl, with impeccable almost casual timing, pointed out that he himself tends not to rely on Chinese propaganda. No, really. A befuddled Gaetz at first denied it was the Chinese Global Times, a well-known propaganda organ of the Chinese government, but was quickly forced to concede.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morni...r-touting-chinese-propaganda-in-house-hearing

Priceless. They'll believe anything.

 

Key Georgia election official rips Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘conspiracies’ after tense meeting

A top election official in Georgia took aim at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for spreading “disproven conspiracies” after she falsely claimed during a House panel on election integrity that former President Donald Trump won the state in the 2020 election.

“I had a discussion with the Election Integrity Caucus. A big part of that is talking truthfully about the challenges in elections and identifying REAL issues,” wrote Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in a tweet Tuesday night.

“Some still deal in disproven conspiracies. It’s a challenge we all face, but having a @CocaCola makes everything better,” Sterling tweeted alongside a screenshot of him taking a deep swig of soda while seated next to Greene.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/01/mar...ing-in-conspiracies-ga-election-official.html

Marge will never come to grips with the reality of the 2020 election.

 

Proud to be Crazy.

https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1630706444675735554?s=20

 

Garland Schools Cruz Over Mar-A-Lago Photos Not Leaked

Attorney General Merrick Garland easily dispatched Senator Ted Cruz's wild claims that the FBI leaked Mar-A-Lago photos of classified documents to hurt the former president. A bearded Cruz, trying to look tough and hip while failing at both, questioned Garland about the raid at Mar-a-Lago. He quickly made a fool of himself.

"As you know, the FBI raided Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home," Cruz said solemnly. I thought he might cry for a second. "Subsequent to that raid, there have been multiple leaks about what was discovered there including a photograph of documents that were discovered there are."

"Did you know about the leaks...from that raid?" Cruz asked.

"The photograph was a filing in court in response to a motion filed by Mr. Trump," Garland replied. "It was not a leak."

"So, you're testifying there haven't been leaks about the Trump raid," Cruz stated.

"I'm responding to the point about the photo," Garland shot back.
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/03/cruz-punked-garland-over-mar-lago-not

 

I would prefer default if that is the only way we can get federal government to control its spending. Common sense doesn't seem to work. The votes they buy are too valuable to them.

 

Jim Jordan’s Bogus Probe Exposed For The Charade It Is

Rep. Jim Jordan’s supposed “whistleblowers” who were going to expose the FBI’s role in various Deep State conspiracies have turned out to be as bogus as his so-called investigations:

But the first three witnesses to testify privately before the new Republican-led House committee investigating the “weaponization” of the federal government have offered little firsthand knowledge of any wrongdoing or violation of the law, according to Democrats on the panel who have listened to their accounts. Instead, the trio appears to be a group of aggrieved former F.B.I. officials who have trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories, including about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, and received financial support from a top ally of former President Donald J. Trump.

Not surprising, of course. But what is notable is House Democrats flexing big time to pre-empt Jordan’s circus.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/jim-jordan-fbi-whistleblowers-weaponization

We're on to Cincinnati.

 

G.O.P. Witnesses, Paid by Trump Ally, Embraced Jan. 6 Conspiracy Theories

WASHINGTON — House Republicans have spent months promising to use their majority to uncover an insidious bias against conservatives on the part of the federal government, vowing to produce a roster of brave whistle-blowers who would come forward to provide damning evidence of abuses aimed at the right.

But the first three witnesses to testify privately before the new Republican-led House committee investigating the “weaponization” of the federal government have offered little firsthand knowledge of any wrongdoing or violation of the law, according to Democrats on the panel who have listened to their accounts. Instead, the trio appears to be a group of aggrieved former F.B.I. officials who have trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories, including about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, and received financial support from a top ally of former President Donald J. Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/02/us/politics/house-weaponization-committee-jan-6.html

Gym's clown show has fizzled.

 

Absolutely priceless.

 

I am asking for the mod's indulgence in allowing this lengthy attribution since it comes from the Dem Staff report on Gym Jordan's farcical hearings. I am not able to paste the URL from this computer since it comes from a PDF file. But everyone should be able to find it by doing a Google search.

This partisan investigation, such as it is, rests in large part on what Chairman Jordan has
described as “dozens and dozens of whistleblowers… coming to us, talking about what is going
on, the political nature at the Justice Department.”1 To date, the House Judiciary Committee has
held transcribed interviews with three of these individuals. Chairman Jordan has, of course,
refused to name any of the other “dozens and dozens” who may have spoken with him. He has
also refused to share any of the documents which these individuals may have provided to the
Committee.
Nevertheless, based on interviews of the three witnesses that have been made available to
us, we are able to draw a number of striking conclusions about the state of the Republican
investigation.
First, the three individuals we have met are not, in fact, “whistleblowers.” These
individuals, who put forward a wide range of conspiracy theories, did not present actual evidence
of any wrongdoing at the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Second, the transcribed interviews we have held thus far refute House Republican
narrative about “bias” at the Department of Justice. We urge Chairman Jordan to schedule the
public testimony of these individuals without delay. The American public should be able to
judge for themselves whether these witnesses or their allegations are remotely credible.
Third, these interviews also reveal the active engagement and orchestration of disturbing
outside influence on the witnesses and, potentially, the Republican members of the Select
Subcommittee. A network of organizations, led by former Trump administration officials like
Kash Patel and Russell Vought, appears to have identified these witnesses, provided them with
financial compensation, and found them employment after they left the FBI. These same
individuals lobbied for the creation of the Select Subcommittee in the first place. They have a
story to tell, and they appear to be using House Republicans to tell it.

 

House Oversight Chair Calls It A ‘Mistake’ That US Didn’t Bomb Mexico During Trump Administration

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) said Tuesday morning that it was a “mistake” that the administration didn’t go through with bombing drug labs in Mexico after then-President Donald Trump suggested it in 2020.

“One of the things we learned post-Trump presidency is that he had ordered a bombing of a couple of fentanyl labs, crystal meth labs, in Mexico, just across the border and for whatever reason the military didn’t do it,” he said on Fox News. “I think that was a mistake.”

That Trump suggested bombing the United States’ southern neighbor and ally was revealed in former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s book, “A Sacred Oath,” last year. Esper relayed that Trump thought such an act of war could be performed discreetly.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/comer-house-oversight-mexico-bomb

Q:What kind of mentality leads someone to think it's okay to bomb a facility in a friendly, neighboring country? A:Authoritarian.