Kevin McCarthy Has No One To Blame But Himself For His Inability To Govern

Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy finds himself in quite a predicament. With a looming government shutdown and calls for him to be replaced coming from members of his party. This has put the Speaker in an uncomfortable position that he has no one to blame but himself.

All the drama McCarthy is currently facing can be traced back to his decision to give disgraced former president Donald Trump a reprieve just weeks after his orchestrated coup attempt on January 6th. McCarthy’s original reaction to Trump’s involvement was sincere. According to witnesses, McCarthy had a curse-filled tirade on the phone with Trump demanding he call off his supporters from their viscous attack on the Capital complex as he and his colleagues in Congress feared for their lives. He followed that up with an honest statement condemning Trump and his MAGA army for their actions on that infamous day.

Not only did Kevin McCarthy publicly denounce Trump’s involvement in the events surrounding January 6th. Privately he said on a phone call with Liz Cheney and other Republican members that he would call on President Trump to resign.

Then three weeks later he went to have a face-to-face with Donald Trump and McCarthy’s original response on the matter did an immediate 180. This would make one assume that Trump either promised McCarthy something significant like a future Speaker position or he had damning evidence against McCarthy that forced his sudden support. Either way, it was that visit that McCarthy sold his soul to the lowest bidder, Trump.

The lifeline that McCarthy gave to Trump during that meeting was just enough fuel to keep Trump’s political flame burning. It set a dangerous precedent by normalizing Trump’s behavior and it showed the extremists in the party that McCarthy could be manipulated.

So when the Republicans won back the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections. Trump and his collection of congressional sycophants used their votes as leverage over McCarthy’s lifelong dream to become Speaker of the House. In fact due to the MAGA-filled “Freedom Caucus,” it took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to become Speaker. With each passing round, McCarthy was strong-armed into giving up vital concessions to the Trump puppets. Who held his speakership, hostage, by their refusal to surrender their votes without the highest of political compensation. Included in their list of demands was the power of one house member calling for a “motion to vacate”.

Which stripped the Speaker from ever having leverage over those in his party. Now one disgruntled member could call for a vote at any point in time to remove McCarthy from his dream job. With the MAGA clique now wielding such power even the basic acts of governance have become a plankwalk for the Speaker.

Trump and his House band of MAGA morons now control the eject button on the Speaker’s seat. Any compromise with Democrats to avoid a shutdown of the government will likely come at the cost of McCarthy’s treasured position.

A government shutdown would have disastrous repercussions for the economy and the country as a whole. So of course Trump is sitting at Mar-A-Largo with a box of tissues watching Fox News while spewing his thoughts on the subject onto Truth Social. Waiting for the political fallout from the shutdown to satisfy his nauseating desire to watch the collapse of the Federal government. Even McCarthy realizes his actions have empowered the MAGA faction that wants nothing more than to destroy America. Saying that they “want to burn the whole place down”.

So ultimately the decision comes down to what Speaker McCarthy feels is more important. His dream job or the continued health of the American government, its citizens, and the economy. To any true leader, the choice would be simple. Save the country and stand proudly in defiance of the extremists, who he claims are, there to destroy it. Sadly this is Kevin McCarthy the same man who selfishly chose to ignore the needs of a fractured country in favor of Donald Trump after January 6th.

Kevin McCarthy at every opportunity has granted Trump’s MAGA crew their wishes while knowing that none of them have the nation’s well-being in mind. This entire situation has been self-inflicted by McCarthy. He handed his executioners the weapon they intended to use on him and simultaneously the American public as a whole. Yet he’s too much of a coward to take the bullet for we the people, those who he swore an oath to protect.