It's hard to be a patriot these days

In my view, being patriotic means sometimes putting country before party. So patriotic Joel hopes that when the GOP takes control of the house, they re-think the endless hearings, impeachments, bills to cut Social Security and Medicare and default on the national debt that were discussed in the run-up to the latest election. But cynical Joel hopes they take the bait and do what they threaten, because by 2024, American voters will be sick and tired of the juvenile party and its endless tantrums and destruction of the economy and will sweep the GOP out of power.

It sure looks like the GOP is bent on self-immolation and plans to take the rest of us with them. Per Josh Marshall over at TPM:

"A Republican House would mean tons of investigations into various aspects of the Biden administration, holding the debt ceiling hostage and likely impeaching Biden and other Cabinet officials. The investigations will happen even if Republicans end up with a one-seat majority — all they need is committee control. But the other stuff gets tougher, not least because this majority, if they get it, will be won on the backs of New York frontline Republicans. They’ll have very different incentives than the McCarthy-empowered Greenes and Gaetzes if they don’t want to get wiped out in 2024."

"The GOP caucus would be pulling in two very different directions, and that dynamic would only get harder for a Speaker McCarthy to handle the smaller the majority is."