Seems the Speaker of the US House of Representatives is not required to be an elected member of the house. Who's your nominee to replace John Boehner?

My first choice would be Paul Ryan but since he’s still a sitting reprentative I don’t think that matches the spirit of the question. Consequently, I’ll go with my second choice Eric Cantor. I think he’d do a fine job as speaker and I think he could garner the needed support.

Ryan is a perfectly good choice, @Jaxk, and probably one of the better hopes.
I’m even willing to give Cantor his seat back, if he’ll take the speakership.

Bozo the Clown – he would fit right in with the Republicans.

Seriously .. someone like Mike Bloomberg would be great. But that’s why he would never be picked.

@ibstubro – Actually having lost his seat may be the incentive necessary for Cantor to accept the job.

A head of cabbage.

You guys do understand that the best and brightest in the Republican stable are refusing the job because the crowd of snakes is all but unmanageable. The ultimate irony in the House is that the big Republican majority is meaningless and actually the hostage of the 40 obstructionists. You can more or less gauge the competence of the members in the circus by the eagerness to take on the suicide mission of Speakership. As things now stand, the Democrats hold sway on the chamber by sheer default. The dems are laughing themselves silly as the elephants stew in their own juices.

Homer Simpson

I like the above suggestions, but I think Joe Scarborough would be a great choice. He handles the Democrats on his show very deftly and I could see him brokering deals as well or better than any of the other choices in the House right now.

@Cruiser – I like Joe but I don’t see him getting enough support to get elected.

I would say Adolf Hitler, but he is way too moderate for the republican base

Is Rush Limbaugh available? He seems to have all the answers.

A Democrat.

The fractious divisions in the country are clearly apparent in the Republican crisis over the Speakership. And as usual, when it comes to anything negative or regressive the Republicans are ALWAYS ahead of the curve. The rebels are committed to their position, with the backing of their constituents even to the destruction of the party itself! In fact it may well be argued that this is EXACTLY what they were elected to do. If they persist, they run the huge risk of Republicans from purple and urban regions being pushed into alliances with the despised Democrats if for no other reason than their own self preservation. Meanwhile, with the Presidential contest chugging up, the embarrassing spectacle of a cat fight and speakerless Republican majority reduces the Republican label to the sort of joke associated with Monty Python skits.

@Jaxk I think you and I could pretty much agree anyone outside of the halls of the House would have a next to zero chance of getting elected as Speaker. But having served 3 plus terms in the House I think he would get the most votes of anyone who is not currently in the House.

Glenn Beck.

Jesse Ventura.

In all seriousness, who is willing to grab the “hot wire”? The Repubs dare not allow the post to remain vacant while campaign season boils around them. It’s a mess and we’re all going to pay. Liberals may enjoy a smirk over the disintegration of the hapless GOP, but it’s “an ill wind that blows nobody good”.

I like the idea of Joe Scarborough. Although he’s way too moderate for the current crop of Republicans. He might even be willing to (gasp!) compromise with Democrats!

Jimmy Carter.

My first thought is that no sane person would ever have a chance of being considered “conservative enough” by the Freedom Caucus, so to answer this question we must begin by stipulating whether we want someone who will cater to the 495 more moderate congressional critters and the majority of the general public or whether we want someone who caters to the extremist minority at the expense of the other 80% of Americans and an even larger percentage of the rest of the world. .

If the former, I think policy matters less than the ability to deal with petulant children. Someone like R. Lee Ermey who will get right in someone’s face and dress them down at high decibels when they get stupid.

If the latter, resurrect Torquemada. I think he’d fit right in.

@stanleybmanly It’s also a self-inflicted one. If the GOP were a person, the coroner would write it off as suicide. That part is what is getting laughed at so that we don’t cry over the fact that all we have left are people who make Kim Jong-il seem well-balanced. And honestly, the self-destruction of the GOP scares me for a variety of reasons, not least of which being concern over what the Batshit Brigade might do once they get done gutting the Republican party.

I would volunteer to do it for a while. Figure I’m just as clueless as the next guy. Then ooh the pension I would have!

Sorry, @majorrich. Your not allowed to carry in the House, and we wouldn’t let you loose in that pack of jackals without something at least semi-auto.

Eric Cantor was next in line for speaker and ousted by a tea bagger… I say we give @Jaxk idea a go and draft Cantor.

But Cantor might be holding a grudge and have it in for the Freedom Club members!!

Exactly, @rojo.

For those of you that thought Ryan couldn’t garner the votes or wouldn’t take the job, I say…..Na Na Na Na Na.

Congratulations. Now if he can only corral the snakes for a year til the election. He’s a hero for sacrificing himself, but you can bet that the “special” people are going to make him pay-big time!

Less that 6 months before he resigns in disgust.

ANd my guess is that the TP starts stabbing him in the back before January 1.

His hair will start falling out in about a week. He should be bald and aged about 10 years by Christmas, and dead from exasperation by Easter. They’ll name a ship, airport or insane asylum after him, put his face on the new 11 dollar bill, and a new acronym for suicide mission will enter the popular vernacular. Something like, “the odds are hopeless. This calls for a ‘Ryan’ ”

I was good with Ryan from the outset, @Jaxk, and I’m glad he wrung enough grudging support out of the tea baggers to take on the job.

They said they would support him, so finger pointing is no longer impolite. If they keep at him until he quits, where is there to go?