Gaetz gets his scalp, and we get (???)

 

"Many on our side of the aisle are stuck banging our heads on a brick wall right now. As bad and inept as Biden is, we might have just eclipsed him. Let that thought sink in for a minute." 

My wife got home from a girls extended weekend yesterday afternoon. I was downstairs watching the news. She came down and saw the headlines on the TV, that Kevin McCarthy was ousted. But - she wanted to chat about her weekend. I tried to explain this was not only historic, but dynamic. First time since 1910 a Speaker of the House was ousted. 

I watched it in shock and some disbelief. Was I upset that the Republicans caved and used a CR? More than upset. Did I think Kevin, as Speaker, deserved some kind of punishment? Yes. I remember the fifteen-vote event to get Kevin elected. I remember the talks, the promises, the behind the scenes deals which were made. The House was done, over with the very toxic CR method of budgeting. The House was done, over with Omnibus bills, which are never read, and always full of bloat. Every bill was going to be single subject from now on. Everything was going to change. And then came October 1, 2023.

The odd thing is, there is nothing Matt said I disagreed with. Nothing. Matt Gaetz was describing a budgeting process that was not only agreed to, but also defined in our Constitution. It was hard for me to criticize what he was saying, without be hypocritical. But (and this is a big but), Matt was missing a plan "B". Like, what happens one minute after midnight? Who is the next Speaker going to be? Does anyone (other than Kevin), really even want that job? 

I remember when John Boehner resigned from Congress after the Freedom Caucus gave Boehner a vote of non-confidence. Rather than being removed from being Speaker, he resigned. Then what? Paul Ryan was approached, but Ryan did not want it. He saw being Speaker as a huge time commitment for a young father with young kids. Ryan also knew being Speaker in a divided House was a snake pit. He ended up reluctantly accepting the position. That was 2015. Today is 2023. What has changed? Not much.

One of the problems (as discussed on the news yesterday), is Democrats are "team players". It is usually a "one bunch, all bunch" way of doing business. The Republicans on the other hand, seem to forget (on a regular basis) who the opposition is. Way too much infighting. Many disagreements end up in circular firing squads. As Kevin said yesterday, he tried using governance instead of grievance in the way he ran the House. I guess that did not work well.

Where do we go from here? How do we show the American people that we do know how to govern? Or do we know how to govern? Many on our side of the aisle are stuck banging our heads on a brick wall right now. As bad and inept as Biden is, we might have just eclipsed him. Let that thought sink in for a minute.