Five Speaker Mike Johnson Thoughts Under the Fedora: Watching the Vote, Left vs Normalcy, Petard Hoist, Speculation and a Joke

Posted: October 26, 2023 by datechguy in congress
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I was watching the vote for Speaker Yesterday Afternoon and while the various demonstrations made me nostalgic for the days when there were not camera for people to ham in front of in the house it became rather clear that this vote was different as we got to the “C”‘s and the “D”‘s and all the votes were either for Dem leader Jeffries or Johnson.

Given the events of two weeks ago it seemed we were destined for drama for weeks but the vote for Mr. Johnson was so routine and so, well NORMAL that it actually lent excitement to an event that has been the norm for decades.

As soon as the vote ended it was the turn of the Democrat majority leader Jeffries to speak. His so called “bipartisan” message turned out to be yet another concerted attack, which is not to be unexpected from the left but the real surprise was the speech by Johnson. He thanked the clerks and the workers who had jumped through all the hoops on all the votes, promised to listen to the opinions of the other side even as they disagree, and sounded, well, NORMAL.

This man might be the most normal person who has gained power in DC in my lifetime. I think it’s a very good sign.

Apparently there are a bunch of stories from the left attacking Johnson as some kind of extremist for but I would remind the left that the only reason why they have to deal with Johnson is they aided the 8 GOP firebrands who decided to kick McCarthy out.

If they had held off as they had promised they would be in a much better position now but that would require restraint which is not their forte.

Of course all of this stuff is a first impression. We still need to see if he can get appropriations bills passed, aid to Israel passed, audit the Ukraine funds and most importantly get enough of the deep state GOP members and the pro maga members to vote as one to accomplish what they need to do.

I have a good feeling about his chances but it’s just a feeling.

Finally the most fun part about all of this is the fact that if you went up to Speaker Johnson a month ago and told him that before the month of October was done he would be Speaker of the US House of Representatives he would likely have laughed it off as a joke.

It would be really funny to find out 30 years from now that some Mafioso put a $10,000 bet on 9/1/23 that Johnson becoming speaker by Halloween. At 50,000-1 which would have been fair odds at the time he would have made half a billion dollars.

This is of course a joke but after what we’ve seen the last 3 years anything is possible

The GOP and moderate Dems should be paying attention to Chicago’s anti-migrant protests

Posted: October 25, 2023 by John Ruberry in crime, election 2024, News/opinion, opinion/news, politics
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By John Ruberry

If Republicans–or even those few moderate Democrats–want to advance their political career, a good place to start is Chicago’s Southwest Side.

There have a been a series of protests in the mostly Hispanic Brighton Park neighborhood, which has a sizable Asian minority, over the migrant crisis created by Joe Biden and the Democrat Party.

Residents found out through the rumor mill that the administration Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s far-left mayor who was elected six months ago, has his haughty eyes on Brighton Park. 

And rumors are true sometimes, and they were confirmed when residents noticed bulldozing on property that has been vacant for a while. Chicago’s 12th Ward, which has slightly less than 60,000 residents, will have a population bump soon. However, many of them will be living in tents, although a contractor is calling them “yurts.”

Environmental testing is still being performed, but it appears, like it or not, that the nascent yurt community, which Chicago officials are calling a 10-acre “winterized base camp,” at 38th and California, is a done deal. And plenty of residents don’t like it.

There have been 24-hour protests at the future migrant camp for over a week now.

Most of these residents are minorities. Looking at local media video reports, the ethnic makeup of the protesters appears to be roughly half Hispanic and half Asian. That was the impression Mrs. Marathon Pundit got when she drove past the anti-camp protests last Friday.

And last Thursday, the 12th Ward alderperson, Julia Ramirez, got “roughed up” by the crowd at the protest, but it appears she was only shoved around a bit. 

Apparently, Ramirez wasn’t told about Yurtville ahead of time. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Leftists like Johnson are always right, or at least they believe themselves to be. And when you question leftists, you are called said to be “uninformed” or “racist,” or someone who is “oversimplifying a nuanced issue.” I know, I live among leftists just north of the Chicago. 

Last night there was a public hearing at a Southwest Side high school about the construction of the migrant camp. Block Club Chicago reports that 500 residents showed up. While there was some support expressed for the migrants, some chants broke out, including, “Send them back” and “No queremos venezolanos,” which is Spanish for, “We don’t want Venezuelans.”

What about Asians? Specifically East Asians.

East Asians feel threatened in woke era Chicago. A friend of the Marathon Pundit family–an immigrant from Hong Kong who lives in McKinley Park, which is next to Brighton Park–told me a while back, “The criminals see us as ripe prey,” adding, “they believe that all of us all own convenience and liquor stores and that we always carry wads of cash on us.”  His garage was broken into earlier this month. There was no cash stolen, other than some loose change, but the thieves made off with a pair of boots. He didn’t even bother calling the Chicago Police, knowing that even if the culprits are caught, they’ll walk. And of course, that crime won’t figure into Chicago crime statistics.

