Comments on: Mike Johnson: so far, so good

By: Insufficiently Sensitive

Insufficiently Sensitive — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 23:26:15 +0000

@ Ed Bonderenka

I think a lot of people owe Matt Gaetz an apology.

I don’t. He’s done enough damage.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 20:31:11 +0000

ire

If you’re remarking to me about discussing motivations, I apologize. My point about Gaetz is that his self-presentation including what God gave him for a face and hairline can be a handicap when trying to present something reasonable-if looking like some trouble otherwise.
Mr. Rogers could sell the same thing better to the public.

By: Ed Bonderenka

Ed Bonderenka — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 19:31:55 +0000

“… by voting with all the Democrats.”
That’s such a canard.
That doesn’t give him the same motive.
How many times was McCarthy in league with those same democrats?
Which was the root of the problem.

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 18:08:46 +0000

“The left will go after him with all guns blazing given his transparent religious beliefs….”

And here’s that once decent but currently benighted rag, TNR, right on cue…
“New House Speaker: Soft-Spoken. Mild-Mannered. Raging Theocrat.
“Mike Johnson is an extremist in every way that matters.”—
https://newrepublic.com/post/176469/maga-mike-johnson-right-jim-jordan

(TNR rarely, if ever, disappoints….)

By: Irv

Irv — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 17:52:17 +0000

An opinion of Gaetz’s character is just that, an opinion. I prefer to judge facts and it turns out that he did a thing that both needed doing and had overall very good results.

It looked to me as if the country was headed off a cliff and without drastic change it could not be stopped. If you force a swerve you might hit a tree or you might roll over but you at least have a chance of surviving. If you continue straight ahead off the cliff, even if you slow down, you won’t survive.

As the great sage Yogi Berra said “Predictions are hard, especially about the future.” I’ll judge Gaetz’s next actions by their results and not by opinions about his character. I elect rulers by my judgment of their character but I elect representatives by the results of their actions being the ones I’m after,

By: om

om — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 17:16:59 +0000

Gaetz set a precident of going so far to unseat McCarthy by voting with all the Democrats. Actions that reveal character.

Gaetz’s actions weakened the Republicans and took the attention away from Brandon for three weeks. Actions that reveal character.

Mike Johnson was elected speaker after other conservatives failed. Gaetez’s actions had unforeseen consequences (no plan). But now we have a conservative Speaker (again), possibly more conservative than McCarthy.

Will Gaetz act without a plan again against Johnson? That will depend on many unknowns and Gaetz’s character.

By: Steph

Steph — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 17:15:32 +0000

Irv, thank you. I agree 100%.

By: om

om — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 17:06:12 +0000

If you count on luck instead of having a plan, you are either lazy or a fool, although you may be lucky occassionally.

The enemy and nature have a say how lucky you will be in the long run.

By: Ed Bonderenka

Ed Bonderenka — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 16:46:13 +0000

Irv +1.
Om, I’m not equating him with the Founders, but we had a lot of chaos and they got lucky. Or God intervened (IMHO).
And if Gaetz is a clown and just got lucky?
We say in the business of designing stuff, Lucky is better than good.

By: Irv

Irv — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 16:26:03 +0000

I just get really tired of people talking about what they think are the motives of the people they disagree with instead of talking about the issues. If all you can do is attack the motives that you impute to a person then you really don’t have an argument. Ad hominem attacks are what the left uses; don’t fall into that trap yourselves.

I don’t care what you think Gaetz’s motives are or what you think of him as a person; I care about the results of his actions because those are facts that I can judge. I’ll leave judging people’s hearts and motives to someone who can read minds better than I.