Lots of great stuff in this essay. Pardon as I pick a nit.
Reed said:
*****This week, they’re considering nine more members who won’t be Speaker of the House. Of those, only one Majority Whip Tom Emmer, voted to certify Joe Biden as President of the United States (but only after signing onto Texas AG Ken Paxton’s bogus lawsuit to throw out Pennsylvania’s Electoral Votes.)*****
.
Actually, there were two who voted to certify, the other being Austin Scott.
I have been prepping an essay to appear either before the Republican conference vote on Tuesday or before the full House vote on Wednesday. In connection with that, I also have been analyzing the candidates on past key votes. Here is some draft text:
*****Before the conference vote, I evaluated the nine candidates with an eye toward identifying which of them Democrats might feel comfortable supporting. Here were my criteria:
– Following the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, did the candidate vote to certify the election of Joe Biden as president?
– This past September 28, did the candidate vote in support of military aid for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion?
– This past September 30, did the candidate vote for the continuing resolution that is now keeping the government operating through November 17?
Of the nine, only two candidates voted correctly on all three of these measures: Tom Emmer and Austin Scott. Two others voted correctly on the two measures last month, but cast a shameful vote on January 6, 2021: Jack Bergman and Pete Sessions. One of the candidates – Daniel Meuser – cast a single correct vote (on September 30 to avert a government shutdown). The remaining four either did or would have ree remaining three
Three of the remaining five cast the wrong vote all three times, and another would have done so had he not missed one of the votes. The last of the nine candidates cast just one appropriate.*****
The conversation with Joe Walsh was fabulous. I never miss the longer versions of his White Flag podcast and now I have included the Lincoln Project Podcast in my rotation.
Beginning Defenestration Day (October 3), I have published four essays on the speaker crisis, and in all of them I have advocated that the Democratic caucus work with prospective allies in the Problem Solvers Caucus to elect one of the Republican leaders of the group. My hope now lies with Bacon. It would be great were Democrats, without any warning, simply to vote for Bacon at the next House floor vote. Seems to me that such an ambush would be the most effective way to do it, rather than insist upon a formal agreement. I have lost some friends over this!
Alas.
Anyhow, love the work Reed and the Lincoln Project are doing. Below are the essays that I mentioned.
October 3: How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Speaker?
Thanks! Fixed it!
Lots of great stuff in this essay. Pardon as I pick a nit.
Reed said:
*****This week, they’re considering nine more members who won’t be Speaker of the House. Of those, only one Majority Whip Tom Emmer, voted to certify Joe Biden as President of the United States (but only after signing onto Texas AG Ken Paxton’s bogus lawsuit to throw out Pennsylvania’s Electoral Votes.)*****
.
Actually, there were two who voted to certify, the other being Austin Scott.
I have been prepping an essay to appear either before the Republican conference vote on Tuesday or before the full House vote on Wednesday. In connection with that, I also have been analyzing the candidates on past key votes. Here is some draft text:
*****Before the conference vote, I evaluated the nine candidates with an eye toward identifying which of them Democrats might feel comfortable supporting. Here were my criteria:
– Following the riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, did the candidate vote to certify the election of Joe Biden as president?
– This past September 28, did the candidate vote in support of military aid for Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion?
– This past September 30, did the candidate vote for the continuing resolution that is now keeping the government operating through November 17?
Of the nine, only two candidates voted correctly on all three of these measures: Tom Emmer and Austin Scott. Two others voted correctly on the two measures last month, but cast a shameful vote on January 6, 2021: Jack Bergman and Pete Sessions. One of the candidates – Daniel Meuser – cast a single correct vote (on September 30 to avert a government shutdown). The remaining four either did or would have ree remaining three
Three of the remaining five cast the wrong vote all three times, and another would have done so had he not missed one of the votes. The last of the nine candidates cast just one appropriate.*****
The conversation with Joe Walsh was fabulous. I never miss the longer versions of his White Flag podcast and now I have included the Lincoln Project Podcast in my rotation.
Beginning Defenestration Day (October 3), I have published four essays on the speaker crisis, and in all of them I have advocated that the Democratic caucus work with prospective allies in the Problem Solvers Caucus to elect one of the Republican leaders of the group. My hope now lies with Bacon. It would be great were Democrats, without any warning, simply to vote for Bacon at the next House floor vote. Seems to me that such an ambush would be the most effective way to do it, rather than insist upon a formal agreement. I have lost some friends over this!
Alas.
Anyhow, love the work Reed and the Lincoln Project are doing. Below are the essays that I mentioned.
October 3: How Do You Solve a Problem Like the Speaker?
https://decencyandsense.substack.com/p/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-the
October 10: An Urgent Opportunity for Bipartisanship
https://decencyandsense.substack.com/p/an-urgent-opportunity-for-bipartisanship
October 14: Nancy Pelosi Is Wrong
https://decencyandsense.substack.com/p/nancy-pelosi-is-wrong
October 20: Save Our Bacon!
https://decencyandsense.substack.com/p/save-our-bacon