(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . U.S. response to Middle East crisis paralyzed by Republican civil war [1] ['Daily Kos Staff'] Date: 2023-10-09 Republicans went home early last week after shutting down the House, but the militant group Hamas took no such respite, instead launching the most deadly attack on Israel in decades. The sudden assault on a longtime U.S. ally jolted awake at least some House Republicans, including allies of ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy as well as GOP members who face tough reelections next year. On Saturday, Rep. Brandon Williams of New York—one of 18 Republicans who sit in a district that favored President Joe Biden in 2020—called for an immediate return to Washington to "vote on a Speaker ASAP." But Williams' tweet also served to highlight the mayhem that would soon overwhelm the GOP caucus. "We’ve all had a chance to discern between the two candidates," Williams wrote of Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. "The nation & the world needs America’s Congress to be functioning." x In light of today’s attacks, we should be called back to DC & vote on a Speaker ASAP. We’ve all had a chance to discern between the two candidates. The nation & the world needs America’s Congress to be functioning. Every hour brings more risk. I met with a Taiwan representative… pic.twitter.com/6sKEbjVnQP — Rep. Brandon Williams (@RepWilliams) October 7, 2023 By Monday, however, Williams’ tweet would be moot as ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy threw his hat back in the ring, reshuffling the votes and complicating the path for any single Republican to secure the speakership. Williams himself, once invested in the binary choice between Jordan and Scalise, appeared to endorse McCarthy. "Kevin McCarthy is the only globally recognized American leader who is speaking with moral clarity about the Iran-Hamas terrorist rampage right now," Williams tweeted along with a livestream of McCarthy's remarks on Monday about the conflict in the Middle East. x Kevin McCarthy is the only globally recognized American leader who is speaking with moral clarity about the Iran-Hamas terrorist rampage right now. LIVE: https://t.co/HeYA3hZM2r — Rep. Brandon Williams (@RepWilliams) October 9, 2023 Another Republican member of the “Biden 18,” Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, called the removal of McCarthy "an unmitigated shit show" and "idiotic" on his campaign account. "Uncertainty and chaos in the U.S. breeds vulnerability around the world," Lawler wrote Saturday, calling on the House to "immediately reinstate McCarthy and stop screwing around." x Removing ⁦@SpeakerMcCarthy⁩ from office, mid-term, was idiotic. Doing so as Israel faces an all out attack is dangerous. Uncertainty and chaos in the U.S. breeds vulnerability around the world. The House should immediately reinstate McCarthy and stop screwing around. pic.twitter.com/x5qaMAwUAV — Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) October 7, 2023 Less than hour later, Lawler followed up on this, saying, "Bang up job by everyone who voted to remove @SpeakerMcCarthy with no plan in place." x Bang up job by everyone who voted to remove @SpeakerMcCarthy with no plan in place. https://t.co/wRNFYjltMu — Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) October 7, 2023 By "everyone," Lawler is presumably implicating Democrats too. But it's the House majority that decides who the speaker is, it was McCarthy himself who negotiated the terms of the motion to vacate the speaker, and it was a Republican who pulled the trigger on that motion last week. And make no mistake, this is a Republican Party at war with itself. “It wasn’t my idea to oust the speaker, and I thought it was dangerous,” Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, fumed on CNN Sunday. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who engineered McCarthy's ouster, has also been the rightful recipient of much GOP rage and derision. After Gaetz tweeted on Saturday that he was "closely monitoring" the attack, conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg dragged Gaetz in a subtweet. x LOL, “monitor” away dude. You hobbled the House with no “goals” either. You weakened the country and your party for purely selfish reasons. The biggest favor you could do everyone is just stfu for a little while and let the grown ups clean up your mess. https://t.co/QnPoHdoaoc — Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) October 8, 2023 "LOL, 'monitor' away dude," wrote Goldberg, who's editor-in-chief of conservative outlet The Dispatch. "You weakened the country and your party for purely selfish reasons. The biggest favor you could do everyone is just stfu for a little while and let the grown ups clean up your mess.” That cleanup is going to be easier said than done. As Republicans arrive back in Washington to hash things out, they now have three candidates for speaker, none of whom are likely to emerge as a consensus of the caucus. In the meantime, the U.S. response to this global crisis is indefinite paralysis, courtesy of the Republican Party. Sign if you agree: No more MAGA circus. Hakeem Jeffries for speaker! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/9/2198380/-U-S-response-to-Middle-East-crisis-paralyzed-by-Republican-civil-war?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_4&pm_medium=web 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/