Louie Gohmert Says He'll Challenge John Boehner For Speaker Of The House

[ashling]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/04/louie-gohmert-boehner-spe_n_6412808.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

Gohmert is one of the most outspoken conservatives in Congress. Last year, he compared supporters of gay marriage who criticize their opponents to Nazis. He famously went after Attorney General Eric Holder during a 2013 House hearing, saying "The attorney general will not cast aspersions on my asparagus." The same year, Gohmert said Obama should be impeached if the nation defaulted on its debt. He later said that under Obamacare, the government would "put people on lists and they die waiting to get the treatment and care." Days after the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, Gohmert said there should be more guns, including at schools, to prevent mass killing. The list goes on.

Crazy time!

[djean111]

1. Maybe they can play rock, paper, scissors - after the rules are explained. n/t

[corkhead]

2. I don't see how that is possible

"challenge" has too many syllables.

But seriously folks, this has the potential to be 2 years of COMEDY GOLD!!!!!!1!!11

[randys1]

3. Gohmert thought they said "pleasure speaker" not "house speaker"

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. Please let it happen.

[marble falls]

5. And the Teapublicans start bring the Big Ten of the GOP down officially. I only wish Kieth Olbermann

was here to narrate it!!!

[NYC_SKP]

6. Is Gomer gonna mess with the Boehner? This should be GOOD.

If you start to Google "crazy congressman" Gohmert pops right up!

[craigmatic]

7. This fucker might just win if he can get the south to come along.

[etherealtruth]

8. Agreed, its not funny, it is very frightening

It would not be the first time an absolute moron rose to power

[freshwest]

34. He's on a 'mission from Gawd' to end welfare, etc. Will work with TheAnointedOne© Cruz.

A lot about Gohmert here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014819416#post32

The Cruz plan revealed here, the religious reason for default, madfloridian's OP linked below:

Cruz' Father Suggests Ted Cruz "Anointed" to "Bring The Spoils Of War To The Priests"

...In a sermon last year at an Irving, Texas, megachurch that helped elect Ted Cruz to the United States Senate, Cruz' father Rafael Cruz indicated that his son was among the evangelical Christians who are anointed as "kings" to take control of all sectors of society, an agenda commonly referred to as the "Seven Mountains" mandate, and "bring the spoils of war to the priests", thus helping to bring about a prophesied "great transfer of wealth", from the "wicked" to righteous gentile believers...

Discussion of the now-notorious speech by Rafael Cruz has missed the fact that Ted Cruz was subsequently blessed and anointed by prominent dominionist pastors, in effect as a "king" in the political/governmental sphere, at a special blessing ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in Des Moines, Iowa, at a July 19th-20th 2013 rally designed to draw pastors into politics...

DUers should read the entire OP and links, it's hair raising:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017152422

[Reter]

10. Nah, establishments still outnumber tea baggers by a large margin

There are only about 30-50 true tea baggers in the House, and only about 4 in the Senate.

[brooklynite]

15. But they don't need a TP majority...

All they need are 29 or so TP to withdraw support from Boehner, and he won't have enough votes, since Dems won't vote for him.

[Reter]

23. So what would happen?

Hypothetically, if Boehner gets only 185 votes, Pelosi gets 186, and the tea bagger gets like 50 (or whatever is left)? Does Pelosi become the Speaker?

[jeff47]

13. Nah. The best he could do is split the vote.

And Democrats still get to vote for speaker.

Split Republicans + unified Democrats could cause Pelosi to be speaker again.

[Jim Lane]

17. No, Pelosi couldn't win -- it takes a majority.

According to the Congressional Research Service:

To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of all the votes cast for individuals. This number may be less than a majority (now 218) of the full membership of the House, because of vacancies, absentees, or Members voting “present.”

. . . .

If no candidate receives the requisite majority, the roll call is repeated until a Speaker is elected. Since 1913, this procedure has been necessary only in 1923, when nine ballots were required before a Speaker was elected.

The linked article notes that some TP types voted against Boehner last time. I could see a revolt serious enough to deny Boehner a first-ballot majority, after which the conservatives, having made their point, would vote for him on the second ballot.

[Volaris]

24. Not if 30 or so D's decide it's time to start winning both Houses back and start playing Hardball...

Having Gomer as Speaker the next 2 years, and the odds of Dem control after the next cycle go up.

It's time to really start letting the other side kick themselves in the balls. They WILL do it, and we can help them=)

[Jim Lane]

33. I don't see what 30 D's could do

If 30 D's join 30 R's in voting for Gohmert, he still finishes in third place and the election still goes to a second ballot.

The only way I could see the Dems exploiting the rules would be: Gohmert mounts a challenge, intended to be a symbolic display of right-wing strength so as to intimidate Boehner down the road, but with the expectation that all the Republicans will then vote for Boehner on the second ballot; the Democrats, seizing the opportunity to make mischief, all vote for Gohmert; the Gohmert challenge attracts enough right-wingers that they plus all the Dems make a majority, and Gohmert wins.

Is that a plausible scenario, and if so is it one we should welcome? I'd say No to both questions. In 2016, how could Democrats run against the misdeeds of the House leadership, when it was Democrats who put that leadership in place? The whole thing would be perceived as a cynical political gain -- and rightly so.

No, I'm afraid it's going to be a fairly dull re-election of Boehner. I'll predict it doesn't even go to a second ballot.

[Frustratedlady]

9. Poor, ol' Louie! He is being misunderstood. He's practicing for his next job...

Comedian.

There's not a whole lot of sense that comes out of his brain/mouth. They always say that to be successful, you should build on your strong points. His is being a clown.

[SamKnause]

11. Does it really matter who is the lead

cheerleader for the party of the insane ???

None of them should be in control of anything.

They are known liars, cons, shysters, racists, bigots, gender hating, anti science, anti facts, control freaks.

In a sane country they would be scorned and laughed at.

In the U.S. they are elected to office.

They won't stop until the U.S. is transformed into a Corporate Theocracy.

They are the greatest threat this country faces.

[ashling]

18. A real clear and present danger

[GP6971]

12. Should be fun to watch. n/t

[spanone]

14. a dumbass replacing a smartass.....

[Gothmog]

16. Juanita Jean is popping some popcorn for this contest

http://www.juanitajean.com/2015/01/04/when-your-world-just-cant-get-much-better/

[CJCRANE]

19. It's time for the clowns to take over the funhouse!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Crazy vs drunk.

[6000eliot]

21. Dare we hope for such a gift?

Oh, the laughs!

[Monk06]

22. Garsh, Golly and Shazzam

[marmar]

25. Gohmert has three brain cells, and one of them has the flu

[jdenver_2624]

26. Oh boy, pass the popcorn.

It's gonna be hilarious watching these two morons fight with each other.

[Thinkingabout]

27. It is scary to think Gohmert as speaker of the house would fall in line behind Biden

To be president. I may not like Boehner but Louie is way too much to stomach. Oh just the thought and it brings tears to my eyes.

[rurallib]

28. In other news, Chetah the Chimp to run for Prime Minister of England

[Jamaal510]

29. Beavis vs. Butthead. nt

[libodem]

30. Gomer Pyle

Couldn't be more of a countified, ccorcob pipe, bucktooth, washtub, moonshine, outhouse, chickenfeed, hogslop, hounddog, front porch sittin', hickified, hillbilly dirtbag, will kick Boner's crybaby orange ass.

[mike_c]

31. yessssss....

[PoliticAverse]

32. He has no chance of being selected. n/t