Block Club Chicago reported last month that, “Precincts with a high Asian-American population cast 77.8 percent of their votes for [Paul] Vallas,” a moderate Democrat who Johnson defeated in the April runoff. Vallas ran on a strong law-and-order platform.

Chicagoans, you elected Johnson. As the old expression goes, “You made your bed, now sleep in it.” Although to be fair, Vallas carried the 12th Ward. 

One lesson from the midterms is that Hispanics are trending toward the GOP. Illinois’ moribund Republican Party should be reaching out to them, but probably aren’t. Because they’re morons. And the Asian population, particularly East Asians, might be looking for a political home.

GOP, get moving. And not just for votes. Siding with these protesters is the right thing to do.

And those few moderate Democrats left, it’s time to confront the woke wing of your party.

Here’s my non-nuanced message I recommend for the GOP and moderate Dems: Secure the border, build the wall, protect America.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

I suggest a backward House Vote

Posted: October 25, 2023 by datechguy in congress
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It’s now been nearly a month since the dogs caught the car and they still haven’t figured out what to do with it.

Since it only takes six house GOP members to keep a speaker off the chair both the ultra MAGAs and the NEVERTRUMP wings of the party have the ability to reject any candidate that doesn’t reach their purity levels.

And the Democrats of course who suckered the GOP by voting with the six as all kinds of house business isn’t getting done are having a grand old time over it.

The cycle is pretty straightforward.

  1. An internal vote takes place to see who is the preferred candidate
  2. Members who voted for a different candidate highlight positions unacceptable to their group
  3. Candidate either drops out or loses floor vote.
  4. Go to #1

Given the inability to vote in a house speaker among the members I’d suggest voting in Gingrich if we has willing to do it and if the house would have him with the understanding that if the House can get 218 GOP votes for someone else he would step aside but if the plan is to vote in a current member of the house then we need a different tack.

Here is what I propose:

  1. Each GOP house member is given a list of the entire GOP house caucus
  2. Each member crosses out any name that is unacceptable as speaker of the house
  3. The ballots are checked to see if any house member failed to be crossed out on six lists or less that person is put up for speaker. If somehow there are more than one then the person crossed off the fewest list is the primary candidate
  4. If there is not a house member who has been removed from six lists then a person outside the house should be nominated for speaker.

This plan has the virtue of at least establishing if the GOP can elect a speaker from among their members.

Let’s find out if there is at least one house member not despised enough who can be advanced if not the I suggest Gingrich, if not him then find a GOP candidate among the state legislatures or perhaps a retired judge.

I’d be willing to do it for 3 million but not a penny less. I don’t need the grief.

Fixing the college mess

Posted: October 24, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

It’s heartening for me to see higher education in trouble.

The anti-Israel bias of some prominent institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania, has made headlines recently. But the problems are much more profound.

I spent nearly 30 years watching the demise of the essence of teaching and learning at three colleges and universities that slid into a bureaucratic morass and a political mess.

I’ll start with the less sexy side of the equation. When I started at Temple University in 2005, I could pop in to see the dean whenever I wanted to do so. The entire staff of the dean’s office stood at eight people.

I met privately three times with the current dean, whom I helped get the job a decade ago, after battling through some of the 20-odd bureaucrats who stood in the way.

The expanding bureaucracy in the Klein College of Media and Communication was typical for much of higher education. The outrageous cost of higher education has more to do with the nonteaching staff at colleges and universities than the expansion and pay of teachers.

For example, I paid $559 a year in tuition to a state school in 1973. That comes to $3,896.77 in today’s dollars. Higher education might be competitive if tuition stood at only two or three times that amount.

Is college worth it? The public is increasingly skeptical. This year, a Wall Street Journal poll found that 56% of adults said a four-year college was “not worth the cost,” up from 40% in 2013.

What first looked like a pandemic blip has turned into a crisis. Nationwide, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after returning to in-person classes, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The slide in the college-going rate since 2018 is the steepest on record, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As a result, many colleges and universities will have to tighten their budgets by reducing staff, including hiring fewer tenured professors.
In my opinion, that’s good.

Second, politics became increasingly leftist as I moved along in academia. Here are a few examples. I lost one job because I was a conservative and couldn’t advance at another institution because of my views. At one point, a fellow professor slammed the door in my face because she disagreed with my politics.

Tenure is what protects many leftist professors from criticism. It’s almost impossible to get fired once a teacher has tenure, which keeps many leftists from getting called on the carpet for their opinions.

Take, for example, Marc Lamont Hill, who recently left Temple for the City University of New York.

Five years ago, Hill, a media professor and network pundit, called for countries to boycott and divest from Israel in a speech for the U.N.’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. “We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grass-roots action, local action and international action that will give us what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the river to the sea,” Hill said in prepared remarks.

CNN fired Hill. Temple couldn’t touch him because he had tenure.

With fewer tenured professors and economic pressure from students maybe there’s a chance higher education will get less political and more useful.

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