What do you call two Congresswomen who engage in a public cat fight? It is a Freedom Caucus rupture

(And in this corner....!)...the Lauren Boebert vs. Marjorie Taylor Greene fight isn't just happening in a ladies' bathroom anymore — it's out on the House floor and uglier than before.

So, let me get this right? Congresswoman (former night shift street walker) Marjorie Taylor Greene was so bad that she was voted out of her own right wing caucus?  In other words, MTG is too extreme even for the extremists?  Now out in the public, Boebert and Greene have actually been feuding for months.  (Reported by Cheryl Teh for Insider)

The House Freedom Caucus voted to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from the pro-Trump group last month, a member confirmed Thursday, indicating that her fight with Rep. Lauren Boebert was part of the group’s reasoning.

Decorum is not in their vocabulary

Marjorie Taylor Greene Sh-t-Talking Lauren Boebert Apparently a Bridge Too Far for Freedom Caucus, reported by Eric Lutz in Vanity Fair.

“A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done,” said Freedom Caucus board member Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.). When asked if she was formally out, he replied: “As far as I know, that is the way it is

It’s the first public confirmation of Greene’s fate within the conservative group. (AhhhHa.....a right wing political cat fight!)

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert behave like politically rabid ladies of the night.

The vote was first reported by POLITICO, though it was unclear at the time whether she had been ejected. It took place less than two days after Greene got into a verbal floor fight with Freedom Caucus member Boebert, during which Greene referred to the Colorado Republican as a “little bitch.” After the exchange was first reported, Greene confirmed the fight and doubled down, adding another pejorative.

The two have clashed repeatedly in the past, but Harris indicated that particular spat had factored into the conservative group’s thinking.

“I think the way she referred to a fellow member was probably not the way we expect our members to refer to other fellow, especially female, members,” Harris said Thursday. The Maryland Republican declined to say how he voted but called the decision to remove her “an appropriate action.”

It’s the first time the conservative caucus has booted one of its own and reflects the group’s increasing level of frustration with Greene. She’s closely allied herself with Speaker Kevin McCarthy this year, lining up against many Freedom Caucus members when she supported both his rocky speakership bid and his debt deal with President Joe Biden. At the same time, the group is working through a post-Trump crossroads, with some fretting the group is at risk of becoming too friendly with the party establishment.

Asked if her support for McCarthy and the debt deal fed into the decision to remove her from the group, Harris replied: “I think all of that mattered.”

“I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was publicly saying things about another member in terms that no one should,” he said.

A Freedom Caucus spokesperson declined to comment on Greene’s status, noting that the group doesn’t comment on membership or internal processes. 

For her part, Greene did not directly address her Freedom Caucus membership in a statement on Thursday, instead saying that: “In Congress, I serve Northwest Georgia first, and serve no group in Washington.”

“The GOP has less than two years to show America what a strong, unified Republican-led Congress will do when President Trump wins the White House, in 2024. This is my focus, nothing else,” she added.

Greene typically attends the group’s weekly off-campus meeting. But that closed-door gathering is limited to members, meaning she would no longer be able to attend.

While it’s the first time the group has formally voted to remove a member from its ranks, she’s not the first to leave. Then-Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan previously quit the group in 2019, and left the Republican Party shortly after. Harris noted that there was “one other member a couple of years ago, who we probably would have asked to leave, but we just decided not to.”

And it might not end at Greene. There’s been discussion about targeting a handful of members beyond the Georgia Republican, who critics see as violating group standards by being inactive. 

House Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) previously told POLITICO that he had denied those purge requests, which came before the vote to remove Greene.

“The speaker’s race, there was some difference in opinion. The debt ceiling, there were differences of opinion. And we had to get 80 percent on any major issue that we take positions on,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a Freedom Caucus member, previously told POLITICO, referring to the threshold needed for the group to take a unified stance. “On some big issues, we have not been able to get there.”

The group is currently at the center of the fight over government funding as they try to push McCarthy and members of leadership to go below levels set in the debt deal and to hold the line when he, ultimately, has to negotiate with the White House and Senate Democrats.

Though the group is largely unified on wanting lower spending, they’ve also haggled in private about what their strategy should be after they cut a deal with McCarthy to end a weeklong standoff that ground the House floor to a halt.

Harris, however, argued that, after booting Greene, there were no other remaining “large divisions” and praised Perry.

“This wasn’t even a speed bump,” Harris added. 

Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.

