Loudmouth Legislators in House GOP on Dynamite Fishing Expedition

By Hal Brown

Disclaimer: I have only fished once in my life. It was as a teen when a friend and I rode our bikes to Twin Lakes in New York's Westchester County and using a worm and a lead weight I actually caught a bottom feeding 8 inch catfish. I threw it back.

 

"There is a colloquial legal term for McCarthy’s approach: It’s a fishing expedition" is a line from in David French's opinion column "Where's the evidence, Speaker McCarthy" in the New York Times (subscription).

I discovered dynamite fishing is a "thing" which you can read about if you look up "blast fishing" on Wikipedia. This is really the approach the House GOP is taking.

From Wiki: Blast fishing, fish bombing, dynamite fishing or grenade fishing is a destructive fishing practice using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice is extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat (such as coral reefs) that supports the fish. The frequently improvised nature of the explosives used, and undetonated charges, means danger for fishermen and divers as well, with accidents and injuries.

Fishing is generally a quiet endeavor, often contemplative pastime. Unless someone is trolling or using large nets, it is methological and anything but random. The term "fishing expedition" is a misnomer because it has nothing to do with real fishing for actual fish:

Fishing expidition meaning is an open-ended inquiry or investigation, often undertaken on the pretext of a minor or unrelated matter, whose real purpose is to uncover embarrassing or damaging information, as about a political opponent. Reference.

Those who have boats with giant motors make a lot of noise getting to their favorite fishing spots, but what they get there silence is de rigueur. Those who fish with flies, often tying them themselves, take pride in finessing the the fish and casting their fly to precisely where they think the fish are.

Would it be that the House GOP members merely made attention grabbing noise on their way to their fishing spot and then shut the hell up. No, they are intent on making as much noise as possible competeting to get the most attention.

Strategically, as I wrote yesterday in "Split screen: Impeachment is all about counter-programming against Georgia trial" the impeachment is an attempt to give the media something else to report on besides the upcoming trials. On an individual level it provides a megaphone for the egomaniacs to scream "look at me" as loudly as they possibly can. 

Who will end up winning the coveted Oscar as the loudest loudmouth in the House GOP? The oddsmakers probably have the victor being Marjorie Taylor Greene who is clamoring for credit being the first to push for the impeachment (but I don't know if she's going to be on the committee) edging out Matt Gaetz but Jim Jordan is probably waiting for the inquiry to start practicing his  growling gym-coach grilling for when he gets Hunter Biden to testify. Kevin McCarthy selected Jim Comer to lead the impeachment inquiry and Jim Jordan and Jason Smith of Missouri to assist in helming the inquiry (reference).

While on the subject of Marjorie MAGA Megaphone Taylor Greene, I begrudgingly give her credit for using this photo on her X page:

I am sure GOP House members are desperate to get on whatever committee is doing the inquiry if one isn't a a shoo-in.

Click to read

Before this most people outside of their districts couldn't pick Jim Comer  and Jason Smith out of a line-up. Now Comer is an up-and-comer and we'll wait and see whether Smith shines when the spotlight is on him.

File this under How to Pre-judge a Case For Dummies

“Since January, House Republicans have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence showing President Joe Biden lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family’s influence peddling schemes. Bank records, suspicious activity reports, emails, texts, and witness testimony reveal Joe Biden allowed his family to sell him as ‘the brand’ around the world to enrich the Bidens. And, thanks to two brave IRS whistleblowers, we know that the Justice Department – which has been sitting on much of this evidence – has prevented career investigators from pursuing information that could have led to Joe Biden.

“Based on the evidence, we support the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The House Committees on Oversight and Accountability, Judiciary, and Ways and Means, will continue to work to follow the facts to ensure President Biden is held accountable for abusing public office for his family’s financial gain. The American people demand and deserve answers, transparency, and accountability for this blatant abuse of public office.”

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Double Take on seeing that the House Ethics Committee reaching out to witnesses in revived Matt Gaetz probe. Did I read this right?

 

Middle: Rep. Michael Guest

Load only this page, includes Disquis comments.

By Hal Brown

This news came after Matt Gaetz's attempt to make FBI Director Christopher Wray look like a ciminal who is trying to protect a nefarious crime family: see 

Rep. Matt Gaetz Grills FBI Director About Hunter "Shakedown" Message: "Are You Protecting The Bidens?"

