Random Notes from a Crank

Dana Milbank has a really good opinion piece in The Washington Post: "McCarthy Won the 15th Vote to be Speaker--But Lost the House for All." 

Here are three ¶s of note that should make anyone shudder:

"This is insurrection by other means: Two years to the day since the Jan. 6 invasion of the Capitol, Republicans are still attacking the functioning of government. McCarthy opened the door to chaos by excusing Donald Trump's fomenting of the attack and welcoming a new class of election deniers to his caucus. Now he's trying to save his own political ambitions by agreeing to institutionalize the chaos--not just for the next two years but for future congresses as well. 

On Thursday, the day McCarthy failed on an 11th consecutive ballot to secure the speakership, he formally surrendered to the 21 GOP extremists denying him the job. He agree dot allow any member of the House to force a vote at will to 'vacate' his speakership--essentially agreeing to be in permanent jeopardy of losing his job. He agreed to put the rebels on the Rules Committee, giving them sway over what gets a vote on the House floor, and in key committee leadership posts. He agreed to unlimited amendments to spending bills, inviting two years of mayhem. He agreed to other changes that make future government shutdowns and a default on the national debt more likely, if not probable.

Perhaps worst of all, the McCarthy-alingned super PAC, the Conservative Leadership Fun, agreed that it would no longer work against fair-right extremists in the vast majority of Republican primaries--a move sure to increase the number of bomb throwers in Congress. Essentially, McCarthy placated the crazy in his caucus by giving up every tool he (or anybody) had to maintain order in the House." 

I'm not a betting man, but I'd guess that a shutdown of government is in our future over the next two years of the GOP's control of the House. 

Republicans' typical bromide is that "government doesn't work." When they get control, they usually show that government doesn't work - because of them being in control of government, not because of government itself. 

What is the deal with the price of eggs being so high lately? Are the corporate egg farms trying to screw us now too? 

Apparently, one of the reasons (see link above) is an avian flu along with higher feed prices and energy costs. 

I'm neither a vegetarian nor a vegan, but a darkly humorous joke I heard from a vegan comedian is how he described eggs as "chicken abortions." For all those pro-lifers out there, they better stop eating eggs. 

I'm thinking about creating a school of philosophical thought that combines hedonism, utilitarianism, and Taoist and Buddhist principles. In a sense, it might reflect a more wide-view version of Dudeism, which follows the example of Jeffrey Lebowski.