Congresswoman Liz Cheney is correct: Republicans are "very sick"

Maine Writer question to voters that opposed Congresswoman Liz Cheney - What Were You Thinking? (WWYT)

Liz Cheney says the Republican party is "very sick" and still under the control of 'a dangerous former president'

GOP Congressional Candidate Liz Cheney Holds Election Night Event Alex Wong / Getty Images

Echo reported by Pocharapon Neammanee in Insider: 

Rep. Liz Cheney, on Sunday with Jonathan Karl, said that large portions of her Republican party are "very sick". Moreover, Ms. Cheney said that many of her Republican colleagues continue to believe in what Trump says. Despite losing the election, Cheney said she will continue to fight for what she believed in.

Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday said that large portions of her Republican party are "very sick" and says that they still believe in what former President Trump says.

"I think, one, it says that people continue to believe the lie, they continue to believe what he's saying, which is very dangerous," Cheney told Johnathan Karl, host of ABC's This Week when asked what her recent defeat says about Trump's hold on the Republican Party.

"I think it also tells you that large portions of our party, including the leadership of our party, both at the state level in Wyoming, as well as on a national level with the Republican National Committee, is very sick."

Cheney only received 30% of the vote for the Wyoming At-large Republican primary — told Karl that she believes that so many in the Republican party are under the grips of former President Trump, saying that her party needs to decide what its values are.

"We really have got to decide whether or not we're going to be a party based on substance and policy or whether we're going to remain as so many of our party are today, in the grips of a dangerous former president," Cheney said.

Despite her loss, Cheney said she would continue to fight for her principles in the constitution while her party was still under the influence of the former president.

"What I'm fighting for is the Constitution. What I'm fighting for is the perpetuation of the Republic. What I'm fighting for is the rule of law -- the fact that everybody's got to abide by the rule of law," she said.

"What I'm fighting for is the fact that elections have to matter and that when the election is over, and the courts have ruled and the electoral college is met, that the president of the United States has to respect the results of the election."

She added, "What I'm fighting for is the principle that we have a peaceful transition of power, and that we don't determine who rules based upon violence," Cheney said

Echo opinion letter published in the Orange County Register, a California newspaper:  Unfortunately, although she was seeking a third term in Congress, Liz Cheney lost to a candidate whom the former guy Trump endorsed. Cheney is from one of the most prominent Republican families in the U.S. All she had to do to win was to support the conspiracy theories involving a stolen election and get Trump’s endorsement. But the fact is, she is a person of integrity. She said in her concession speech that she loves her state and the Republican Party but she chose country over party.

She is a person of integrity willing to lose her place in Congress in favor of truth and protecting our Democratic government. 

"What I'm fighting for is the Constitution. What I'm fighting for is the perpetuation of the Republic. What I'm fighting for is the rule of law -- the fact that everybody's got to abide by the rule of law," said Ms. Cheney.

This scenario reminded me of a quote in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”: “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

From  Alba Farfaglia in San Clemente, California

Keep abortion legal and safe

Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, undoing nearly 50 years of legalized abortion nationwide.

After Kansas pro-abortion vote, a longtime White House advisor to 4 presidents says political consultants are scrambling: 'What the Hell did you make of this?':  Insider report echo, by Kimberly Leonard, Nicole Gaudiano and Warren Rojas.

Republican political strategists have a message for GOP candidates in the face of the surprise-high voter turnout that showed up in Kansas during Tuesday's primaries to protect abortion rights: Keep your focus on pocketbook issues, and stay out of the abortion debate.

While the resounding vote in Kansas has lifted Democrats' spirits — Politico Playbook on Wednesday morning dubbed it an all-caps "POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE" — Republicans are still mulling over what the vote will mean for their desired majorities come November. So far, they're banking that economic concerns such as inflation and high gas prices will still win the day.

"I think there are a lot of phone calls going on today, among strategists in each party, about, 'What the Hell did you make of this? And, 'What are the consequences?' I don't think we know yet," David Gergen, a political commentator who served under Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, said. "I think we know there is a possibility that these social issues could be a driving force in a race much more than was assumed before Kansas."

The vote in Kansas represented a major test for the anti-abortion cause following the Supreme Court's (wrongminded!) ruling in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973, decision that previously guaranteed a national right to abortion. 

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an influential national anti-abortion organization, wrote in a release that the vote "underscores the stakes for pro-life Americans."

