There are so many problems and issues (and dangers!) with the current "Republican" Party that it's hard to know where to start. So I think you're correct to focus on McCarthy as the focal point, the "gateway" that allows the lunatics (MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Jordan, & Co.) to rule the roost and grab the headlines. McCarthy's own lust for power - look at me with the Holy Gavel - has opened the door to power for what should be the lunatic fringe of the party. So getting rid of McCarthy is probably the best (maybe the only) way to block off the nutzies from exercising any more power. They'll still rant and rave on the right-wing media, but they'll lose their hold on the Republican Party. So yes, Jerry, I support your continued effort and focus on replacing McCarthy, and thereby diminishing the power of the far-right in Congress. Your purpose seems clear.
As to how to proceed, how wide a net to use to form a coalition of "moderates" from both sides; that I don't know. But you seem to know who's who, and congrats on opening up the question to your audience.
I'm hope the initial cooperation and enthusiasm of your followers doesn't lapse, because this battle for the future of American democracy is far from over. But the rabid radical right must be halted or at least slowed, and McCarthy seems to be their Enabler-in-Chief (for his own selfish reasons) so I hope you and your group can get him the hell outta there, and bring some sanity back to Congress.
History has often shown that a few good men and women can make a difference.
Thank you Abraham. We're working hard to prepare for the moment when McCarthy is most vulnerable, probably this May or June. One slight correction though. We're just now learning who's who, in media and in the House. We're learning how we can persuade each by relating to their individual priorities.
As I say at the top of this post, the work is tedious. Enthusiasm is hard to maintain. And we can certainly use more help. But our network has many outstanding people, all of whom understand the stakes. The MAGA minority is a distinct threat to our Republic, and must be marginalized.
We know we can't do it all, but we'll do what we can. We will raise our voices, we will be heard. We can make a difference.
If it's true that McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson the whole 4,000+ hours of Jan.6 footage (to edit into some false Republican narrative) then McCarthy has lost all shred of decency and honour and trustworthiness (if he ever had any).
Absolutely he must be removed.
But where are the so-called 'moderate' Republicans? Is there no courage at all in the Republican Party? No one could write Profiles in Courage today. But Profiles in Cowardice would be a very thick volume.
In Canada we have our own new ripple of MAGA-types (they call themselves Freedom Fighters) and they are very unpopular with the general public (polling at about %4) but they're the loudest and most violent and dangerous (and most flag-waving!) segment of the population, but they have little political power.
In your country, those angry, dangerous malcontents seem to hold enormous power in gov't, far beyond their numbers. But I agree that it's McCarthy who enables their power, and you are right that he must be removed, if only to block the far-right extremists from wielding so much power in your Congress.
Isn't it illegal (if not treasonous) for McCarthy to give all of that gov't data to one cable-network?
As your next-door neighbour, I fear for the great American democracy.
And I wish you well in finding (and installing) a suitable replacement for McCarthy - do your fellow citizens not recognized the existential threat posed by the extreme MAGA mob? Or am I overly alarmist?
I doubt that it's technically treasonous, or even illegal, to publicly release all that security camera footage. But I agree that it's dishonorable, and reckless as well. The January 6 committee was very careful to limit the amount of such footage it made public, clearing the release of any surveillance clips with Capitol Police so as to avoid compromising security.
What a betrayal it is for the Speaker of the House to act with such disregard for the safety of his fellow Members of Congress. This can only be seen as another sign of Kevin McCarthy's weak leadership, and his willingness to prioritize the wishes of MAGA radicals over all else.
You ask where are the moderate Republicans, Roger. Fair question. I can't blame you for being skeptical. But I've actively been looking for them, and can say with some certainty that there are quite a few.
Representative Spartz (R-IN), whom I mentioned in this post, is one. And she's getting quite impatient. A few weeks ago, she called on the Speaker to "stop 'bread and circuses' in Congress and start governing for a change." There are others, and I'll be naming them in upcoming posts.
Your second question is more to the point: Is there no courage in the Republican Party? That's what we will be testing over the next few months. When the debt ceiling deadline is imminent, moderate members of both parties will have to step up and take charge. I might add that some courage on the Democratic side will be called for as well. To an extent usually under-appreciated, voting for a member of the opposition party for Speaker is a bold step. But that's what it will take to replace McCarthy.
P.S. No, you are not overly alarmist. The threat is real. Recognition is lacking.
