The GOP Escapes Reality's Orbit
The GOP Escapes Reality's Orbit
Plus: The need for American leadership.
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CHARLIE SYKES: The Moral Depravity of the Pro-Hamas Left
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A.B. STODDARD: As Crises Mount, Republicans Depart from Reality
THE REPUBLICANS WHO CONTROL the House of Representatives cannot respond to a new war waged against Israel. They have rejected new aid to support Ukraine in its defense against the Russian invasion. They have no plan to keep the government from shutting down on November 17 when funding next runs dry.
There is no path forward, as of now, to replace the House speaker they fired last week with a new one this week.
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JILL D. LAWRENCE: Israel, Ukraine, and the Need for American Leadership.
IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME before Josh Hawley threw Ukraine under Vladimir Putin’s bus. “Israel is facing existential threat. Any funding for Ukraine should be redirected to Israel immediately,” the Republican senator from Missouri wrote Monday afternoon.
To think I fretted that Ukraine—facing its own an existential threat from a nuclear-armed Russia and its dangerously deluded president—might fall out of the headlines for a while when Hamas unleashed massive terrorist horrors on Israel, and Israel declared war. The idea of pulling back U.S. support never came to mind. Russia could not have imagined a more generous gift.
CATHY YOUNG: Blood on Biden’s Hands?
BEYOND THE TERROR GROUP HAMAS and its state sponsor, Iran, who else is to blame for the horrifying attacks that have left more than a thousand people, most of them civilians, dead in Israel? Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina thinks he’s found another culprit: President Biden. “Joe Biden has blood on his hands,” Scott flatly declared in a speech on Tuesday at Washington’s Hudson Institute. “His weakness invited the attack. His cash giveaways to Iran helped fund terrorism.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Wednesday… We still don’t have a Speaker and the chaos in the House GOP really is hitting new levels. Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, a longtime reporter on the hill, observes:
I've never seen the House Republican Conference so discombobulated, rudderless and confused in my time covering Congress. They said they'd spend the fall passing bills using regular order, instead they've booted their speaker and are warring over the next one. They are rewriting the rules for the election the day of the election after criticizing states for doing that in 2020. They are taking the cell phones of elected officials when they go into meetings -- these are adults with staffs who are not able to bring their electronics into party meetings. This speaker election could go a while. Two weeks now on an internal party matter with govt funding expiring in a month and change…
Internally, on list servers of Legislative Directors for Republicans, Rep. Tom McClintock’s staff floated a proposal to kick out Republicans who voted against leadership positions from the GOP caucus. Do they want to be a permanent minority? If so, I don’t know what they’d be doing any differently.
“This is fucked, y’all…” Wonkette's editor boldly tells readers: “If you don’t think you’re being a raging antisemite right now, the chances are you’re probably wrong.”
Telling people what you really think can be risky, but in a lot of cases, it’s quite brave if your mortgage depends on it. Do me a favor and go read the whole thing. I’ve been a Wonkette reader since I was a bright-eyed young conservative hill staffer who often disagreed. I disagree less so these days, but if you’re not a reader, you’re missing out.
Never rub another man’s rhubarb1… Matt Gaetz came in and renamed Chip Roy’s proposed amendment after himself. It helped get the measure tabled.
Zelensky to Israel… Ukraine’s president wants to visit Israel in a show of solidarity. Smart politics.
Israel’s new spy plane… Had to enter service early because of Hamas’s attack. Here’s what the plane is capable of.
Trump’s Overrated Peace Plan… Helped Enable the Horrors in Israel and Gaza, Nicholas Grossman convincingly argues at The Daily Beast.
World’s third richest man lays off 240… At The Washington Post. Which has me wondering what the point of a billionaire of owning it is… To offer buyouts?
What’s the Highest Number of Miles a ‘New’ Car Can Have on the Odometer? Henry Cesari takes a deep dive on what qualifies as “new.”
Meanwhile, in Alabama… A former state Rep. was sentenced to 60 days in jail for voter fraud.
…And in Saint Louis… Police and liberal prosecutors butted heads, and some cops dragged their feet on things while others actively hindered their work. Not a good recipe for governance!
We don’t talk about Leonard… ProPublica with “the inside story of how Leonard Leo built a machine that remade the American legal system — and what he plans to do next.”
Tommy Tumbleville2… While he was concerned that President Biden was “going to fall down every time I turn on television” on his trip to Europe, it turns out that in 2014, before he was a Senator, he had a tumble of his own. It has become a new nickname.
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