DEBT CEILING DEAL! SO WHEN DO THE BOMB THREATS START?

There's a debt ceiling deal, and the angiest right-wingers seem very unhappy.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R) tweeted a vomiting emoji to express his thoughts on the proposed deal, noting that RINOS, or Republicans in Name Only, were “congratulating [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy [(R-Calif.)] for getting almost zippo in exchange for $4T debt ceiling hike.”

... Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), meanwhile, said that he is “appalled by the debt ceiling surrender” McCarthy outlined Saturday evening.

“The bottom line is that the U.S. will have $35 trillion of debt in January, 2025. That is completely unacceptable,” Buck tweeted.

Congressman Chip Roy calls the deal "a turd-sandwich." Fellow House Republican Ralph Norman calls it "insanity." But we're being told that this is meaningless noise:

Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SC), who was a key participant in negotiations, hailed the agreement....

"Listen, there will be Freedom Caucus people who vote for this package. So when you're saying that conservatives have concerns, it is really the most colorful conservatives. Some of those guys you mentioned didn't vote for the thing when it was kind of a Republican wishlist — Limit, Save Grow. Those votes were never really in play," Johnson told CNN's State of the Union.

It's good to know that there's still a "governing wing" of the Republican Party -- or at least there is when right-wing extremism directly threatens the interests of financial firms, corporations, and billionaires. But I don't think this will go over well with the radicalized GOP rank-and-file.

This is an era when threats by the angry right have become routine. Several Target stores in Utah and Ohio have been the object of bomb threats because the chain sells trans-friendly swimwear for adults (not children, despite what the rage monsters believe). A Princeton study informs us that elected officials at all levels of government are facing increased threats, primarily from right-wingers. In the report, one "right-leaning" local official says:

“I thought [harassment] would be ultra-left, but it [turned out to] be ultra-right.”

If there are threats against McCarthy, or against his local offices in California, or against his top negotiators and their local offices, or (in the case of a close vote) against Republicans who vote for the bill, I won't be at all surprised. This is who we are now. And no, I don't expect that anything comparable will be directed at pro-deal Democrats by America's tiny far left. Lefties will be disgruntled. Righties will be enraged. That's how it works when the two groups don't get their way.