340 Comments

It’s my opinion Kevin McCarthy is, quintessentially, a stopped clock; even a timepiece broken in shipping (!) can be right twice a day by virtue of continuing to exist even though it’s been functionally fubar from the moment you open the box.

Expand full comment

None of the above. McCarthy probably had a transient moment of "sanity" caused by jet lag, or the weather. Even a clock is right twice a day. His comments on Ukraine will certainly be noticed by the MAGA nuts who run the House.

They are busy planning his demise as speaker if he shows even a miniscule amount of courage in confronting the debt ceiling crisis. Brace for a hard landing.

Expand full comment
May 3, 2023·edited May 3, 2023

I was stunned (and delighted) at McCarthy's response to the Russian reporter, but I would be surprised if he doesn't "clarify" them soon. Who knows why he responded so forcefully. He must keep a lot of his own beliefs bottled up to appease his caucus factions and perhaps the cork simply popped out…momentarily.

Expand full comment

Well, all of the above in a very narrow narrative. But you're asking the wrong question.

Expand full comment

Gordon Lightfoot!

I am from Michigan and was raised in that 'musty old hall in Detroit they pray..." (Wreck of E.F). I served as an acolyte. As a child, (was 8 when it went down) I either carried a flag, cross, or candle. The church was packed each year with servicemen/women from every branch, every news station. It was nuts on toast in there. And beautiful, truly magnificent. Except for maybe the bells. They were incredibly loud each of the 29 times. I was honored to have participated in this special service each November, and we were blessed with Gordon Lightfoot's appearance and live performance one. It was, after all, his song that brought the tragedy to the fore where we all slowed down long enough to truly pay our respects. Thank you, GL!

Expand full comment

Gordon Lightfoot!

I am from Michigan and was raised in that 'musty old hall in Detroit they pray..." (Wreck of E.F). I served as an acolyte. As a child, (was 8 when it went down) I either carried a flag, cross, or candle. The church was packed each year with servicemen/women from every branch, every news station. It was nuts on toast in there. And beautiful, truly magnificent. Except for maybe the bells. They were incredibly loud each of the 29 times. I was honored to have participated in this special service each November, and we were blessed with Gordon Lightfoot's appearance and live performance one. It was, after all, his song that brought the tragedy to the fore where we all slowed down long enough to truly pay our respects. Thank you, GL!

Expand full comment

When I was young, my sister gave me Gordon Lightfoot's album Sundown one Christmas and I must have played that thing a million times. I could still sing every song in my sleep all these decades later and what great songs they still are. RIP to a rare talent and thanks for the music.

Expand full comment
May 3, 2023·edited May 3, 2023

Re: Dumb Leaks. "One may regard Ellsberg, Manning, and Snowden as heroes or villains, but they were in something of a classic American tradition of leaking: They had a coherent point of view, and they acted purposefully to advance a cause."

Sorry, Mr. Schoenfeld, this is where the train of thought goes off the rails. If Mr. Teixeira's "stupidity" (your word), as compared to the ideological commitments of the people to whom you compare him should be a factor at all in evaluating his guilt, it seems to me to be more a mitigating factor than an aggravating one. Someone who harms the country is culpable and should be punished regardless, but I'd be more inclined to be a bit lenient toward someone whose betrayal was the result of showing off then toward someone for whom the betrayal was the whole point.

Expand full comment

Charlie, I wish that I could join you in celebrating Sneaker McCarthy's revision of his previous comments on Ukraine during his Israel trip, except that on the same trip he also invited Netanyahu to come to Washington to address the House while the Administration is, quite rightly, trying to pressure Netanyahu out of his effort to kneecap the rule of law. Two steps forward, three steps back.

Expand full comment

I vote for #3.

Expand full comment

Just here to say thank you for adding Bill Lueders to your lineup of contributors. He's terrific!

Expand full comment

many GOP voters believe " wasteful Ukraine money" will be spent on them. Are they insane? Not one GOP policy supports regular people. DeSantis is spending millions to cement power yet does nothing to help home insurance costs or power bills, etc. The school voucher scams in red states are just more profiteering. Why do these states refuse minimal oversight of the schools? We know why. The loosening of child labor laws is obviously a gift to greedy employers, corporations. Of course GOP has Moore v. Harper in the bag so they do not care. Red states next year will totally suppress youth vote etc

Expand full comment

He didn't know he was on a hot mike. Watch him walk it back tomorrow

Expand full comment

It's not possible to make any logical, constitutional sense of the Republican debt ceiling threat.

The language of the Fourteenth Amendment is so clear and unambiguous that any argument is "frivolous."

If individuals conducted themselves with their creditors as Kevin McCarthy suggests the government can and should, they would hear from collection agencies and be sued to pay up.

If Republicans think that the public debts of the United States SHOULD be questioned every year, they should work on amending the Constitution to say that.

And if the issue came before the Supreme Court--even this Supreme Court--the Speaker would lose.

Biden is pursuing the only strategy that "faithfully executes" the Constitution. It just took his thinking outside the box and going with principled stand and the public seems to like it.

Expand full comment

I actually left a message on his twitter praising him for his support of Ukraine and telling Russian to

pull out. Well done Kevin !!

Expand full comment

Regarding Kevin and Ukraine, I hope he's responding to the fact that Tucker isn't around to harangue him in prime time for now. But it's very likely that he's just the blind squirrel stumbling across his monthly acorn.

In any event, this may be an interesting test of what I've been wondering since Rupert deep-sixed Tucker: How will the GOP respond to the absence of Tucker? Will the 'normies' become a little more outspoken against the Crazy Clown Caucus? 🍿

Expand full comment