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The most active thread yesterday was titled, "Speaker of the House Vote Thread" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. For those who avoid news about politics in the way that I avoid news of the British Royal Family, yesterday Republicans were supposed to elect a new Speaker of the House. California Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy had not only measured the drapes, he had already moved into the Speaker's office. But, to paraphrase ESPN host Chris Berman, that's why they have a vote. Not only did McCarthy fail to get elected speaker, on three consecutive votes Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries actually came out ahead in the vote count. But, since no candidate received a majority of those voting, no one was elected. The failure to elect a speaker stalled all other work by the House — Members could not even be sworn in — so the US does not currently have a functional House of Representatives. The DCUM thread documented the play-by-play on the Hill as it happened, intermixed with commentary and opinion. While the intrigue surrounding the voting may have had something in common with "The Game of Thrones", it lacked the drama of a George R. R. Martin novel. A dragon or two would have gone a long way to spice things up.