Today is, of course, the two-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection. That it coincides with the 4th day of the chaotic fight over the Speakership is, perhaps, no small irony.
On the day after the January 6th insurrection, Kevin McCarthy gave a speech in which he had a brief moment of clarity. But that clarity did not last. Within days he was backtracking, and it didn’t take long before he was cozying up to Donald Trump again.
Now, Kevin McCarthy is, in essence, being punished for his spinelessness.
The 20 dissenters who are keeping him from the speakership are all election-deniers. They are all disruptors for whom Trump is their spiritual father. And now, by all accounts, in addition to the many concessions that they have already wrought from McCarthy, they want to hand-pick four members for the all-powerful Rules Committee.
Not surprisingly, the 202 Republican members of the House who are not disruptors are starting to resent the concessions being made to the dissenters. Everybody is being held hostage by this group.
We’ll find out soon how much longer this can go on.
