(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . CBS host laughs in McCarthy's face when he claims Democrats wanted a government shutdown [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-01 The Peter Principle "In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." Peter's corollary: "In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties." It is hard to pick the adjective that best describes a Republican politician — but a contender is “shameless.” One example is the GOPer who voted against the Democratic infrastructure bill before rushing back to their district to boast of the federal funding coming to their constituents. Another would be Kevin McCarthy on every topic. Today, he told the gobsmacked CBS Meet the Press host, Margaret Brennan, that the Democrats had "tried to do everything" they could to force a government shutdown. Brennan reacted in the only appropriate way. She burst out laughing. Following is their conversation. McCarthy, “I wasn't sure it [the 45-day continuing resolution] was going to pass. Do you wanna know why? ‘Cause the Democrats tried to do everything they can not to let it pass.” Brennan, “Democrats are the ones who voted for this …. “ McCarthy (interrupting), “Did you watch? Did you watch it?’ Brennan, “ … in a larger number than Republicans, to keep the continuing resolution alive.” McCarthy, “Did you watch the floor yesterday?" Brennan, “Yes, 90 Republicans voted against it.” McCarthy (mansplaining). “OK, let's walk through what actually happened. First of all, the Democrats stood up and did dilatory actions. Asked to adjourn. So was that supporting to adjourn? Then they used the magic minute. They went as far as pulling the fire alarm not to try to get the bill to come up. Democrats stick together. But they did not want the bill. They did not … they were willing to let government shut down, for our military not to be paid. No, I wasn’t. We were going to make sure we keep it open, while we finish the job we're supposed to do.” McCarthy would have been a successful snake oil salesman. There are always those who want to believe what the well-scrubbed man with the good hair and the glib insincerity says. But anyone of average intelligence — and with thirty seconds of spare time — can spot his casual lies and effortless sophistry. The Republicans are in the majority. They could have rendered the Democrats irrelevant. They did not. Because McCarthy has never been in charge. He has the title, a bump in salary, and a well-appointed office. But it is all a sham. He has risen to his own level of incompetence. And the uber-right crazies are wagging the dog. McCarthy can say what he wants, but the only thing that counts when attempting to pass a bill is the vote. There were 91 votes against keeping the government open — 90 of them cast by Republicans. Yet the bill passed. It needed 218 yes votes. Democrats accounted for 209. Democrats do the heavy lifting on keeping the government open When Brennan pointed out this obvious fact, McCarthy was ready with his rebuttal. The Democrats “stood up and did dilatory actions.” So what? They voted for the bill. The Democrats pulled “the fire alarm not to try to get the bill to come up.” (Note: Only one Democrat had anything to do with a fire alarm.) Again, so what? They voted for the bill. And “they used the magic minute.” The “magic minute” is a House rule that allows the leader of each party to speak for as long as they want. Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries used his magic minute for 52 minutes so the Democrats could review the text of McCarthy’s bill. And as for “Asked to adjourn,” I will let Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) explain: “We asked for 90 minutes to simply read the bill. Think how absurd it is that the Republicans made a big deal of a 72-hour rule before you vote on bills. And they literally dropped this bill with maybe a few minutes to read it. Completely hypocritical.” “Completely hypocritical” is another contender for best Republican descriptor. It takes a Republican to whine that requesting to read the contents of a bill before you vote on it is an underhanded delaying tactic. And again, so what? The Democrats voted for the bill. McCarthy also uses another favored conservative tactic — lying. “They [the Democrats] were willing to let the government shut down.” No, they were not. They almost unanimously voted to keep it open. Dear reader, you have my sympathies. You are probably as bored reading that the Democrats voted foe the bill as I am writing it. So let us put it to bed. There have been six government shutdowns in the last 30 years. In all of them, Republicans controlled the House. McCarthy adds to the insincerity by embracing the totem of America’s greatness, the military — despite their Dear Leader’s suggestion that the outgoing Chief of Staff be executed. And the GOP’s aversion to funding veterans’ medical care. McCarthy ends by saying “while we finish the job we're supposed to do.” Here is the accurate version of his claim — “while the Democrats finish the job the Republicans were supposed to do." [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/1/2196741/-CBS-host-laughs-in-McCarthy-s-face-when-he-claims-Democrats-wanted-a-government-shutdown Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/