Video: Speaker Who?

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After a full day of voting, the House of Representatives has not elected a new speaker. Kevin McCarthy has not been able to lock in enough votes to gain the title. Audrey and Harvest joined Dispatch Live to talk about what happened in the halls of Congress and what we can all expect in the next few days. Then, Sarah and Jonah offer their thoughts on the day’s proceedings. Would they vote for Kevin McCarthy for speaker? And what’s the deal with Chip Roy? Plus, a few words on David’s (quasi) departure from The Dispatch. 

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Comments (19)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Good reporting by Audrey and Harvest! First time on TD Live for Harvest, I think, and second or third or fourth for Audrey.

    Chip Roy articulated in my mind the only principled reason not to vote for impeachment. I still would have. He’s right that Pelosi played a political game. But Trump still should have been barred from ever holding office again.

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  2. Mike Liveright

    Sorry about my confusion. I finally found the Video "Speaker Who" and while I am viewing it, I'd like to suggest:
    1) A page that is pointed to in the lists in reverse order your Videos, Audible, the Dates and Titles, and links to them. You can allow users to reorder them, pick which are listed, etc.
    2) The titles, both for all include the broadcast pages, as well as the title, e.g. in the "Speaker Who?" also include the date.
    3) The https://thedispatch.com/, and perhaps others, contained in the dropdown menu also has a link to "1)" as "Video and Audio casts"
    3) Perhaps also have the first speaker mention the cast date.

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  3. R. James

    Jonah 100% correct on the Impeachment issue.

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  4. Randall Briggs

    I didn't find Sarah's endorsement of Chip Roy very convincing. I find Jonah's counterpoints more compelling.

    I wish someone would have asked Jonah about Mike Gallagher. He too voted twice not not to impeach Donald Trump.

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    1. GregS

      Jonah thinks of Mike Gallagher as a friend, so Gallagher gets the benefit of the doubt.
      That's because Jonah, like Sarah, is not afflicted by left-wing-lamestream-media-bias, you see.

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  5. Payette

    Of greatest value to me were (1) Audrey and Harvest sharing perspective on the Speaker saga, and (2) Jonah and Sarah discussing why the House is so dysfunctional/unproductive (after changes wrought by Mr. Gingrich).

    This was well worth my time!

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  6. GregS

    1) Sarah, how exactly is McCarthy going to get you a nice library if he is speaker for 6 weeks? He can't get anything passed into law anyway given that the GOP doesn't have the Senate! The only things that he has to realistically offer you are help with re-election, and committee posts where you can be on TV. And perhaps that isnt much of an offer. The endgame may be that having a protracted battle for Speaker is exactly as useful as Hunter Biden hearings - i.e. useless. But nothing of any greater importance will be done by this House anyway, so why leave any opportunities for creating spectacles on the table?
    2) Your argument for Chip Roy boils down to "He gets the benefit of the doubt because he's my friend and I know him well." What exactly do you think he believes? Can you really convince yourself that Chip Roy would have voted against impeachment under identical circumstances if the offender was a Democrat?
    How do you think the concept of "media bias" thar Jonah is *constantly* talking about applies in your situation vis-a-vis Chip Roy?

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    1. R. James

      It's the same willful blindness towards Chip Roy that was on display during the infamous TD Roy interview where he was proclaimed as the future leader of the antiTrump GOP.

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  7. Avatar photo
    OK Steele

    I actually have always been a fan of Chip Roy and liked his commitment to his principles (although I did not always agree with them) up until a Dispatch Podcast Interview. I found his floundering in that interview about Liz Chaney, back when she was still in house leadership, to be so pathetic, unprincipled and unserious that I changed my entire perspective on him.

    I think it was Sarah who cornered him on a few questions and his flailing responses were incredibly disappointing to me.

    I’m likely too idealistic on the matter, but I love people with intellectual consistency, and I can respect anyone I disagree with who shows it. I used to love that about Chip Roy, but that Chaney interview felt very much inconsistent with the way he typically talks about politics, and made me unsure if he actually believes the things he says that he does.

    I don’t know the man so Sarah obviously has better perspective than I do, however I can’t help but question the “he actually believes what he says” statement given his responses in that interview.

    But like Jonah says “Politicians will always let you down”

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    1. R. James

      Don't forget that the TD once proclaimed Chip Roy as the future leader of the antiTrump GOP so maybe they don't know Chip Roy as well as they think they do.

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    2. Avatar photo
      OK Steele

      Listening further, I agree with Jonah about impeachment but I was totally okay with that because he made an intellectually consistent argument and although I thought he should’ve voted for impeachment at least his argument was honest and reflected principled character!

      The Chaney situation stood out to me because I was waiting for a serious, fact derived, non partisan point that I could respect for outing her from leadership and he never made one!

      He was the guy I thought would be able to do it if anyone could and I was excited to hear it and alas it never came.

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      1. Avatar photo
        CarsonJ

        It seems to me that Chip Roy will trot out the "of course I support this, just not this *version* of it," whenever he might be in a position to anger his constituents. He did that with impeachment and the bipartisan January 6 committee, so at this point I really wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him (and since weasels are not that heavy, I could probably throw him pretty far).

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        1. Avatar photo
          Seth B

          Roy even did his "yes, but not this way" routine this when voting against making Juneteenth a national holiday.

          His argument on that occasion was: "Juneteenth should be commemorated …[but] the holiday should not be called 'Juneteenth National Independence Day' but rather 'Juneteenth National Emancipation (or Freedom or otherwise) Day.' This name needlessly divides our nation on a matter that should instead bring us together by creating a separate Independence Day based on the color of one's skin."

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  8. Avatar photo
    Bill Dyer (aka Beldar)

    I could not disagree more profoundly with the esteemed Ms. Isgur's sentiments to the effect that if she were a GOP member of Congress, she'd have traded her vote in favor of would-be Speaker McCarthy for a nice library in her home district.

    Pursuant to the Constitution and its enabling legislation, 5 U.S.C. § 3331, the oath taken by members of Congress upon being sworn into office reads as follows:

    "I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

    Link: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title5/part3/subpartB/chapter33/subchapter2&edition=prelim

    No, Ms. Isgur, a member of Congress' duty is NOT to his or her constituents in the district from which he or she was elected, nor even to the persons within that district.

    And that misperception, which I'm sorry to hear Ms. Isgur seems to share, is at the very root of the problem with the United States Congress in general and its House of Representatives in particular.

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  9. Moorechaos

    Will David French and Curtis Chang still do their Good Faith podcast? Any clue?

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  10. Avatar photo
    Nathan

    I've followed David for a long time, and I know he gets a lot of plaudits for his writing, but I think people sleep on how great his podcasting is. I would have missed that more than his newletter, so I'm glad AO is staying together.

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