I’m truly enjoying the Republicans putting on a ninth inning for us.

I think the freedom caucus is smelling blood in the water.  Jim Jordan wants the Judiciary Committee more than McCarthy wants the speakership.

Funny thing happened.  During the break before the 2nd vote, I took a bathroom break.  That was the exact moment that we had a test of the emergency broadcast system. That is not a sound you want to hear when members of Congress think January 6th was pretty damn cool.  Great words to hear: “This is a test. This is only a test.”  Come to think of it, that’s pretty much what the whole damn morning was.

And put your hands together for some dandy news ——

Steve Bannon today was asked his plans for 2023: “Remember, this year I will probably go to federal prison for a while.” Then suggests his new sidekick Natalie Winters may take over his show as guest host, which would NOT make his audience happy. pic.twitter.com/P5ojAOJTql

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 1, 2023

Hey, finish off the spiced egg nog this morning in Steve’s honor.

Welp, I’m planted in front of the teevee watching democracy melt.  It ain’t pretty.

The proposed House rules for the 118^th Congress gives the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee the power to review calls for a constitutional convention and/or propose amendments to the Constitution.

This is to give conservatives the power to actually call a constitutional convention to, you know, do away with democracy as we know it. First they will kill it and then they will eat it at Jim Jordan’s backyard barbeque and corporate power auction.

Over at the New York Times, they outline a plan hatched up by some goofy Texas congressfool and Rick Santorum. (There is no explanation of why Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay weren’t involved in this scheme.  My bet is that their wives have them chained to a wall somewhere and I am deeply appreciative of that.)

Santorum was pushing for Pennsylvania to become the 20th state to formally call for a convention in recent years, out of the 34 states required. But it is not clear exactly how many states have weighed in, since not all have adopted the same language and some petitions were submitted decades or longer ago and may even have been rescinded.

Texas congressidgit Jodey Arrington believes that when pending petitions are fully tallied, the 34-state goal might already have been exceeded. His legislation would require the archivist to “authenticate, count and publish” applications by the states, forcing Congress to act.

Keep a side eye on this one.  It’ll be worth your trouble.