By Rich Kozlovich
Well, yesterday I posted McCarthy's Terrible Tuesday outlining this issue over his desire to become Speaker of the House noting the number of Republicans who absolutely will not vote for him, and the amount of CO2 expelled over this. Well, there's no less CO2 being expelled now with McCarthy claiming in a meeting with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. that Gaetz would not care if this stalemate got Democrat Hakeem Jeffries the Speakership, as they would fight him.
Which I thought was strange he would say something like that for three reasons. No conservative would ever accept that. He would have to know they would lose that fight. And it would take six Republicans to cross over and vote for Hakeem, and no one believes that can happen. However, that 11th hour bit of CO2 by McCarthy played into the narrative that conservatives working against him had psychological problems. Gaetz responded saying "As is typical for Kevin McCarthy's career, he is lying." And that may be the crux of the matter, character.
One thing is for sure. Some things done or said cannot be forgotten or forgiven, and McCarthy has a problem with that as we've seen with his shifting positions with Liz Chaney and Donald Trump. Is he really trusted? Character counts, and we'll come back to that.
Paul E. Scates on January 3, 2023 posted this article, The House Speaker Vote -- Embarrassment, Indeed, which is a bit lengthy but I think this piece is indicative of what may really be playing out in the background with McCarthy, and truth isn't the gold standard, and the health of the nation does not rest on making McCarthy Speaker, irrespective of the inflammatory rhetorical fallacies. I do wish logic was a study course started in Junior High School. Of course that would require the schools to start teaching them to read first.
McCarthy lost on the first ballot, then on the second ballot and then on the third ballot. I had predicted if he lost on the first ballot he would lose support, and would lose more after each successive vote, but that didn't happen until the third ballot.
Rep. Elise Stefanik from New York, and the chair of the Republican Caucus, nominated McCarthy claiming he had taken the battle against the efforts by the Democrats to create a "one party" nation in behalf of the America people, and was a “proud conservative with a tireless work ethic, Kevin McCarthy has earned this speakership of the people’s house”, and apparently the House Republicans loudly applauded. Remarkable, but applause isn't votes, and according to Representative Biggs, what conservatives want is to "change the paradigm and the status quo.” After all, he didn't seem to be winning any fights with the Democrats.
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who has openly challenged McCarthy has been quoted saying:
“Minority Leader McCarthy does not have the votes needed to become the next speaker of the House and his speakership should not be a foregone conclusion,” “There are reforms that must be made in the House in order to facilitate representation of our constituents...."
Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Scott Perry has stated:
"nothing changes when nothing
changes." He cited the letter, which states "the times call for a
radical departure of the status quo — not a continuation of the past,
and ongoing Republican failures."
McCarthy's response was a pledge to “work with everyone in our party to build
conservative consensus,” .............“It’s time for our new Republican majority to embrace these bold reforms and move forward as one... [and] stand ready to be judged not by my words, but by my actions as Speaker.”" Okay,
yeah, I like it. Embracing bold reforms. Yeah, right, that's what the
base wants to hear! Okay.......and what are they? I'll tell you what, we'll come back to that.
However, whether it's by his words or actions he's to be judged, "in his 14 years in Republican
Leadership, McCarthy has repeatedly failed to demonstrate any desire to
meaningfully change the status quo in Washington." History counts.
On the first ballot McCarthy received 203 votes, Biggs received
10 votes, Jordan received six votes and others received the rest. Out of 222 voters he didn't get 17, and he didn't get 17 on the second ballot, and then he lost ground on the third ballot only receiving 202 votes, out of 222 Republicans.
Jordan is a big favorite among conservatives and received more votes on the third ballot but says he supports McCarthy because:
"The differences we may have ... pale in comparison to us and the left, which now unfortunately controls the other party," "So, we had better come together ... That's what the people want us to do, and I think Kevin McCarthy is the right guy to lead us, I really do, or else I wouldn't be up here giving this speech."
I really like Jordan and don't understand his position, but it seems to me Jordan really doesn't want to be Speaker for two reasons. First, the Speaker's job is like herding cats, and we saw how Pelosi had to grovel before the far left nitwits who now control her party, and secondly, I think Jordan wants to chair committees that will be investigating the crimes committed by Democrats, especially Biden and his family, the FBI, and others. That's his real strength, and he just wants to get on with it.
So, what are the reforms? Rep. Matt Gaetz: McCarthy ‘Refused’ on ‘Term Limits,’ Balanced Budget, and ‘Border Plan’, and one thing about McCarthy, any agreement with him comes with vagueness and caveats that will allow him to renege on those agreements. Character counts, history counts, and trust is based on both.
Rep. Crenshaw claims all this infighting 'makes us look foolish, and the Democrats are cheering. Well, Rep. Crenshaw, there's a reason the
Republican Party is called the stupid party, and the Democrats have been laughing at the Republicans for decades, and that "stupid party" moniker was thrown
at the Republican Party a long time ago with people just like McCarthy
in leadership, and there was good reason for it. They got that moniker
the old fashioned way. They earned it.
Once again, no matter what they're saying publicly, I think there's still a chance Democrats will cross over and vote for him because they know he's "Cav-in McCarthy", and since they can't have a Democrat speaker, having Cav-in McCarthy as Speaker is good politics.
Of course he could show character and withdraw and let another have the Speaker's chair, but McCarthy insists he's earned this job’, and he's not giving up no matter how many votes it takes.
Well this drama will pick up again today, and I think that brings us to this question. Is it about him, or is it about the nation? Character counts, and character has history, and no matter how this plays out, McCarthy loses, even if he's chosen as Speaker.
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