Legally speaking, the Speaker of The House doesn’t even have to be a sitting Congressman. It always has been and probably always will be, but technically the legislative body (House of Representatives) could vote for whoever they choose to be Speaker. The Speaker’s primary function is to schedule the activities and votes. Modern times and modern egos have just given the office a lot more clout and influence than it requires.
Fellow Pelican State Cajun here,
For what it’s worth;
Sen. Cassidy issued a statement saying he would not support the objection efforts in the lead up to the events of Jan. 6.
Sen. Kennedy has been a registered Democrat for more years than he’s been a registered Republican. He stated he would object, and then immediately withdrew after the “riot” occurred.
And while it’s true that both our state houses are GOP majority controlled. I’m afraid you’ll find a large number of those Republicans are pulling a similar move to Sen. Kennedy. Especially most of the top leadership; they are former Democrats who changed their stripes when polling showed it was easier to get elected with an R by your name than a D.
Add to that the simple fact that both of his opponents (Vitter and Rispone) were pretty badly flawed candidates, and it’s not hard to see how an inept blowhard like Edwards could get elected.
And don’t forget, Louisiana consistently ranks at or near the top of the list of states when residents are polled about political corruption. I mean hell, this is the state where residents will still openly brag about Edwin Edwards and Huey Long!
I’d like to say I’m happy for this. But the truth is that this has absolutely zero chance of going anywhere but the dustbin given the current makeup of Congress. This is a purely symbolic gesture and I doubt very much that Sen. Cruz doesn’t know that as well. This is a typical establishment GOP tactic that they’ve perfected over years of ineptitude and complacency; it allows them to claim “they tried” without having to worry about any of the consequences from actually doing something. The GOP establishment is sometimes called “the Surrender Caucus” for a reason after all...
This would have to be an organic, ground-level takeover. Every four years the LP makes a big deal out of running a National presidential ticket, but at a more local level, it’s largely the Wild West of political candidates. I’ve lived in seven states and in every one of them, the local LP was usually just grateful to have someone listening to them. So the opening is definitely there for a large influx of motivated, politically active, civic-minded individuals to come in a begin to take the reigns of the whole cart over. It wouldn’t even be a hostile takeover but rather an “energy infusion” to a legitimate third party contender for those Patriots who are completely disgusted by the Dems and the GOP. Think Gary Johnson, except we actually know where Aleppo is and why it matters. Again, this would not be a cakewalk and it certainly wouldn’t get the sort of instant gratification results that some people are looking for. But it offers a long term, realistic path to begin the process of actually getting our hat in the ring and our name in the fight.
You’re not breaking anything to me. But if you’ve been paying attention, the current Libertarian Party has very little in common with actual libertarianism. Maybe it’s time to drive it back towards it’s founding ideals? Furthermore, the core ideas of individual liberty and personal freedom are good core values that both movements share. To be clear, I’m not speaking of a quick fix for 2022 or a short term gain for 2024. I’m suggesting a big picture plan with long term goals.
I second the vote for a mass takeover of the Libertarian Party. The core values are already largely the same, and they have nationwide ballot access. Also, the Libertarian movement has been struggling with developing a solid and meaningful identity for years. I’m sure a large influx of MAGA enthusiasts could help them finally find that identity. And it would be sweet justice to watch a third contender rise up to deny the do-nothing republicans a chance to convince gullible people to vote for them simply because “at least they’re not democrats”.
And I for one am sick and tired of seeing doom posts like yours. “Oh whoa is me! The election was stolen and all is forever lost. There’s no point in continuing the fight because we didn’t win the last battle. Might as well just give up now and go home. But not before I spend an inordinate amount of time making sure I shit all over everybody else’s posts to remind them how hopeless I think it all is!”
Did I miss anything? My god but I’m fed up with doom and gloom like the garbage you just posted! Yea, the election was rigged, stolen, and we got stabbed in the back by people who we thought we could trust. No one is disputing that. But are you just going to continue to cry about it? Or are you, like a lot of us, going to buckle down, get up off the mat, wipe the blood from our mouths after that sucker punch, and KEEP FIGHTING BACK!?
When this all started back in 2016, did you really think it was ever going to be easy? We’re taking on a crony establishment cabal that has been in power since before some of us were even born. No kidding they are going to fight dirty as hell to try and stop us! Now the question is: what are YOU going to do about it? And if your only suggestion is to cry and whine about the past, then I suggest you get out of the way! Because the rest of us have got a country, a culture, and a republic to save! And if you’re not willing or able to get up, get out, get organized, and start fighting back, then we don’t need certainly your whining tears of hopeless despair.