I applaud your efforts to find common ground with moderate Republicans, but the fly in the ointment is that I, frankly, don't think any exist. If the majority of the GOP is really appalled by the MAGA extremists, they have been very careful not to say so. Silence gives assent, and by saying nothing, the rest of the party is giving permission for the worst of the worst to keep screeching. The problem that I see is the violence the MAGAs are willing to commit. I know I'd think twice before calling out MTG, Boebert or the rest of the Gun Caucus. They are looking for any excuse to begin killing, and if a GOPer says something they don't like, he or she is likely to find themselves in the crosshairs. If you see a way around the very real fear that talking means you could get shot, please share it. Thanks for what you're trying to do.
Thanks for your support, Karla. You are not alone in your skepticism. More than one of my fellow-progressives has objected that there are no moderate Republicans.
Obviously, I disagree. But as I started writing a response to your comment, and as it got longer and longer, I realized that the seriousness of the point deserves more than just a few sentences. So I will be devoting my next full post to the subject.
For now, let me just say that the most radical MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives are a distinct minority, 20% of the whole at most. But owing to McCarthy's weakness and the concessions he made to them, they wield influence and power far beyond what their number would ordinarily command. That influence and power is at the expense of more traditional establishment Republicans.
For us to declare that these other Republicans simply don't exist would be for us to unilaterally surrender to the worst of the worst, as you call them. If we do that, what's our next move? The stakes here could hardly be higher, and as you point out, violence lurks.
We need to prevail, and to do so we need allies. If we believe that the silence of those moderates gives aid and comfort to the extremist MAGA faction, then our urgent task is to persuade them to do otherwise. We can't just declare that all is lost and there's nothing more to be done.
I invite you to subscribe to "Feathers of Hope" to receive future posts directly. Thanks again for raising this important question.
I appreciate you looking into this in detail. I do know two Republicans who will probably never vote Republican again, because they know crazy when they see it. But they're not politcians.
BTW, I thought I HAD subscribed. I'll take another look at the site. Cheers.
Thank you for subscribing, Karla. Substack provides me only with subscriber email adresses, not names. Upon subscribing, you should have received a "Welcome" email. Would you please let me know if you didn't receive one so I can look into why? Thanks.
I don't recall receiving a welcome letter, but I get hundreds of emails a day and it's possible it got lost, or I just deleted it, not knowing the sender.
I apologize for using this as a way to reply to you, but I can't find contact information on the site. You DID in fact send me a welcome letter; it got buried in the stack of hundreds of emails in my inbox. Nothing's wrong at your end.
There are so many problems and issues (and dangers!) with the current "Republican" Party that it's hard to know where to start. So I think you're correct to focus on McCarthy as the focal point, the "gateway" that allows the lunatics (MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Jordan, & Co.) to rule the roost and grab the headlines. McCarthy's own lust for power - look at me with the Holy Gavel - has opened the door to power for what should be the lunatic fringe of the party. So getting rid of McCarthy is probably the best (maybe the only) way to block off the nutzies from exercising any more power. They'll still rant and rave on the right-wing media, but they'll lose their hold on the Republican Party. So yes, Jerry, I support your continued effort and focus on replacing McCarthy, and thereby diminishing the power of the far-right in Congress. Your purpose seems clear.
As to how to proceed, how wide a net to use to form a coalition of "moderates" from both sides; that I don't know. But you seem to know who's who, and congrats on opening up the question to your audience.
I'm hope the initial cooperation and enthusiasm of your followers doesn't lapse, because this battle for the future of American democracy is far from over. But the rabid radical right must be halted or at least slowed, and McCarthy seems to be their Enabler-in-Chief (for his own selfish reasons) so I hope you and your group can get him the hell outta there, and bring some sanity back to Congress.
History has often shown that a few good men and women can make a difference.
Thank you Abraham. We're working hard to prepare for the moment when McCarthy is most vulnerable, probably this May or June. One slight correction though. We're just now learning who's who, in media and in the House. We're learning how we can persuade each by relating to their individual priorities.
As I say at the top of this post, the work is tedious. Enthusiasm is hard to maintain. And we can certainly use more help. But our network has many outstanding people, all of whom understand the stakes. The MAGA minority is a distinct threat to our Republic, and must be marginalized.
We know we can't do it all, but we'll do what we can. We will raise our voices, we will be heard. We can make a difference.
.
If it's true that McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson the whole 4,000+ hours of Jan.6 footage (to edit into some false Republican narrative) then McCarthy has lost all shred of decency and honour and trustworthiness (if he ever had any).
Absolutely he must be removed.
But where are the so-called 'moderate' Republicans? Is there no courage at all in the Republican Party? No one could write Profiles in Courage today. But Profiles in Cowardice would be a very thick volume.
In Canada we have our own new ripple of MAGA-types (they call themselves Freedom Fighters) and they are very unpopular with the general public (polling at about %4) but they're the loudest and most violent and dangerous (and most flag-waving!) segment of the population, but they have little political power.
