The World as I See It: The McCarthy Saga

By Rich Kozlovich 

Over the years I've published articles entitled:  The World as I See It:....followed by the subject matter, and in this piece about McCarthy's mission to become Speaker of the House, I will start with these two quotes, which I will come back to.

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” — Seneca, the Elder

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.— H.L.Mencken

First, we need to answer three questions.  

• Should McCarthy have been challenged? Yes!
  
• Should he have been challenged  as hard as he was? Yes!
  
• Was it done properly? No! 

First, the Republicans in the Congress are made up of three factions.  The swamp dwelling RINO's, the conservative Constitutionalists, and the average go along to get along crowd, who aren't nearly as well informed or as bright as we, or they, think they are, nor as well informed or as bright as they should be, and they all have a problem with thinking they're special.  They're not.

McCarthy and the RINO swamp dwellers were arrogant and dismissive of the conservatives in the Congress, and the nation, right from the very beginning, and McCarthy moving into the Speaker's office without being chosen as Speaker is in my view an example of that arrogant and dismissive attitude.

Which brings me to the negotiations by both.  

McCarthy didn't negotiate in good faith because he and his supporters didn't think he had to negotiate at all, and didn't want to negotiate, in the first place.  Negotiating at the 11th hour wasn't negotiation, it was desperation, and finally capitulation.

The Conservatives didn't negotiate in good faith because they really didn't want McCarthy as Speaker no matter what was negotiated, although, if he'd agreed to half of what he's now agreed to, I believe all this might not have occurred.  His arrogance cost him, because it welded the "anyone but McCarthy" mentality firmly in that groups mind, and emotions, yet they continued to negotiate as if they would vote for him if he capitulated on some important issues.  And while they eventually had to vote him in, their actions demonstrated they weren't  acting in good faith, but were now trapped by their folly, and since that became clear, at least to me, it diminished them.

While he ultimately did get chosen, and it appears a call from Trump to Gaetz was what it took to push Gaetz and the remaining holdouts over the line.  Now, we need to ask:  What really occurred in the end, and what will be the long term results?  First, now everyone knows Trump is the leader of the party, not Mitch McConnell.  Outside of the gutless Republicans and RINO's in the Senate, no one cares one whit for what McConnell thinks.  The conservatives are willing to bend for Trump, and McCarthy is now totally indebted to  him.  Will that make him a better Speaker?  As an example, "will he commit to not raising the debt ceiling without a concrete plan to cap spending and operate under a budget that balances in 10 years....to force deep cuts in the federal budget.....?" We'll see! 

McCarthy has been publicly humiliated beyond anything I've seen.  He's never going to forget or forgive this humiliation, and that's understandable, and that shouldn't have been done.  He's been so weakened he'll be walking on a frozen pond with thin ice from now on.  I almost feel sorry for him, and whether he deserved it or not, that was bad politics, bad strategy, and bad manners that will haunt the conservatives in the future, and one has to wonder if that it will come back to haunt Gaetz, except, there's a caveat to that.

While I think the conservative caucus gave up the high ground on integrity during all this, and I think in the short run it will impact their ability to get things done, in the long haul it's not going to matter.  In point of fact, their actions may be a major factor in getting things done.  The swamp, on both sides of the aisle, is now scared. 

McCarthy's supporters in the House, and the RINO's in the Senate, along with Republican state leaders have been given an unpleasant wake up call.  They're in for a fight, as these "rebels" are activists and activists with a cause don't care what anyone thinks, or says, including the media.  They're not going to be intimidated and they're not going to be suppressed or impressed by the "leaderships" threats or pronouncements, and their base, which is turning activist, is supportive of these "rebels", and that base is getting larger by the day, and they're going to push their positions as far as they can as hard as they can.

So, that leaves us with what?  

The House cannot pass legislation without agreement from the Senate and the President.  No bill revoking all this spending insanity or impeachment actions will ever be brought up in the Senate while Schumer has the majority, making legislation or impeachments passed by the House toothless.....sort of......because that doesn't mean they're helpless.  There are a number of things the House can do no matter what the Senate or the President does or doesn't do.

• First, the House controls the purse strings.  They can shut down the government over spending, and if the nation is caught between government shut downs and gridlock versus passage of all these insane initiatives by Biden and the Democrats, the nation will be far better off with gridlock and shutdown. They just have to possess the backbone to defend that position.
  
• Second, no legislation passed by the Senate can become law without consent of the House, so they can stop any insane laws being pushed by treasonous leftists controlling the Senate and the administration.  

These first two initiatives, along with passing legislation they know won't be taken up by the Senate, can be used as an impetus for a RINO hunt in the Republican party.

• Third, they can honestly investigate all the criminal activity by the agencies and departments of the federal government, along with the Democrats controlling them over the last 16 years and demand prosecution.

The Congress really doesn't have the Constitutional authority to do that. Except the Democrats have done it already with Trump, and now in order to fight such an action they'll have to publicly state they've been corrupt.  Even though they can't make the administration take up prosecution on criminal activity there's value to these actions. 

By impeaching those who have failed to live up to their oaths of office, whether the Senate takes up those impeachments or not, and investigating the criminal activity of elected and appointed officials along with their bureaucratic myrmidons, they will establish the facts regarding their failure to perform sworn duties, and their clearly criminal activity for future use and historical posterity.

• Fourth, they can, and should, publicize their findings constantly, and attack the media for their collusion and corruption with the Democrat party, and even personally attack the integrity of media personalities when they lie, distort, or misrepresent the facts, and that includes these nitwit celebrities.  
• Fifth, they need to create a coalition to start a massive grass roots effort to overturn the Republican leadership in each and every state, and that should start with the parents who've been fighting the arrogance and tyranny of school boards across the nation that are condemning America's children to leftist insanity. 

These parents are now motivated, and that motivation needs to be fanned into flames of conservative passion, and do that by creating and funding a national organization under the name:  Fixing Education in America is Job One.

• Sixth, they need to have the guts to do all that, because to take that stand means embracing conservative values and principles and having the courage to demand the nation re-implement and reaffirm those foundational Judaic/Christian values on which America was founded and flourished.

Which bring me back to the two quotes at the beginning of this piece.  I think this beginning is the end to the absolute control of the Republican party by the RINO's, and Americans asked for all this and has been  getting it good and hard, and at some point they're going to do something about it.

One of my heroes in business was Chuck Steinmetz.  I was so impressed with him thirty years ago, after I started my own pest control company, I went to hear him speak at the University of Kentucky Pest Control Short course.  After he spoke I went up to him and introduced myself telling him I'd come to the Short Course because after ten years in the industry I just started my own business and wanted to hear what he had to say.   I find what he said to me over thirty years ago is timeless, and is applicable to a great many things, including good government.  

He said there were only two things needed to be successful in business, brains and guts, and you can hire brains.  That applies to getting good government also.