The Big Ugly battle over control of the Republican Party in Congress was always going to be big and ugly.  We are witnessing the professional Republican apparatus fight hard to retain the UniParty business model that affords them all the affluence and indulgence they are accustomed to.

By now we well understand the nature of the DC political system as a business model. Factually, that’s why congressional candidates spend millions to take a job earning a few hundred thousand.  The business of DC political life is filled with background payments to politicians, family and friends. The business of DC politics provides a life of affluence that is disconnected from most understanding.

Jim Jordan lost his third effort to secure the House Speaker role in a floor vote earlier today.  Following the floor vote, the Republican Caucus held a closed-door meeting and another secret ballot to determine if Jordan should continue.  When they didn’t have to put their names in front of the public for scrutiny, 122 professional members of the Republican Party voted against Jordan, with only 86 votes in support of Jordan continuing.   Jim Jordan from Ohio is done.

Within the voting and the turmoil, we see the axiom bell ring true.   Democrats want power, Republicans want money.  Democrats use money to get power, Republicans use power to get money.  Democrat donors support ideology.  Republican politicians chase donor money.  This is the essential difference in the two wings of the UniParty apparatus.

♦ What becomes visible…. Threaten the power of Democrats, and you receive the weaponization of government.  Threaten the money of Republicans, and you get this Big Ugly outcome.  That’s what we are witnessing.

On the positive side, with each passing example more American voters are starting to understand the nature of the UniParty apparatus.  Within this painful understanding you find the reason why support for Donald J. Trump grows.  Trump threatens the Democrat power structure; so, they weaponize the full weight of government against him (Main Justice, FBI, IC, FISA, the works).  However, Trump also threatens the Republican structure of affluence; so, we see them step aside and willfully watch the weaponization of government against their common enemy.  That’s also what we are witnessing.

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After a lengthy and often combative GOP conference earlier today, Jim Jordan’s office has announced there will be a 3rd vote for House Speaker Friday at 10:00am.

“The House will vote Friday at 10 a.m. on a third speaker ballot, according to Jordan’s spokesman.” {link}

The UniParty Republicans had earlier floated an interim proposal to grant temporary House Speaker Patrick McHenry with additional authorities which would gain Democratic vote support.  The concept was to get the House through a round of funding for Israel and Ukraine aid and avoiding a shutdown, until January.  However, that effort fell short as the non UniParty Republicans would not agree to the plan.

Jordan spoke briefly about that issue following the conference meeting.  WATCH (46 secs):

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(Via Politico) – […] Republicans are split. Jordan, for now, isn’t ready to call it quits, and some of his backers are gearing up for trench warfare.

“I can tell you, nobody in our conference can get to 217 on two rounds, and three legislative days. So I think he deserves more time,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), a Jordan ally, told reporters. “I’m in favor of trying. For Jordan, I would go at least another week.”

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The second round of voting for House Speaker ended with two more “Republicans” vowing to support the goals of the UniParty in Washington DC and retain alignment with Democrats.  The mask dropping is quite remarkable, and perhaps the only good thing to come from this dynamic.

Here are the 22 professional Republicans who wish to see a Democrat House Speaker:

♦ Don Bacon: (202) 225-4155; @RepDonBacon (voted McCarthy) ♦ *Vern Buchanan: (202) 225-5015;@vern Buchanan (voted Donalds) ♦ Ken Buck: (202) 225-4676; @RepKenBuck  (voted for Emmer) ♦ Lori Chavez-DeRemer: (202) 225-5711; @RepLCD (voted McCarthy) ♦ Anthony D’Esposito: (202) 225-5516; @anthonydespo (voted Zeldin) ♦ Mario Díaz-Balart: (202) 225-4211; @MarioDB (voted Scalise) ♦ Jake Ellzey: (202) 225-2002; @JakeEllzey  (voted Garcia) ♦ *Drew Ferguson: (202) 225-5901; @RepDrewFerguson (voted Scalise) ♦ Andrew Garbarino: (202) 225-7896; @RepGarbarino (voted Zeldin) ♦ Carlos Giménez: (202) 225-2778; @RepCarlos (voted McCarthy) ♦ Tony Gonzales (TX): (202) 225-4511; @TonyGonzales4TX (voted Scalise) ♦ Kay Granger: (202) 225-5071; @RepKayGranger (voted Scalise) ♦ John James: (202) 225-4961; @repjames (voted for Moolenaar?) ♦ Mike Kelly (PA): (202) 225-5406; @MikeKellyPA (voted Bainer?) ♦ Jen Kiggans: (202) 225-4215; @JenKiggans (McCarthy) ♦ Nick LaLota: (202) 225-3826; @nicklalota (voted Zeldin) ♦ Mike Lawler: (202) 225-6506; @lawler4ny (voted McCarthy ) ♦ *Marianette Miller-Meeks: (202) 225-6576; @RepMMM (voted Grainger) ♦ John Rutherford: (202) 225-2501; @RepRutherfordFL (voted Scalise) ♦ Mike Simpson: (202) 225-5531; @CongMikeSimpson (voted Scalise) ♦ Steve Womack: (202) 225-4301; @rep_stevewomack (voted Scalise). 

