Update: We're up to nine candidates, even with some originally rumored ones like Jody Arrington withdrawing.

Add in more Trump meddling in the race, and we may be here a while. The fact that he openly backed Jordan, and the House GOP caucus rejected him after his third failed vote, should also show that Trump's coattails don't extend everywhere, not even in his national GOP of today. Also, the far right within the House GOP, and their PACs and super PACs, ginning up a barrage of email and phone calls against House GOP members who wouldn't support Jordan, reportedly including death threats, is itself an issue.

I'm not kidding about the be here a week. The GOP caucus isn't voting until Monday night and who knows what happens after this.

What happened Tuesday, Oct. 24? Minnesota's Tom Emmer got the nomination in the caucus, then, after hearing 25 or more wingnuts would vote against him in the floor, dropped out. Back to square negative one.

For the sake of blocking Warmonger Joe's proposed $100 billion bribery of Israel and Ukraine, I hope (and no, this ain't horseshoe theory) that the House GOP remains a clusterfuck, can't get a new Speaker, and that Patrick McHenry doesn't get given full powers as interim Speaker. As of Thursday evening, McHenry was not getting such a grant, to last until the new House is sworn in. At the same time, McHenry said he wasn't taking the leadership on any legislation without such an explicit grant. Let us hope the House GOP will do the shutdown Nov. 17 rather than OK the Ukraine portion of that bribery. Problem is, House Democraps, including the Fraud Squad, will give McHenry such a grant, and let the Rethuglicans off their hook, so Warmonger Joe's $100 billion bribery bill gets passed.