Dakota Beacon

It’s finally over, at least for now.  The US House of Representative finally came to heel and anointed Kevin McCarthy Speaker.  We had a full week of nonsense threats of imposing Democrat House leader Hakeem Jeffries on us.  We saw 15 votes taken.  We saw the Hon. Mike Rogers lunge at Matt Gaetz with intent of battery, which would have been interesting.  Would Gaetz have defended himself vigorously?  We might all hope so.  So this could have been a more interesting process than it was in the end.  

One thing we all got out of it, who watched, was a clear picture of just how our “people’s house” is run.  One of the big objections to McCarthy was his arm-twisting, thuggish manner of getting things done his way.  Many of those who objected to his ascension to the Speakership alluded to his threats to remove them from important committees or not assign them.  When that didn’t pan out sufficiently he began making concessions.  Anyone wonder why they didn’t work?  Why would anyone trust him?  Yesterday, threats; today, promises.  He seemed to be playing both the “bad cop” and the “good cop”, or maybe he just let his henchmen do that for him.  

Should we wonder whether McCarthy even felt free to disengage?  Perhaps those to whom he is beholden kept him under control.  It is indeed difficult to imagine how this job would have been worth the absolute humiliation required of him to finally attain it.  How does one look in the mirror the next morning and feel any level of self-respect?   One could say, if one were uncouth enough, that Gaetz & Co. pulled his pants down.  We could see just how much this power meant to McCarthy.  Power should never be this important to anyone sitting in Congress.  One could have retained some measure of respect for the man if he had risen, following the third or even fourth vote, and withdrawn by nominating a candidate who would have been acceptable to all factions.  The obvious choice would have been Jim Jordan, and he would also have been a crowd-pleaser in the general public, known for his incisive and hard-hitting interrogation of various witnesses, and his dogged relentlessness in extracting truth or revealing it in hearings.  

Imagine how McCarthy’s stature would have increased.  Instead, he opted (or perhaps was forced by his masters) to press for vote after vote after vote after miserable and embarrassing vote.  Meanwhile, the press - at least the mainstream version of it - jumped on his opponents instead of McCarthy.  It was they, who were exercising their right and responsibility to elect, and not coronate, a Speaker.  Why should this duty be handed off to some elitist committee?  After all, the Speaker is next to the Vice President in terms of succession.  This is not and should not be up to the likes of Sean Hannity or Jeanine Piro to sort out.  As to its being a “clown show”, no, it was not.  It was our somewhat messy form of government on display.  Since when was this process intended to be a scripted set piece?  If we want to watch that show, we can tune in to Beijing . . . or maybe Kiev (and that’s how I spell it).  

As to our local Congressmen, they seem to have just been betting on the status quo, and if so, they won their timid little bet.  We must hold them accountable too, now.  If/when McCarthy sells out our principles - again - we should remind them that they had an opportunity to try for something better.  Personally, I would quickly lose interest in anyone who is so invested in his own personal grasp of that gavel that out of 218 people none other could have the job.  

So ends the introductory chapter of the 118th Congress of the United States of America.  A rocky start, to be sure, one both boring and at times, startling, the focus of hundreds of pundits and commentators, most of them intent on unfairly and peremptorily casting McCarthy’s opponents as the “bad guys”, the “trouble-makers”, and McCarthy as a caesar to whom we all owe fidelity and obeisance.  We shall see, as the year grinds on, what McCarthy will allow to happen.  Will there be impeachment hearings?  Hearings on the Biden criminal ties?  How about hearings on our unnecessary involvement with the Ukraine or the corruption in our elections or the voiding of our border?  There is a lot of work to be done, and two of the most important will be prosecution of Anthony Fauci and banning of the poisonous injections he has been promoting and balancing (!) our budget.  

And one final note as we look back on these events:  how much importance should we all be placing on Donald Trump’s approval?  It has been said that pressure from him played a key rôle in members’ votes.  I surely hope not.  It is time to move on without Trump at this point and begin to seek viable candidates for 2024 - actual conservatives, and not too many of them.  That process should begin now.    Maybe some who distinguish themselves in Congress will come to the forefront.  The ship has a captain of sorts.  Who is he working for?  What will he do?  What will he block?  Will he keep any of these promises or will his thuggish associates (such as Mike Rogers) or his real masters prevent it?  We need to watch closely.  This is far from over.