Do You Believe in Magic?

 No, I am not talking about the Lovin' Spoonful song from the 1960's. I am talking about the vote yesterday in the House of Representatives to elect Mike Johnson as the Speaker of the House. I had mentioned in previous posts that I didn't have much faith in the ability of the House Republicans to come together and accomplish anything. So, I was stunned by the news that they had elected Mike Johnson as Speaker on the first ballot.

After a couple of votes were changed, Thomas Massie was the only Republican who didn't support Johnson. I am a contrarian by nature, but even I am trying to understand Massie's position. Sometimes, we have to put our feelings and our egos aside and do what is best for the country. Massie just couldn't do it.

I doubt that anyone who has a pulse thought that Johnson would win on the first ballot. I told someone that I thought that he might win on the second ballot, and they expressed the idea that I might be insane. Just call me crazy!

What did we learn from this election for Speaker of the House? We learned that Donald Trump may have unified Republicans in a way thought previously to be impossible. For the skeptics, this is certainly Donald Trump's Republican Party. The vote for Speaker proved that point.

 In the last nine years, Trump has dramatically altered the Republican Party. The Country Club Republicans have given way to the Home Depot Republicans. Somebody needs to go tell Mitch! We don't need to tell Mitt. He left on his own. Mitch needs to go ahead and leave before he just dies at his desk one day. I won't even ask "How will anyone know?"

Over in the Senate, Vice President Harris bungled the Pledge of Allegiance in the ceremony to swear in new members of the Senate. My thirteen-year-old grand-daughter can recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But the Vice-President of the United States cannot do that. Every time I see Kamala; the same thought runs through my mind. "We really dodged a bullet on that!"

I was reading an online article about the new senators who were being sworn into office. The writer mentioned that two of them had habitually mispronounced Kamala's name. Apparently, this is viewed by the left as some kind of sin. Memo to parents: When you make up a name for your child, there is a risk that no one will be able to either pronounce or spell it. Give it some more thought. 

Where do we get all of these names? Who decides how they are spelled? The prevailing theory goes like this. The hospital worker comes into the room where the mother is with the newborn child. The worker asks, "What do you want to name the child? I am filling out the birth certificate." The mother responds with the name. The worker asks, "How do you spell that?" The mother responds, "Just like it sounds." And that's where all of these names originate. Right?

My first name is Gilbert. It is English or French in origin. That depends on the nationality of whoever you are talking to about it. It is easy to pronounce. But over the last fifty years, I had several employees and customers mispronounce it. Many called me "Mista Gibbut". My maternal grandmother called me "Gib". I survived and so will Kamala. If you work for CNN or MSNBC, find something else to bitch about other than the pronunciation of Kamala. Or just call her Kam.

Once again, welcome to the new Republican Party.