With its June ruling, the Supreme Court turned the legality of abortion to the states. While Kansas was the first state to put the issue directly before voters, it won't be the last: In November, Kentucky will vote on a similar measure that rejects the right to abortion, and two blue states, California and Vermont, will vote on amendments to enshrine the right to abortion in their state constitutions.

"Kansas voters gave the pro-choice movement a resounding victory," Sarah Isgur, a former spokesperson for the Trump administration's justice department and a deputy campaign manager for Carly Fiorina, a 2016, GOP presidential candidate and businessperson, wrote in the Dispatch. 

Isgur sent the column she co-wrote to Insider when asked to evaluate how the Kansas vote affected the midterms.

"Clearly the ballot drove the high turnout," she wrote in the column.

But what isn't yet clear is to what extent voters will elevate the issue of abortion when weighed against other factors. Many Republican strategists are betting that voters will punish Democrats over high costs in November, and maintain that they should avoid the topic of abortion altogether.

Jeff Grappone, who previously led communications for the Senate Republican Conference, said GOP candidates must stay laser focused on pocketbook issues, drawing a strong contrast on record gas prices and record inflation.

"My advice would be for Republicans to stick with their winning messages about the runaway costs of inflation and energy costs and continue to largely avoid discussing the abortion debate," Ron Bonjean, a former spokesperson for Republican leaders in the House and Senate, said.

That appears to have been the strategy, at least so far. 

As of yet, Republicans in Congress have not unified behind what types of abortion bans they'll pursue nationally, if they win a majority in the House or Senate.

Kristin Davison, the vice president of Axiom Strategies, characterized the vote in Kansas as a one-off that's unlikely to have ripple effects elsewhere.  ❓ #IDTS !  

Duh! #GOP will hear from women voters!

"Democrats want to give the Kansas vote a bigger meaning, but the fact of the matter is an issue referendum does not translate into a candidate battle on the ballot," the GOP political consultant told Insider. She predicted that House Republicans would still pick up more than two dozen seats this fall by hammering incumbent Democrats on inflation, public education, and immigration.

"High gas prices are still going to drown out Democrat base talking points," Davison said. "That will be what drives voters when they go to the polls in November."

Republicans point to mixed polling on abortion

Polling shows that US voters have mixed perspectives about abortion. Most voters want abortion legal, but also don't support abortions later in a pregnancy. Abortion exceptions for rape and incest are popular.  (What about when the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother? Hello? 

"Most voters don't want extreme changes one way or the other on abortion," Terry Sullivan, a founding partner of Firehouse Strategies, a consulting firm, who managed the 2016, presidential campaign for GOP (right wing!) Senator Marco Rubio.

Abortions are not only about terminating a pregnancy.  Often they are necessary procedures required to save the lives of women. Without legal abortions, women risk death from hemorrhage, and systemic infections following miscarriages or from the dangers of ectopic pregnancies. 

A total of 55% of voters say access to abortion is "very important" to their vote in November's midterm elections, according to a survey that the Kaiser Family Foundation released.

But the poll also found that voters rank inflation ahead of abortion — and above gun violence and healthcare costs — as the top issue. And 53% continue to say the Supreme Court decision has "not made a difference" in their motivation to vote.

Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster for former President Donald Trump, called Tuesday's results a "propping up of what was faltering Democrat vote enthusiasm."

"In several pieces of public-polling data, when the Roe ruling is pitted head-to-head against inflation and rising prices, voters say that inflation and rising prices will determine their vote by wide margin over the Roe ruling," Fabrizio, who also has worked for GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, said.  (IMO, pollsters have not surveyed women who rarely vote at all.....their data is taken from responses to likely voters and is not representative of all women voters.)

Michael McAdams, the communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, called record-high prices the "number-one issue in every competitive district."

But some Republicans were decidedly defeated by the vote. GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas lamented Tuesday's outcome in a five-part Twitter message, calling it an "enormous blow" to anti-abortion efforts in the Jayhawk State.

"Words could never express the sadness and emotion myself and many Kansans are feeling after the Value Them Both amendment was not adopted," Marshall wrote late August 2. "This is an enormous blow to efforts to protect the sanctity of life in Kansas."

One "pretty obvious message," Gergen said, is that people will vote on the abortion issue.

"We weren't sure they would, and the early signs when people have actually gone to the ballot box in a conservative state are encouraging for the Democrats — and in like measure they're concerning for Republicans," he said. "If you get two or three Kansans sort of knitted together in some fashion, then the whole narrative begins to change, meaning that this could be much more of a jump ball."