So They Can Rule Over Ash

I have said this many a time over the years: There is a sizable faction within the Republican Party ranks that simply do not want the federal government to function in any way. They will force shutdown after shutdown all in the attempt to destroy the existing system so they can rebuild their own twisted Utopia on its ashes.

And now, I'm not the only one. Even the GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy has gone public with the not-so-secret revelation (via Tatyana Tandapolie at Salon) about his own damn caucus:

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., appears to have had enough of his hardline Republican colleagues after they defeated a procedural vote on a Pentagon funding bill for the second time this week.

On Thursday, six Republicans — Reps. Dan Bishop, N.C., Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ga., Matt Rosendale, Mont., Andy Biggs, Ariz., Eli Crane, Ariz., and Tom Cole, Okla. — joined Democrats in voting against the rule for the Pentagon appropriations bill 212-216, preventing the legislation from moving forward in the chamber. As The Hill reports, votes on rules, which dictate debate for legislation, are partisan and predictable matters as, usually, the majority votes in its favor and the minority votes against it. The rule's failure to pass in votes on both Tuesday and Thursday of this week is rare, marking an embarrassing jab at the Speaker.

With the Sept. 30 government funding deadline looming, McCarthy voiced his frustrations with his colleagues' blockages after Thursday's failure. The rule's defeat is "frustrating in the sense that I don't understand why anybody votes against bringing the idea and having the debate," McCarthy told reporters in the hallway outside the House chamber, adding, "This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down. It doesn't work."

To be fair, the House defense appropriations bill was a big eyesore. It was going to gut "diversity" training in order to play to the anti-Woke crowd, it was going to cut defense spending by 8 percent across the military branches, it was going to waste money on restarting construction on trump's goddamned border wall, and it was going to stop financial and supply aid to Ukraine.

It was a bill that was never going to get past a Democratic-controlled Senate, and definitely not get past President Biden's veto stamp. And yet, the House Republicans are extremist enough - even among their moderate rational factions - to where they should have passed the vote to even bring this to the floor for a regular vote.

That they couldn't underscores the schism among the competing groups looking to impose their own fanaticism upon their own party as much as the federal government. Not so much that there are "moderates" anymore among the Republicans, but that there are congresscritters from districts relying on military funding who don't want to cross that line.

But those aren't the congresscritters who matter, are they? No, the ones who matter among the House Republicans are the arsonists looking to force a shutdown to achieve their goals.

Matt Gaetz in particular is itching to use the removal tools the extremists negotiated out of McCarthy back in January. And it's not really over Gaetz's argument that McCarthy is not pursuing impeachment on Biden the way the hardliners want. It's barely over Gaetz's fantasy that he could take over the Speakership position himself (even he has to know his scandalous background alienates fellow Republicans).

It all has to do with the reality that a No Confidence vote to remove McCarthy would cause the ultimate chaos. There's no other leader among the Republican ranks that could appeal to the entire caucus to take over that top spot. Jim Jordan? There are other Republicans who hate him as a grandstander with scandal baggage. Steve Scalise - the other possibility back in January - is currently getting treatment for a rare blood cancer, and also doesn't have a lot of party support. Every other ambitious wannabe won't get enough votes to clear the 218-vote hurdle because enough congresscritters still favoring McCarthy will vote against the replacement out of spite.

Even with the reality they need to stand united against the Democrats sitting on the sidelines waiting for defections to rally to them, these Republicans would end up knee-capping each other in the rush to become the next Speaker.

Which still fulfills the Freedom Caucus' fantasy of a perpetual government shutdown: Without a functioning House, there will be no spending bills passed. Nothing will get done. Outside of risking defections from House Republicans in Biden-friendly districts, the Republicans could enjoy a broken divided government all the way through to the 2024 general elections.

And thanks to massive gerrymandering and voter suppression back in Red States, the House GOP can well avoid any accountability from the voters for their sabotage.

This could get uglier than usual. A shutdown is pretty much a given at this point. It would have to take 8-12 Republicans to cross the aisle on their own to deal with Democrats, shift the Speakership to the Dems, and avoid the damage the wingnuts want to impose. However, there is no such courage among House Republicans to make that move. It would doom their political careers (unless they flip Democratic outright in a Dem-friendly district).

There are no brave souls among Republicans. They pander to their rabid voting base and they whine to their media allies, but they are cowards hiding in their safe spaces unwilling to commit to the hard work that governing requires.

Get ready for another shutdown brought to you by a broken, reactionary, cowardly Republican Party. They will not rule, so they will straight-up ruin.

Gods help us.