Republicans finally fell in line today and elected Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. Johnson has been in the House since 2016, so he doesn't have much experience.
Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz, on the other hand, are chortling because he knocked out all the experienced GOP leadership in order to install his MAGA speaker of choice with the same sword hanging over his head that Kevin McCarthy had -- one Representative can move to knock him out of that position.
One thing that has been driven home in this vote: It was never about election denial. Mike Johnson led the charge to overturn the 2020 election and yet this time around they all fell in line and voted for him, because he's basically Jim Jordan without the bluster.
There is no daylight between Jim Jordan and Mike Johnson:
Because Johnson is new to Congress, he has no knowledge or understanding of what it takes to be Speaker. This, of course, is great for the oligarchs and shadow president Steve Bannon, because they can just make him their puppet.
Before he came to Congress, Johnson worked for the Alliance Defense Fund, the previous name for Alliance Defending Freedom, the Christian nationalist group who inserts themselves into every culture war issue in the courts.
It's going to be a wild ride through 2024, I predict.
