Shooting the Hostage

Should Democrats have rescued Kevin McCarthy?

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol Building following passage in the House of a 45-day continuing resolution on September 30, 2023. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On Tuesday I felt like an architect who realized that a building he designed has a catastrophic flaw …

… during a hurricane, after the building had already begun to sway and creak.

I wrote on Monday that Matt Gaetz’s weird grudge against Kevin McCarthy is one of the best things to happen to the now-former speaker as a politician. McCarthy is a contemptible figure, liked by some but respected by few, yet passes for downright statesmanlike when compared to the gentleman from Florida. From his energetic Trump toadying to his sneering populist grandstanding to his alleged, uh, personal eccentricities, no one embodies the repulsive amoral narcissism of the MAGA movement better than Gaetz. (Well, almost no one.) Pitted against McCarthy in a test of strength for control of the House, I assumed everyone to the left of Lauren Boebert would take sides against him.

I assumed wrong.

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  1. Mary Stine

    Ah, that terrible choice...are we better off with the devil we know or the devil we don't know yet?? Given the options other than McCarthy, I might have defended him. But its' possible that the other options (Gaetz, Jordan, Scalise) might have weaker Achilles heels and therefore be more amenable to cooperation. That seems unlikely, however. Gaetz and Jordan, both involved in scandals that still stink to high heaven, have demonstrated that they have no shame and no integrity. Scalise, on the other hand, seems to still be in possession of his soul. Perhaps we should pray that he can keep it.

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  2. Rcmcjc2

    I’m a conservative anti-Trump republican. But that doesn’t mean I think Democrats are evil. And it doesn’t mean I think Republicans are good. It just means that my positions align conservatively. And being anti-Trump means I consider people as well as positions — not just positions alone. If the Republican Party needs to implode to get cleaned up so be it. If the Democrats want to sit by and let them so be it —because a time may come when they’ll need to implode too. Both parties have become too extreme for America and both parties need to put GOOD people in office — not just ones who tout their extreme views! Both parties need leaders who are capable of compromising, working together, listening to each others’ views without hateful judgment, accomplishing good, and being peacemakers. I’m pretty sure the average American walking down the street (no matter what their political affiliation) wants that!

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    JDW

    I'm very conservative and I've long thought Democrat policy is bad for the country. Shocker I know. I've opposed Trump for non-policy reasons. Things like sanity and corruption. People near me in view have been paying the Trump price to avoid the Democrats which should be an eye-opener for many Democrats to understand. Some people view your policies as so evil they will risk Trump to avoid them. I think those risk takers are wrong don't get me wrong but even I would have to consider DeSantis or Haley despite both their problems. Democrats have problems too.

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    Party-san

    "If Democrats refuse to provide the votes needed to get to 218, Republican leadership will have to meet Matt Gaetz’s demands to find them... That’s not good for America."

    In other words, the Republican party as it stands is not good for America. Which is largely Nick's thesis these days, and is hard to disagree with.

    "Hakeem Jeffries ... is tantamount to making [the less rational Republican] governor and hoping that he runs your state into the ground. I don’t think that’s good for the country."

    So the Republicans are bad for the country without Democrats helping to prop them up, and so the Democrats ought to prop them up for the good of the country. That's quite an ask, and I'm not sure that propping up this cancerous sore is the right move at this point. Implosion is the only cure I can forsee, which will wait until November 2024 at the earliest (and Trump may well win, so who knows...)

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    Mandy B.

    “I think Speaker McCarthy made a decision to get as close as he possibly could to the radical wing of his party and by doing that he made it virtually impossible for the Democrats to come to his aid,” Mitt Romney said...

    OK. I trust Mitt, and I'm sure he's exactly right on that.

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  6. Betsybowditch

    I have no respect for Kevin McCarthy but it is hard to watch someone be humiliated especially by Matt Gaetz, who is truly awful.

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      Party-san

      Deals with the devil only end one way. And he (as well as all the country) knew he made exactly such a deal to get power. McCarthy's end was inevitable, and is right and just. He got what he asked for and what he deserved.

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  7. Philip.R.M.Hunt

    “ Conservatives could shoot the hostage themselves by boycotting elections until the Trumpists relent, ending the crisis. But they can’t bear the thought of Democratic victories. They’re too partisan to let the other party win. Populists are not. ”

    That is the key to the populist’s power they are not afraid to throw the election to the Dems if they don’t get their way. The mainstream Republicans will be their slavish bootlicks until they too are willing to throw elections to the Dems.

    Can’t let the left win and cannot form a coalition with anyone on the left. That was Von Papen and Von Schleicher mindset as well. They got their Night of the Long Knives. If mainstream Trump returns to power, mainstream Republicans will get the same.

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  8. MikeS

    The country is obviously better served by a Democratic majority in the House than this particular Republican one. Responsible politicians should seek to install it next November. For sheer entertainment value, I'd like to see a Democrat nominate Trump for Speaker, and make the Republicans all vote on it.

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    1. Efbullet69

      Oooh, now THAT would be fun to watch. I'd pay money on pay-per-view for that.

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  9. Andrew

    Accelerationist approach to bringing about the end of the Republican civil war. The key thing it may accomplish is letting big money donors understand that there are real costs to trying to harness the “energy” of the populist right.

    Could possibly help lead to reform of the primary system which has been a disaster.

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  10. Jim

    Fantastic piece - wisdom from the heart. Thank you.

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