The death rattle of the GOP’s establishment wing

Brother’s visit was a good one. He and I had supper with Sister and Niece last night. We ate and talked for four hours. Brother and I were good at staying up past my usual bedtime as we discussed various topics. So I might go to bed early tonight. My movie last Sunday was Joyland. It’s Pakistani film centered on Haidar. His wife works, he doesn’t, so he is essentially the house husband for the extended family and frequently the caregiver for his nieces. But he’s still asked when he’s going to get a job and when his wife is going to quit hers so she can raise kids, hopefully including a son, of her own. Haidar asks a friend who gives him a lead. The job turns out to be a backup dancer at an erotic theater. And the person he is a background dancer for is Biba, a transgender woman. He is entranced by Biba. At first he tells the family he’s the theater manager. But his actual job and his eyes for Biba don’t stay secret. This movie is a good one. This was Pakistan’s submission for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film. It made the shortlist of 15 films but was not nominated. Last Monday Joan McCarter of Daily Kos wrote that Moscow Mitch appears to be ready to submit to the nasty guy after all these years of mutual loathing.

The two men’s political teams have been in talks for McConnell’s endorsement, a reflection of just how desperate McConnell is to keep his weakening hold on his leadership position.

One explanation is the need to “unite” the party.

The likelier explanation is that McConnell’s grasp on his leadership position is weakening as the MAGA contingent in the Senate chips away at him. They have blocked his No. 1 priority—Ukraine funding—for months. They rebelled against him to kill the border deal that would have secured that funding.

On Wednesday we got what might be a resolution to those talks. An Associated Press article posted on Kos reports that the 82 year old Moscow Mitch will step down from Republican Party leadership in November. He is not resigning from the Senate and expects to serve out his term that ends in January 2027. The article gives a bit of the history of his Senate career. He started in 1985 during the Reagan era and rose to be party leader in 2006. McCarter listed the 17 things Moscow Mitch did to destroy democracy. Here are most of them. 1. He stole a supreme court seat from Obama. 2. He stole another one from Biden. 3. He packed the federal judiciary for the nasty guy with white men, many unqualified. 4. He vowed to obstruct Obama, saying he will do all he can to make Obama a “one-term president.” 5. He vowed to obstruct Biden 6. He made the debt ceiling a permanent hostage. 7. He turned the filibuster into a weapon, using it more than ever in history, effectively requiring all legislation to pass with at least 60 votes. 8. He voted to acquit the nasty guy after the Capitol attack. 9. He built his career fighting gun safety regulations and built a big campaign nest egg. 10. He destroyed campaign finance reform and filibustered efforts to get money out of politics. 11. He blocked saving the Voting Rights Act. 12. He tried to kill Obamacare (and thankfully failed). ... 15. In killing legislation to address climate change and expand Medicare he called himself the “Grim Reaper.” Walter Einenkel of Kos listed some of the reactions to Mitch’s announcement. One is from Rep. Adam Schiff who lamented the Senate GOP “will invariably select someone more extreme.” Kerry Eleveld of Kos described Mitch’s announcement as the “death rattle of the GOP’s establishment wing.” The article describes how the nasty guy stole the party out from under Mitch.

When McConnell steps aside later this year, he will leave behind a conference, an institution, and a party in disarray—and he will be complicit in having either actively or passively gutted the integrity of all three.

McCarter reported that following the Alabama Supremes ruling that embryos have the same rights as children “Republicans will do anything to protect IVF, except vote for it.” Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth asked for unanimous consent to pass her bill for federal protections for IVS. All Republicans had to do was not object. They objected. Roger Marshall of Kansas was one of several that said it isn’t a federal issue because the Supreme Court, in gutting federal protections for abortion, said it’s a state issue. Other reasons were given. McCarter concluded:

So to recap: Republicans love IVF and want to protect it, but letting a bill pass that would do just that? Nope. Not their job.

Pakalolo of the Kos community posted a temperature anomaly map of the US and Canada as of Monday. On that day the map shows a region stretching from Texas (and south into Mexico) to North Dakota and Michigan that was 22 to 30 degrees F warmer than average. Another region stretching from western Saskatchewan thought British Columbia and into the Yukon that was at least 20 degrees F colder than average. Close to the bottom of the post is a tweet from Brian Brettschneider showing temperatures in central Texas hitting 94F. Also, due all that heat in Texas and western Plains there are several wildfires. Pakalolo included several videos. Other stories reported that the area north of Amarillo, TX has been hit with a wildfire that is now close to breaking records for size. Over the week this has gotten into mainstream media.