Will Mike Johnson’s head be the next to roll?

Neoliberalism

Self-driving cars

Fig. 1. Photograph by Mark Doliner, August 1, 2012, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Stephen Wilmot, “Tesla Is Running Out of Time to Deliver on Self-Driving Promises,” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-is-running-out-of-time-to-deliver-on-self-driving-promises-92f4afc1

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Hush money

Fig. 2. Cartoon by Jesse Duquette, undated, via “Minneapple23” [pseud.] on Imgur, April 1, 2023, fair use.

Poor baby.

Victoria Bekiempis, “Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation,” Guardian, April 16, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-new-york-hush-money-criminal-trial

Kyle Cheney, “The reality of being a criminal defendant on trial finally dawned on Trump. He didn’t take it well,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/16/trump-trial-reality-criminal-defendant-00152421

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024

Fig. 3. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Mike Johnson’s speakership has been troubled^[1] since his election.^[2] And when it was just Marjorie Taylor Greene seeking to oust him, I wasn’t much impressed. But now a second Republican has joined her. They need three to oust him unless Democrats rescue him^[3] despite his far right views.^[4] The impetus for all this is his foreign aid package, broken up into four bills, including three, one each, for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.^[5]

To even bring the [foreign aid] package up on the floor, [Mike] Johnson will need a majority of the House. And given conservative opposition he’s almost certainly going to need Democratic support. Typically, the minority party does not help on so-called rule votes, but some have signaled they’d make an exception for Ukraine aid.^[6]

Get out the popcorn because I have no idea how this plays out.

Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, “Second Republican endorses push to fire Johnson as speaker,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/16/congress/massie-joins-greene-00152463

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 4. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Ishaan Tharoor, “Iran’s escalation with Israel shifts focus away from Gaza,” Washington Post, April 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/04/16/iran-escalation-israel-gaza-attention-focus/

Heather Cox Richardson, “April 16, 2024,” Letters from an American, April 17, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-16-2024

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 5. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[7] fair use.

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-house-republicans/

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

Julia Ioffe, “Bibi Stings,” Puck News, April 15, 2024, https://puck.news/will-bibi-netanyahu-escalate-with-iran/

Jason Burke, “Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began,” Guardian, April 17, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/17/revealed-israel-has-sped-up-settlement-building-in-east-jerusalem-since-gaza-war-began

Jennifer Scholtes and Connor O’Brien, “Johnson releases text on foreign aid plan as it hangs by thread,” Politico, April 17, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/17/congress/johnson-outlines-foreign-aid-plan-00152767

Russia

Ukraine

Fig. 6. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,^[8] fair use.