There is remarkable overlap amid those Republicans who previously voted to support Nancy Pelosi in her impeachment effort against President Trump.  The UniParty is on display, and despite the frustration – Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant!

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Keep this list handy. These are the twenty Republicans who are stealth Democrats and voted against Jim Jordan. Yes, there are some surprises, including John James of Michigan.

The 20 who voted against Jordan are: Tony Gonzales (TX), Kay Granger (TX), Mario Diaz Balart (FL), Mike Kelly (PA), John Rutherford (FL), Mike Simpson (Idaho) Steve Womack (Arkansas), Lori Chavez DeRemer (OR), Don Bacon (NE), Carlos Gimenez (FL), Jennifer Kiggans (VA), Mike Lawler (NY), Doug LaMalfa (CA), Anthony D’Espositio (NY), Andrew Garbarino (NY), Nick LaLota (NY), Jake Ellzey (TX), Ken Buck (CO), John James (MI), Victoria Spartz (IN).

Accept things as they are, not as we would pretend them to be.

(Via Politico) – The Ohio Republican failed to get the 217 votes he needed to clinch the gavel during Tuesday’s first ballot, with 20 GOP votes against him. The House recessed immediately after the vote concluded, and it’s unclear when a second ballot will occur.

Some lawmakers aren’t optimistic it will happen anytime soon, with Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) saying confidently to reporters as he exited the floor: “Have a good evening everyone.”

The pause will allow Jordan to meet with some of the 20 Republican holdouts to try and bring them into his camp before voting again. Recessing before continuing on to a second ballot will allow sorely divided Republicans to regroup in private away from the House floor and potentially consider their strategy.

Many Jordan allies had predicted it could take multiple ballots, but it’s unclear if they’ll be able to flip enough holdouts in subsequent votes. (read more)

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The media and punditry are saying it’s the pressure of Jordan, but really, it’s the pressure of the voters that’s scaring the crap out of the Republicans in the House.

The block of opposition to Jim Jordan’s nomination in the House is crumbling, as their phones, emails and fax machines are being lit up by voters demanding support and threatening a removal primary against any House member who tries to stand in the way of the people.

Jordan has vowed to take his nomination to a House floor vote and force the Republican Party to take a stand. This is a solid strategy that puts any no vote against the will of the electorate.

WASHINGTON – Twenty-four hours before the full House will vote on whether to hand Jordan the gavel, the Judiciary chair and his allies have managed to chip away at a significant bloc of opposition that many in the House GOP saw as insurmountable just days ago.

That includes two lawmakers who had publicly vowed not to support Jordan: Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Mo.), who had publicly railed against Jordan’s behavior towards Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who had also backed Scalise’s bid and has been critical of the House Freedom Caucus’s tactics in recent years.

Another holdout, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), posted on X Monday that he would be “offering my support on the House floor” to Jordan. Buchanan, a senior member of the Florida GOP delegation, is another significant get, given three Republicans from the Sunshine state are still holding out.

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The Jim Jordan floor vote is going to end up being a public GOP exhibition in who supports unlimited Ukraine funding.  Jim Jordan has expressed opposition to more funding for Ukraine, and the professional Republican wing of neocons do not like that.

A great example surfaces today inside the change of position for one of the staunchest Ukraine advocates, Indiana representative Victoria Spartz.  However, what I find most interesting about her reversal is Spartz’s unwillingness to admit the reason.

[SOURCE]

Despite her political pretending, Representative Spartz primary allegiance is to her home country of Ukraine, not the United States.  It is disingenuous in the extreme how the media is reporting on her reversal without mentioning the one key element that drives her decision-making.

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In the Friday vote for Republican House Speaker, Jim Jordan won 124 votes and Austin Scott gained 81 votes.  Jordan now has a few days to talk to the roughly fifty Republican holdouts who do not support him.   If it looks like Jordan can win the 217 floor votes needed, the GOP will likely vote next week.

After rising at the last minute, on behalf of the professionally Republican purchased UniParty wing (Sea Island donors), Georgia Representative Austin Scott has acquiesced and stated he will support Jim Jordan.   It’s a little funny, because without a doubt Scott didn’t realize his Sea Island, Georgia, bona fides would be so quickly showcased.

