Flotsam and Jetsam - We Have a Speaker, J6 has a Anniversary

Well, we have a Speaker of the House, and to nobody surprise, it is Kevin McCarthy (R-Cal). Now they can call the full legislature into session, and as Gideon  J. Tucker reminds us "No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session." A fair amount of wrangling took place since yesterday's post. From the Wombat's In The Mailbox: 01.06.23, EBL calls it Let’s Make A Deal: House Speaker Edition, with McCarthy making agreements with the holdouts. The gory details are related by Paula Bolyard at PJ Media in Kevin McCarthy Elected 55th Speaker of the House. Here's How It Went Down. The House voted three times in the afternoon, and on each vote there was more progress, if more votes for McCarthy was progress. But still at the end of the afternoon, he was a vote or two shy, and the House voted to adjourn for more arm twisting and deal making and reconvene at 10 PM. At that point they were pretty sure that they had the votes at 10 PM, but somebody miscounted, and the vote failed by a single vote. They immediately (or as immediately as a legislature can do anything) called for a new vote, and the vote was 216 McCarthy, 212 Jeffries, and 6 present, giving McCarthy a majority of the votes cast (present doesn't count in the total), and the clerk announced he had been elected Speaker. And I went to bed. Reportedly, the House was to be sworn in enmass immediately to that looting of the treasury could resume.

Concessions reportedly include:

• A single member can move to “vacate the chair”
• A hard line on the debt limit
• Votes on term limits and border security
• McCarthy’s leadership PAC will stay out of open primaries
• “Open rules” on spending measures, and the ability to bring up stand-alone appropriation bills
• Discretionary spending cap
• A commitment to set up a committee on the “weaponization” of the government

I have a ton of links of course, many of which were outdated shortly after their posting, but here we go anyway.

Ace - THE MORNING RANT: Bravo to the GOP Rebels If They Can Break The Congressional Seniority System; (plus a crazy alternative idea – “Reverse Seniority”)
House Heads To Longest Speaker Vote Series Since 1859 | The Daily Caller
Kevin McCarthy Vows to Keep Fighting: 'It's How You Finish'
Matt Gaetz Votes for Donald Trump as Speaker of the House
Republican Anti-McCarthy Rebellion Splits Three Ways; Still No Speaker | The Daily Wire
Scalping a Would-Be Speaker - The American Conservative
WEBB: Instead of Vilifying Republican Holdouts, We Should be Listening | Human Events | humanevents.com
"Stunt"? McCarthy opponents fundraising off their House revolt – HotAir
BREAKING, kinda: McCarthy tells House GOP that he put out a deal with Roy, conservatives ... or something – HotAir
Salon: Republicans arguing over leadership will inspire terrorism – HotAir
Video, Day #4 of House Effort to Elect Speaker - 200 Republicans Willing to Give up Their Congressional Responsibility - The Last Refuge
THE DAM BREAKS – PJ Media
'Framework' For a Speaker Deal Emerges That Gives Freedom – PJ Media
UPDATE: McCarthy Closer Than Ever to Seizing Speaker's Gavel
"Liars Know How to Figure" - House Adjourns Until 10pm Tonight, When Next Speaker Vote Will Be With Fewer House Members Present - The Last Refuge
McCarthy Fails Again on Ballot #12, But Picks Up 14 Votes From 21 Holdouts - The Last Refuge
What Matt Gaetz Reportedly Said After the 14th Ballot Was Music to McCarthy’s Ears
Matt Gaetz Says He Will Resign if Democrats strike a deal with Republicans
Kevin McCarthy Elected 55th Speaker of the House. Here's How It Went Down. – PJ Media

Republicans Warn of National Security Risks as House Speaker Battle Extends Into Third Day

Rep. Davidson to Newsmax: Parts of Speaker Deal Create 'Heartburn' | Newsmax.com

CODY: Republican Resolutions for the New Year Include Using Power to Pursue the Left, and Recruiting Americans to That Cause.

House GOP: Don’t Get Mad Over The Omnibus(t), Get Even — Here’s How – Issues & Insights

Did Trump Win the 'Meme Wars' With His Post About Being Nominated for House Speaker?

