McCarthy's Turbulent Thursday (Update II)

  By Rich Kozlovich

Now, I'm a firm believer heterodoxy, I practiced it for most of my life whenever I was in a leadership position, with the phrase, "You're all wrong and I'm gonna tell ya why!" And I said it because I believed it. But I also was willing to acknowledge the good things done by adversaries because it was never about me.  It was always about the mission.  

I hated the military, and I despised the officers, and I still do, but my years in the military molded me in ways I never realized at the time.  I've often said this, and I think only those who served can understand this fully, "You couldn't pay me a million dollars to repeat those years, but you couldn't pay me a million to have missed them."   And one of the things I unconsciously embraced from my military years, without even realizing it, was mission orientation.  

We now have had ten votes and an eleventh nomination for Speaker of the House, and McCarthy has given in on just about everything they've demanded, including giving one member instead of five the power to make a motion to vacate the chair and remove the Speaker.  That was, in my opinion, the big one, and he's accepted that. It's time to move on.  Even those who applauded their stand must be asking:  What do they want? Is this about the mission, or is it about them?  Nothing is ever as it seems....ever!

Let's review.  

Here's Jordan Schachtel's take on Kevin McCarthy.

Kevin McCarthy is arguably the most compromised man in Congress, having spent the last 16 years selling himself, his voting authority, and his leadership position in the House, in exchange for the accumulation of raw power. From the moment he finished college, McCarthy, the two-time Davos attendee, who has never held a real job, has committed himself to the Uniparty machine in Washington.

McCarthy is entirely compromised by both foreign actors and domestic lobbyists. He is a tool for the establishment, an instrument of the elites. A McCarthy-led House GOP will not conduct serious investigations of wrongdoing. It will not roll back the efforts of the Biden Administration and the unaccountable administrative state. It will not restore fiscal sanity. It will not oppose the slava slush fund to Ukraine. Kevin McCarthy has a long track record in Congress, and his track record is certified trash.

Also, we've seen vicious personal attacks against the "freedom fighters" in Congress and I think these vicious personal attacks by McCarthy supporters against the "freedom fighters", or as the McCarthyites call them, "rebels" plays into all this.  They're really angry and resentful.  

It was claimed they had psychological problems, they were stupid, they were traitors, they were terrorists, and worse.  That's not a good strategic plan for those you wish to negotiate with.  But it's clear, the McCarthyites never intended to negotiate or would have done so weeks ago, instead of this 11th hour capitulation.  I think it's clear they never believed anyone could stand against them this long and take as much heat as they've done.  It seems to me these people never understood, or cared, once you have publicly humiliated someone, they will never forgive you.  

Is that a reason for they're continuing to hold out?  I think it's part of it, but I also believe they've been negotiating in bad faith.  What they really want is just about anyone except McCarthy as Speaker of the House, if that's true, and I think it is, they should have stated that openly and defiantly from the very beginning.  They didn't. 

There now seems to be only two options left, McCarthy must give up in his quest to be Speaker, and if that happens we go through all this again, because I think the McCarthyites, who are a large majority, are so outraged they will become the resistance to anyone the conservative resistance offers.  At this point I think the only effective answer is the conservative resistance must now act in good faith based on their publicly stated positions, demands and negotiations and give him the Chair.  

Character and integrity counts.  Both of which have history that will never be forgotten.  The conservative caucus had the high ground and threw it away.  That seeming lack of integrity will undermine everything they do or push from now on.   Now, no matter how this turns out, he's toast, the freedom caucus' values are in question diminishing them, the entire Republican House is seriously weakened and there is no agreed upon mission orientation. 

What could possibly go wrong?