From the inside, Jim Jordan (Ohio) is seen as part of the MAGA wing by the Republican apparatus.

(Via Politico) – […] GOP leadership sent members home for the weekend with plans to reassess on Monday after Jordan beat Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) with 124 votes, then picked up less than 30 more votes when Republicans were pressed whether they’d support him on the floor.

[…]  Jordan “should be afforded 24 hours or the weekend or whatever … to see if he can get the votes and if he can’t get the votes, roll on,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) told reporters after the vote. The eventual speaker, he added, “may be somebody who is tolerable for everybody.”

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The House GOP Speaker’s race is a system of conniving and positioning for a cushy committee assignment, indulgences from the lobbyist control apparatus, office locations and Machiavellian influence for the best junkets and largest leadership PAC deposits.  That’s the truth, the non-pretending truth about the system at work behind the GOPe blind vote.

This internecine professionally Republican stuff has nothing to do with principle centered leadership, and everything to do with self-indulgences and personal affluence.

Riddle me this…. Steve Scalise drops out leaving Jim Jordan as the last man standing that seemingly could unite the caucus.  Kevin McCarthy supports Jordan. Against this backdrop, Georgia Republican Austin Scott, the seven-term representative who  told CNN’s Manu Raju on Thursday that the GOP’s inability to elect a new speaker “makes us look like a bunch of idiots,” now enters the race.

If the caucus was likely to support Jordan, and if Scott was so concerned about them looking like idiots, then why would Scott enter the race to impede the consensus candidate?   That tells you what you need to know about Georgia’s Austin Scott.

Georgia?  What concerns have previously been identified within the Georgia Republican political circles?  Funny that.

VIA CNN: Austin Scott began his political career in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1997, where he served until being elected to Congress in 2011.  Scott, represents Georgia’s 8th Congressional District, serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Armed Services Committee and the House Agriculture Committee.

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President Trump is scheduled to meet with Republican House Conference leadership on Tuesday next week.  According to Congressman Troy Nehls, President Trump is going to recommend and endorse Ohio Representative Jim Jordan for the position:

[Source Link]

Obviously, I do not personally like this idea, as I think it’s just another bondo and spray paint application upon the Republican wing of the UniParty.  However, oddly enough when John Boehner stepped down, I wanted to see Jim Jordan instead of Paul Ryan.  Goes to show how rapidly the machinery in DC can compromise someone.

Ukraine will get funded.  Jordan will be the arbiter of which DC inhabitants will be protected from subpoenas; the House will change the rules to protect him.  The door nameplates change, and everyone goes back to business as usual.  Meh, I wonder who will be placed as chair of the Judiciary Committee and Weaponization Committee?

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My dearest friends, as much as I do not want to accept certain things, this one is critical to accept.  Jim Jordan has shown over time that he is simply a purposefully placed “anger manager” on behalf of the Professionally Republican wing of the administrative state.

Perhaps we lost him before the 2020 election, when the “six ways to Sunday” group fired a shot across his bow with the issues about “widespread sexual abuse in OSU’s wrestling program.”  The timing seems to fit with the overall dynamic and how the intelligence apparatus operates.  Regardless of whether that was the inflection point, the extreme visibility & promotion of the claims, in combination with the sudden disappearance of them, was the impetus –or if it was something similarly timed– something consequential changed in the political orbit of Jim Jordan.

For the past several years, as more intensity has swirled around us, Representative Jim Jordan has appeared as more of a useful “anger manager,” better positioned to satiate the masses than actually deliver any accountability results.  The media appearances seemed to align with that intent, and then a very big datapoint surfaced that few -other than myself- seemed to be concerned about.

When the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Government was formed, it was constructed in the lane of the House Judiciary Committee.  Meaning, the House Judiciary Committee would be the presumptive authority committee under which the select subcommittee would form.  For most casual observers, this seemed to be just a parliamentary decision; however, for me it also held concern.

Those concerns were then realized when it was announced that Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan would also sit as the Chairman of the Select Subcommittee.  If you are cynical and/or knowledgeable as to how the Deep State operates, this approach positioned Jordan as a backstop against the issuance of subpoenas that would be against the interests of the Professionally Republican leadership.  Trying to protect the flickering flame of hope, I held my powder and watched.

What followed was the worst-case scenario that I previously outlined {Go Deep}.  It is no longer a question of whether the Select Subcommittee was constructed in an effort to dissuade, dilute and deflect the outrage by the American people who were witnessing the weaponization of government.  That’s exactly what the subcommittee result was as a result of Jim Jordan’s leadership.

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