The Coward Kevin McCarthy

 

When the Capitol was overrun by Trump supporters on January 6th, Kevin McCarthy got a call from Trump and they had a bit of an argument about whether Trump should call off his faithful dogs. McCarthy is supposed to have said to Trump: "Who the fuck do you think you are talking to?"

Trump knew very well who he was talking to. Sure, immediately after that event, McCarthy recognized Trump was responsible for the riot--but he wasn't about to hold him accountable. McCarthy was against a bipartisan commission to investigate the events of that day. Of course he did not support the Select Committee, and actually did not show up for the vote, which only two Republicans supported. And he can say he didn't, but word is he told his Republican colleagues they better not accept an appointment from Nancy Pelosi, or he'll strip their committee assignments.

Liz Cheney, whose leadership position he had already stripped, was honored to be appointed, and said so.

And she's right about this being above partisan politics. Leadership is the thing where sometimes you take unpopular positions with your particular group because it just happens to be the right thing to do. This was a national security issue. The rhetoric on that day, followed by such violence and disarray, undermined our government, nearly interrupted its process, and made us look divided and weak. Pretending it didn't happen, downplaying it, and failing to address the real concerns should not be an option--

And the man who wants to be Speaker of the House can't be that leader, because his party will be so mad. He can't do the right thing at all. Because he's just as guilty.  He perpetuated the Big Lie, too, and he didn't reprimand the members who wanted to decertify or delegitimize the process. He can threaten people who want to get to the bottom of the failures of intelligence and the instigators and possible conspiracy to interrupt the peaceful turnover of power, but he can't seem to figure out how to censure MTG, or what to do with open white supremacist Paul Gosar. He knuckles under to his crazies because he has no windbreak against them. They blow him down.

So here we are: Kevin McCarthy, a man entirely fashioned from what is swept from the bottom of a henhouse: white feathers, runny yellow yolks and chickenshit.  Ecce ovo putido. The top Republican in the House, doing less than nothing on purpose. 

It's like watching a party de-evolve.