Today in Politics, Bulletin 39. 1/3/25 Ron Filipkowski … Mike Johnson was elected Speaker today on a party-line vote of 218-215, with Thomas Massie voting for Tom Emmer. Johnson failed to get to the needed 218 when the first votes were cast. Then he went outside and huddled with two of the holdouts - Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX) for about 45 minutes, then came back in and Norman and Self switched their votes to Johnson. … After Norman voted against Johnson, Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who used to hold the Norman’s seat in Congress before him, threatened to help defeat him in the next Republican primary. Republican consultant Wesley Donehue posted: “I have a team of 90 political operatives I’m ready to put to work to take out Norman. I know every inch of the district like the back of my hand. He doesn’t support MAGA and he’s an embarrassment to SC.” … Fox is reporting that Nancy Mace brought Norman and Self together in a side room outside the Chamber and Trump was put on speaker phone. According to Bret Baier, Trump told them: “It would be disrespectful to Americans who voted in a historic presidential election to have this Speaker’s vote go to a 2nd or 3rd ballot, and it would be disrespectful to me.” … Keith Self told CNN that he and Trump had a “lively discussion.” … Meanwhile, Marge Greene plopped down next to Massie and was on her phone speaking with someone and relaying the conversation to him. We were able to get a screenshot of it when she turned away and it said that the person on the call was Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. … When Massie was asked why he wouldn’t budge regardless of all the pressure that was put on him, he reportedly referenced his wife who recently died: “If they thought I had fucks to give before, I have no fucks to give now. I’m a single man now. I lost my wife and she was probably the nicest part of me. What do I have to lose?” … Massie posted from the floor: “433 members of Congress are being sworn in today, and I’m being sworn at.” … Matt Gaetz responded: “I know the feeling.” … Chip Roy backed down earlier in the day after a call from Trump. He reportedly wanted Johnson to appoint him Chair of the Rules Committee to change his vote, but Johnson told him if he did that he would lose 200 Republicans who hate Roy. Rep. Don Bacon confirmed that to NOTUS: “Putting Chip Roy in charge of the Rules Committee is like putting Stalin in charge of amnesty and diplomacy.” … So after Johnson said he would make no promises or threats, it seems that promises and threats were made to get him over the top. … The lesson Republicans should learn from this is that they should try to work with Democrats to get things done given their tiny majority, but they will not. So they will have to remain near unanimous on every bill. They have never been able to do that before over the past two years on anything, so good luck to them. … Rep. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) stood up after the initial vote to make a protest that the representatives for US territories and DC who represent a combined 4 million Americans with the highest per-capita population of military veterans do not get to vote for Speaker. She received a loud standing ovation from Democrats. … Matt Gaetz’s resignation was officially entered into the record today, but an odd twist is that he was on Charlie Kirk’s show at the same time and said this: “If this had been a close one, I would have been there. I had a certificate of election. But I spoke to Mike Johnson last night and he exhibited great confidence that after Trump spoke with our colleagues that today would have been ceremonial. If my vote was needed I would have been there. I had a flight booked and everything.” … So Gaetz was planning to vote for Johnson and then resign if his vote was needed. … Kirk then responded: “But we have about 3,000 emails that have come in over the last 30 minutes and it’s 99% against Speaker Johnson. They can’t stand him. They call him a gutless wonder. They say he’s a liar, he’s deceived us, he’s misled us.” … When the Clerk announced on the floor that the Gaetz resignation was officially entered into the record, the House erupted in loud cheers. … Gaetz also posted this today: “South Korea’s president instituted Marshall Law for a day and they’re trying to arrest him. Fauci basically instituted Marshall Law for months.” He is now a very edgy TV man with hot takes. … And it’s “martial” law. Not Marshall. … Meanwhile, over in the Senate, Republicans officially took over as the majority and Chuck Grassley was sworn in as President pro tempore of the Senate, making the 91-year old 3rd in line to the presidency. … New Senate Majority Leader John Thune pledged that he will keep the filibuster intact, saying that it “has the greatest impact in preserving the Founders’ vision of the Senate,” and how it is supposed to work as a deliberative body that arrives at consensus rather than straight majority rule like the House. … Inner City Press reported from the courtroom that Rudy Giuliani was held in contempt of court today after he testified in front of a New York judge. He was found