Media, Democrats Now Comparing Boring Speaker’s Race to Capitol Riot, January 6

Yesterday was also the 2nd anniversary of the Incursion at the Capital, and as you might imagine, the remembrance brought more heat than light. Ace, Never Forgive, Never Forget. "Two years ago today, the FBI/DOJ/Deep State theft of the 2020 election was cemented by a "riot" staged by the aforementioned, which they labeled as an "insurrection." Insty, A DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN MISREPRESENTATION. . .   The redoubtable Julie Kelly at Am Great, calls it January 6: A Day That Will Live in Alchemy "In a feat of political sorcery—fueled by lies, cover-ups, and careerism—the Biden regime has transformed an unruly, four-hour protest into an act of domestic terror." BullshitSquared (blue check)@xenophonrocks "January 6 could be the Highest of High Holy Bullshit days. Here's Robert Reich, a former Secretary of Labor and Ivy League academic claiming our crazy orange former president incited an insurrection." Harry Scherer at Am Con, The Faces of January 6 "These aren’t saints. They’re Americans. We should treat them like it." VOA News, Arrests in January 6 US Capitol Attack Top 950. At PM, Biden falsely connects murder of Capitol Police officer by black nationalist to Jan 6 Capitol riot. Rusty Weiss at PI, Estate of Officer Brian Sicknick, Who Died of Natural Causes, Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Trump. Breitbart notes Merrick Garland Links 5 Capitol Police Deaths to January 6 Riot. At Da Mail, Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt's mom is arrested for blocking traffic at memorial for daughter on second anniversary of January 6 - as protestors yell at cops: 'You murdered her daughter'.  From Twitchy, Journo shares EYE-OPENING thread about what he witnessed firsthand on J6 with Ashli Babbitt (footage). Tayler Hansen@TaylerUSA, Michael Byrd claims he shot Ashli because CERT had not arrived, they were present in the room and were moving forward to de escalate. They did not feel the need to shoot anyone or to resort to violence. Michael Byrd became trigger happy and shot an unarmed woman posing no threat." Tom Fitton@TomFitton, "The only homicide victim on January 6 is Ashli Babbitt." But to be fair, the Kap Cops might have beaten Rosanne Boylan to death, too.

From Amber Abernathy at the  Spec, Pentagon chief details January 6 riot response "Trump’s acting defense secretary Christopher Miller tells all in his new book"

For the American people, and for our enemies watching overseas, the events of that day undeniably laid bare the true character of our ruling class. Here were the most powerful men and women in the world — the leaders of the legislative branch of the mightiest nation in history — cowering like frightened children for all the world to see

Do I blame a bunch of geriatrics for acting like a bunch of geriatrics? Of course not. But do I judge them for it? You’re damned right I do. Most of all, I resent that we are ruled by a bunch of geriatrics that ruthlessly and selfishly maintain their hold on power and refuse to develop the next generation of leaders."

Capt. Ed at Haut Hare, Oopsie! J6 committee exposes nearly 2,000 Social Security numbers of Republicans, GOP governors, family members. WaPoo sheepishly admits Social Security numbers of Trump officials, allies posted in Jan. 6 files "The document, which has been removed from a government website, appeared to list the Social Security numbers of Republican governors, federal judges and members of Trump’s Cabinet" Malice or incompetence? Embrace the healing power of "and." CNN, Two years after US Capitol attack, investigation into Trump and insurrection enters new phase.

From the Free Bacon, Biden Administration Touts Drained Emergency Oil Reserves as Top 2022 Accomplishment, "Biden sold millions of reserve barrels to China, other foreign entities." Hunter's clients. Leslie Eastman at LI claims Republicans Will Try to Protect Strategic Petroleum Reserves in Energy Bills, "The Republican proposal would tie the tapping of the SPR to sensible policies designed to help the nation’s energy independence and security." From Fox, Biden admin quietly admits canceling Keystone XL Pipeline cost thousands of jobs, billions of dollars, "President Biden's decision to revoke pipeline's permits hurt 'working families,' Montana senator says." Dave Strom at Haut Hare reports SBF was a regular visitor to the White House, but just for the sex, he didn't talk business, am I right? Stephen Kruiser, thinks President Harris Really Stinks at Her Job. How hard can it be, waiting for the old guy to kick the bucket? Matt Margolis hears Buttigieg Give the Most Ridiculous Excuse Ever for Using Private Jets. A high bar, after John Kerry. 

At NewBuster, FLASHBACK: Everything The Media Said We’d Find in Trump’s Tax Returns

At WaEx, J Christian Adams says We need to talk about duplicate voter registrations, no, stop talking and root them out. At Am Think, Bill Markin thinks there's a need for A Mulligan for the Supreme Court on voting. Unfortunately, based on history, there's every reason to believe they'd get it wrong again. 

John Sexton at Haut Hare see DeSantis moves forward with plan to put Disney World under state control, no not to confiscate, but to take away it's special tax district permanently. 

A follow up on the contentious fight in Virginia, Loudoun County Dad Arrested For ‘Trespassing’ At Local Public School Board Meeting Found Not Guilty

Tigges’ arrest in June of 2021 was used by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), in collusion with the Biden White House, to justify the smearing of concerned parents as “domestic terrorists” who required punishment from federal law enforcement.

In September of 2021, the NSBA sent its infamous complaint letter, secretly solicited by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, to the Department of Justice, which sparked a politicized attack on parents who wanted to speak out against corrupt school boards.

I&I, Twitter Files Prove Evans’ Law Of Inadequate Paranoia, “No matter how bad you think things are, if you look closer, you’ll inevitably find it’s worse.” — M. Stanton Evans

Ace, One small blow against Qualified Immunity [TJM] "A suburban Portland, Ore., teacher allegedly threatened with discipline if he kept bringing a Make America Great Again hat to teacher-training sessions can sue his former principal for First Amendment retaliation, a federal appeals court has ruled."

So, is this some kind of great victory in the war against government overreach and impunity? Not really. It's a small, focused victory against one particularly easy target for pushback that does not create much in the way of precedent, unfortunately. However, I'm sure that every time her check is garnished when that lawsuit finished playing out to pay the teacher she wronged she'll wish she had let the guy just wear his hat. 

It's what a decent person would have done.

Linked at Pirate's Cove in the weekly Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup and linkfest.