Texas Congressman Bill Flores, R-Bryan, told the Texas Tribune today that he will likely run for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The decision by Flores comes as House Republicans stumble around in search of a replacement for John Boehner, the Ohio Republican and current speaker who has announced that he will resign at the end of this month.
Flores first won election to Congress in the Tea party wave in 2010, defeating longtime Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards of Waco. Flores told the Texas Tribune that he would seek the speakership if Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, continues to refuse to run for the top post — which is behind only the vice president in the line of succession to the presidency.
House Republicans, currently split between really conservative members and fire-breathers who orbit even farther out on the fringes of the right, have been unable to settle on a speaker. So where does Flores fall in that spectrum? Based on his past rhetoric, he’s way out on the edges of the right.
For example, Flores has supported impeaching President Obama, something of an entry-level political position for the extreme right. But he really pushed the limits of reason when he linked same-sex marriage to violence in Baltimore last spring following the death of an African-American man in police custody. Here’s what Flores said about the Baltimore unrest in a radio discussion with Tony Perkins, head of the anti-LGBT hate group Family Research Council:
“You look at what’s going on in Baltimore today, you know, you see issues that are raised there. And healthy marriages are the ones between a man and a woman because they can have a healthy family and they can raise children in the way that’s best for their future, not only socially but psychologically, economically, from a health perspective. There’s just nothing like traditional marriage that does that for a child. Each of us has a mother and a father, and there’s just no way to get around that.”
Seriously, Congressman? Letting committed, loving gay and lesbian couples get married leads to inner-city riots? What a vile (and ridiculous) thing to say. But that passes for serious “thought” on the wacky right these days.
We should applaud Congressman Bill Flores’ attempt to be Speaker of the House and hope he wins. This would result in an even faster demise of the Republican Party in the U.S. and–with nobody left with political power in Washington but Democrats–lead to peace, prosperity, and good will, something we all can hopefully wish for.
If the TEAliban were not only dead in the water, but that feeble-minded idiot is conitnuing to prove the former party of Lincoln a bunch of the insane. I can only hope that the sane people of America will vote for Senator Sanders.
I get a kick ouit o the people who are trying to make Bernie a guy who cannot be elected. When they see President Sanders taking the oath of POTUS, maybe then they will agree that the man CAN win!
I can’t put into words how excited I am to watch all of this playing out. I’m simply loving it!! The fact that establishment Republicans are finally calling these radical idiots out is a breath of fresh air. Everyone can now see just how frightening and ludicrous their positions are. Although many of us have known that since their beginning, there are still a large number of establishment Republican constituents who have found them to be the lesser of two evils. Now it’s hard to make that determination. It gives me hope for our country that these arrogant obstructionists will soon be ousted from power with no one to blame but themselves.
Let this sink in for a moment. Out of 240 or so Republicans in the House there is not a single credible candidate for Speaker.
I seriously doubt Paul Ryan will run because he knows he’s all facade and no substance. He’s all pretense and has no actual leadership track record. I think Ryan is smart enough to know that taking the speaker job now will end his career.
Nope, they’re going to need a coalition speakership with the Democrats. Simply outvote the crazy faction and isolate them from causing further damage.
You know who should be made the new Speaker of the House to perfectly represent the GOP as it is now? LOUIE GOHMERT!
Well, Flores is himself a riot, no matter who he’s married to.
From the Houston Chronicle today (edited):
Texas lawmakers demand removal of Planned Parenthood founder’s bust
A group of conservative congressmen, including nine from Texas, is joining with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz to demand that the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., remove a bust of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. In a letter dated Friday, the group of 24 House Republicans accused Sanger, an early contraception pioneer, of holding values “deeply antithetical to the very values most Americans hold dear” by advocating for the need to limit births by poor people who can’t afford children. Sanger’s bust is on display in the “Struggle for Justice” exhibit at the Portrait Gallery, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Cruz, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, released the letter on Tuesday, along with a statement saying that Sanger’s bust represents “hatred, racism and the destruction of unborn life.” The other Texas lawmakers signing on to the removal demand are: Louie Gohmert, Brian Babin, Kevin Brady, Blake Farenthold, Kenny Marchant, Randy Neugebauer, John Ratcliffe, Randy Weber and Roger Williams.