to have violated the court’s order by refusing to turn over his grandfather’s watch and his signed NY Yankees Joe Dimaggio jersey to the attorneys for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. … The hearing was then continued to tomorrow for proceedings on the remaining parts of the contempt motion dealing with his refusal to participate in discovery. … Judge Merchan issued an order today where he signaled that he intends to grant Trump a “conditional discharge” on his criminal case where he was found guilty by a jury. That essentially means he will face no jail time or probation and the case will be closed. He will still be sentenced on January 10, but he can appear virtually and that will be the result. … But Trump’s Communications Director Steven Cheung still isn’t happy with that: “This lawless case should have never been brought and the Constitution demands that it be immediately dismissed. There should be no sentencing, and President Trump will continue fighting against these hoaxes until they are all dead.” … Susan Collins, who is up for reelection in Maine next year, appeared on NewsCenter Maine and was asked her thoughts about Trump’s nominees. Collins said, “I always give great deference to presidents to build their own teams.” … Except that she voted against 85 Biden nominees. And she is in a Democratic state, which she has been able to win for many years by painting herself as a moderate. But if she votes for the Trump agenda, that won’t be moderate, and certainly won’t reflect the values of the majority of voters in Maine. … Trump released an incredibly bizarre statement that he was appointing Morgan Ortagus as his Dep. Special Envoy to the Middle East. This is what he said: “Morgan fought me for 3 years, but hopefully has learned her lesson. These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support. Let’s see what happens. I expect great results, and soon!” … He’s just a despicable man, and you have to have no pride or self-respect to accept this appointment after that. She obviously groveled to get it and now he’s just shaming her for it. Ortagus could take a highly principled stand and reject the appointment after that demeaning announcement. But she won’t. That is how it is now in Trump’s Republican Party. … He got even more despicable with another post today where he complained about the American flag being at “half mast during my inauguration” because of the death of Jimmy Carter (they are flown half staff for 30 days after the death of a president). Trump: “Because of the death of Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an inauguration of a future President, be at half mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.” … And it’s “half staff” not “half mast.” Dipshit. … MAGA conspiracies about the man who killed himself in the Cybertruck outside Trump’s hotel in Vegas seem to be fizzling out pretty quickly with every new fact we learn. In addition to his family telling media outlets that he “loved Trump” and was a registered Republican, they are now reporting that he was distraught because his wife told him she wanted a divorce two days before the incident, and he was suffering from PTSD from his military service. Not sounding like ISIS or Antifa.  (MATTHEW LIVELSBERGER) … Law enforcement released his suicide message to the public this afternoon, where he said: “This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives. Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I’ve took.” … Charlie Kirk still isn’t buying it though. He is certain the New Orleans and Las Vegas attacks were coordinated terrorism: “Everyone is acting alone except for the fact the two suspects attacked on the same day, rented their cars from the same company, and served on the same military base. Got it.” Turo is a App that is used by millions of people to rent cars and millions of people were stationed at that base over the years. Not sure why that is so fantastical to QAnon Charlie. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. … The FBI released additional information about the J6 pipe bomber, stating that the person’s height is 5’7”. For those of you who had Marge Greene on your scorecard (I never did) - she is 5’3”. However, the person who I have predicted was the pipe bomber since early 2021 just so happens to be … 5’7”. … Go figure. … I won’t say the name, but I will say that he is often skulking around DC harassing Democrats, was there on J6, is a close associate of Michael Flynn, and frequently talks about getting “retribution” on Democrats and the Deep State. The name you have to figure out on your own because my theory is just based on circumstantial evidence. But the 5’7” thing is another piece of evidence that fits his profile. … President Biden announced that he will block the acquisition of US Steel by Nippon Steel from Japan. Biden has long said that he opposes the deal. Trump has also repeatedly said that he is against the deal. Neither president wants the struggling company to be owned by a foreign entity due to its historical importance to the American economy, but according to the company and union reps this is going to hurt their ability to be competitive. … Elon