Links to article, not to Twitter

I did a double take when I saw that the House, the GOP House and home not only to Gaetz but the Freedom (to be Conspicacy Spinning Lunatics) Caucus which he's a member of, was reviving the ethics probe of Gaetz which began when the Democrats were in control.

From the CNN article:

Now chaired by Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, the panel quietly restarted its investigation earlier this year without publicly laying out its targets anew. The decision to begin reaching out to witnesses, made by Guest and ranking Democratic member, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, is the first formal step the committee has taken since the ethics investigation resumed. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNN this week he doesn’t “know anything about” the investigation, noting that he’s barred by House rules from discussing it with committee members. The Republican-led investigation into Gaetz comes as the Florida congressman finds himself repeatedly at odds with his party’s leadership. 

“I never know anything on (the) Ethics Committee,” McCarthy told CNN. “I don’t know what investigations they have. I don’t know anything about it.” 

Asked to comment on whether he thinks the investigation should move forward, McCarthy declined to do so and referred questions to the committee.

I'd never heard of Rep. Michael Guest so, of course, I checked him out on Wikipedia (here).

He was born in the Woodbury, New Jersey which is in the southern part of the state and a suburb of Philadelphia. I don't know how he ended up living in Mississippi although his official website tells us that he graduated from high school there and went to college and law school in the state:

Congressman Guest is a Rankin County resident and a graduate of Brandon High School. He and his family are members of Brandon Baptist Church, where Congressman Guest serves as a Sunday school teacher for young men in high school. He received a degree in accounting from Mississippi State University and his law degree from The University of Mississippi. Congressman Guest is a member of the Rankin County Bar Association and the Mississippi Bar Association. He is married to the former Haley Kennedy of Brandon, and they have two sons, Kennedy and Patton. The Guests' newest family addition is their dog, Winston Churchill.

What may be the most relevant aspect of his chairing this committee as it investigates Gaetz may be in the second paragraph (highlighted) about his tenure in the House (below from Wikipedia):

In December 2020, Guest was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated^[9] Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.^[10][11][12]

On May 19, 2021, Guest was one of 35 Republicans who joined all Democrats in voting to approve legislation to establish the January 6, 2021 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.^[13]

In June 2022, after a leaked decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to revoke the right to abortion in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Guest wrote to the Department of Homeland Security to demand action in the wake of attacks by Jane's Revenge, which Guest called an "anarchist extremist group" that targets crisis pregnancy centers and other anti-abortionorganizations.^[14]

In August 2022, Guest was named ranking member of the House Ethics Committee upon the death of former ranking member Jackie Walorski.^[15]

Guest was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.^[16]

Considering that there are 222 GOP members of the House being one of 35 crossing the aisle in this controversial vote may prove to be an indication he is will to put poltics aside and risk retribrition from hard right members of the House GOP who consider Gaetz to be one of their own.

As far as justice prevailing, Trump is a giant orange rockfish and Gaetz is a baby shrimp. 

Even so, frying him with a finding that he violated House ethics would barely whet the appetite for holding people accountable, but it would be satisfying to see that something came of it. 

Take Westworld and Stepford Wives robots and add a generous helping of crazy and you get the programmed House GOP

 

By Hal Brown

You're reading this. You don't need me to elaborate on the craziness manifest among the headliners in the United States House of Representatives which has resulted in lunatic antics. Consider these automatons censoring Adam Schiff (an obsession with Rep. Ann Paulina Luna) as  a recent example of the GOP Steppford Wives marching in lockstep. Another is the duel between gunslingers Greene and Boebert (who got her orders from God) over who got the idea first to impeach President Biden could be right out of Westworld. The only difference between that gunfight and one staged for tourists is that they use AR-15's instead of six-shooters.

Article from Raw Story here:

Click to read

The vote to censure Adam Schiff was unanimous among the House Republicans so they certainly were acting like robots. The willingness to totally remain silent about the antics of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and let's not forget George Santos, is more wretched robotics.  

I won't even get into how all of these deranged devices defend Donald or refuse to address the Clarence Thomas ethical train wreck.

As I finish this blog this is what's on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC:

If you don't see the Disquis comment section below it is on the bottom of this page.