In your country, those angry, dangerous malcontents seem to hold enormous power in gov't, far beyond their numbers. But I agree that it's McCarthy who enables their power, and you are right that he must be removed, if only to block the far-right extremists from wielding so much power in your Congress.
Isn't it illegal (if not treasonous) for McCarthy to give all of that gov't data to one cable-network?
As your next-door neighbour, I fear for the great American democracy.
And I wish you well in finding (and installing) a suitable replacement for McCarthy - do your fellow citizens not recognized the existential threat posed by the extreme MAGA mob? Or am I overly alarmist?
I doubt that it's technically treasonous, or even illegal, to publicly release all that security camera footage. But I agree that it's dishonorable, and reckless as well. The January 6 committee was very careful to limit the amount of such footage it made public, clearing the release of any surveillance clips with Capitol Police so as to avoid compromising security.
What a betrayal it is for the Speaker of the House to act with such disregard for the safety of his fellow Members of Congress. This can only be seen as another sign of Kevin McCarthy's weak leadership, and his willingness to prioritize the wishes of MAGA radicals over all else.
You ask where are the moderate Republicans, Roger. Fair question. I can't blame you for being skeptical. But I've actively been looking for them, and can say with some certainty that there are quite a few.
Representative Spartz (R-IN), whom I mentioned in this post, is one. And she's getting quite impatient. A few weeks ago, she called on the Speaker to "stop 'bread and circuses' in Congress and start governing for a change." There are others, and I'll be naming them in upcoming posts.
Your second question is more to the point: Is there no courage in the Republican Party? That's what we will be testing over the next few months. When the debt ceiling deadline is imminent, moderate members of both parties will have to step up and take charge. I might add that some courage on the Democratic side will be called for as well. To an extent usually under-appreciated, voting for a member of the opposition party for Speaker is a bold step. But that's what it will take to replace McCarthy.
P.S. No, you are not overly alarmist. The threat is real. Recognition is lacking.
.
I applaud your efforts to find common ground with moderate Republicans, but the fly in the ointment is that I, frankly, don't think any exist. If the majority of the GOP is really appalled by the MAGA extremists, they have been very careful not to say so. Silence gives assent, and by saying nothing, the rest of the party is giving permission for the worst of the worst to keep screeching. The problem that I see is the violence the MAGAs are willing to commit. I know I'd think twice before calling out MTG, Boebert or the rest of the Gun Caucus. They are looking for any excuse to begin killing, and if a GOPer says something they don't like, he or she is likely to find themselves in the crosshairs. If you see a way around the very real fear that talking means you could get shot, please share it. Thanks for what you're trying to do.
Thanks for your support, Karla. You are not alone in your skepticism. More than one of my fellow-progressives has objected that there are no moderate Republicans.
Obviously, I disagree. But as I started writing a response to your comment, and as it got longer and longer, I realized that the seriousness of the point deserves more than just a few sentences. So I will be devoting my next full post to the subject.
For now, let me just say that the most radical MAGA extremists in the House of Representatives are a distinct minority, 20% of the whole at most. But owing to McCarthy's weakness and the concessions he made to them, they wield influence and power far beyond what their number would ordinarily command. That influence and power is at the expense of more traditional establishment Republicans.
For us to declare that these other Republicans simply don't exist would be for us to unilaterally surrender to the worst of the worst, as you call them. If we do that, what's our next move? The stakes here could hardly be higher, and as you point out, violence lurks.
We need to prevail, and to do so we need allies. If we believe that the silence of those moderates gives aid and comfort to the extremist MAGA faction, then our urgent task is to persuade them to do otherwise. We can't just declare that all is lost and there's nothing more to be done.
I invite you to subscribe to "Feathers of Hope" to receive future posts directly. Thanks again for raising this important question.
.
I appreciate you looking into this in detail. I do know two Republicans who will probably never vote Republican again, because they know crazy when they see it. But they're not politcians.
BTW, I thought I HAD subscribed. I'll take another look at the site. Cheers.
Thank you for subscribing, Karla. Substack provides me only with subscriber email adresses, not names. Upon subscribing, you should have received a "Welcome" email. Would you please let me know if you didn't receive one so I can look into why? Thanks.
I don't recall receiving a welcome letter, but I get hundreds of emails a day and it's possible it got lost, or I just deleted it, not knowing the sender.
I apologize for using this as a way to reply to you, but I can't find contact information on the site. You DID in fact send me a welcome letter; it got buried in the stack of hundreds of emails in my inbox. Nothing's wrong at your end.
I appreciate your reply, Karla. Welcome aboard!
You can always reach me here: JerryWeiss@substack.com
.