Musk is on Day 3 of his obsession with attempting to overthrow the government of UK this week over the jailing of white nationalist leader Tommy Robinson. He is now calling on King Charles to dissolve Parliament and call new elections to replace current PM Keir Starmer. … Musk is using the argument that there were mass sexual assaults in the UK committed by migrants while Starmer was Crown Prosecutor and Starmer failed to prosecute them adequately: “The people of Britain do not want this government at all. New elections!” … He also called for Starmer to be put in jail after he is voted out as PM: “Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.” … UK Health Minister Wes Streeting responded that Musk is “certainly misinformed” about the facts of the cases, and told the BBC that “this government takes the issue of child sexual exploitation very seriously.” He also said that a number of things Musk has posted on social media this week about the UK are false. I feel their pain. … It has been interesting to watch this play out, because Musk has attempted to mobilize his usual brigade of X influencers to whip people online into a frenzy to go after Starmer, but they are mostly all American MAGA plus his small handful of people overseas who are paid to tamper in foreign elections. … The question is, will his usual playbook work in a country other than the US? I guess we will see. It didn’t work in the French elections, arguably it helped in Italy and Argentina. Seems like this is falling flat though and I don’t mind Musk being tied up tormenting the UK for a while - gives us a bit of a break from his ketamine-fueled mania. … In Germany, Der Spiegel had Green Party leader Robert Habeck on the cover with this quote: “Hands off our democracy, Elon Musk.” … Eric Swalwell called out Sen. John Kennedy for his fake performative accent, homilies, and Foghorn Leghorn schtick at the FBI press briefing the day of the attack in New Orleans: “This may shock you, but I was on an FBI briefing call this morning with Kennedy and he acted like a grown up and asked real questions. When the cameras aren’t on, most of these MAGA pro wrestlers actually act normal. Which makes their acting that much more pathetic.” … I posted a clip on social media of Oxford grad Kennedy speaking back when he was a Democrat and was Treasurer of LA. He spoke perfectly normal, correct English with a light southern accent. Then he switched parties, went full MAGA, and decided that Cajun Foghorn Leghorn was the play to appeal to the MAGA base. He was right, they love the act. I guess when you are competing with Clay Higgins for clicks, you better bring something good to the table to entertain the dumbed-down MAGA base. … Mike Johnson told the right-wing media outlet ‘Just The News’ that the first thing that House Republicans are going to cut out of the budget is Biden’s student loan debt cancelation program: “Unwinding all these aspects of what the Democrats did for the last 4 years will help us substantially. Then we’ll be going through with a fine tooth comb the rest of the budget.” Republicans have controlled the House for the last 2 years, and are still blaming Democrats for things in the budget. … Rep. Virginia Foxx, who yelled “Shut up!” at a reporter who tried to ask Mike Johnson a question when he was first sworn in as Speaker last year, fell down a marble staircase in the Capitol after the vote today and there was “a lot of blood” coming from a gash on her leg. The 81-year old received medical attention and is reported not seriously injured. … Trump wore a new hat while golfing with JD Vance yesterday. It was his usual red and white hat but this time it said, “Trump Was Right About Everything” instead of MAGA. … After Musk’s mass purge of X accounts of right-wingers who criticized him over his position on H-1B visas, the few remaining are complaining that Alex Jones hasn’t said a word to speak up in their defense to Musk despite the fact that they lobbied Musk to reinstate him. Even after every other right-winger with permanent bans had been reinstated by Musk after he bought Twitter, Jones was the one guy he refused to reinstate. … Musk cited Jones’s comments about Sandy Hook as his reason for not reinstating him at the time. But the very same people he just banned lobbied Musk for months to let Jones back on - and he finally did. Now Jones won’t say a word to help them because Musk is his new sugar daddy. So now we have a rift not only between the far-right and Musk, they are also now disillusioned with Alex Jones. Jake Shields: “I spent years fighting for Alex Jones’s right to free speech and to be on X. Why won’t he do the same for me?” … A conservative columnist for The Tennesseean wrote a column where he labeled TN Reps Tim Burchett and Andy Ogles “CAVE”, which he said stands for, “Conservatives Against Virtually Everything.” … UFO-obsessed Burchett posting on X from the House floor during the Speaker drama today: “This is like listening to the Freebird live version and you can’t turn it off. I can’t leave out of respect.” … Nancy Mace’s bill to ban transgender people from women’s bathrooms in the Capitol did not make it out of the Rules Committee.