Matt Gaetz is very proud of himself for throwing a bomb into the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and dethroning Kevin McCarthy. Even after today's contentious conference meeting in the basement beneath the Capitol where Kevin McCarthy told him to "sit the fuck down" when he rose to speak more of his nonsense, he was proud. Kind of like a toddler smearing crap all over his bedroom wall proud.
"What did you actually get for leading this charge to push out Kevin McCarthy?" Manu Raju asked.
"We're shaking up Washington DC," Gaetz bragged. "We're breaking the fever and you know what it's messy but the only reason people think there's chaos in this town right now is because the special interests aren't in control anymore."
Yeah, those special interests like 70 percent of Americans who don't want the government shut down, who do want us to come to Ukraine and Israel's aid, and who actually want Republicans to do the jobs for which they were elected and which they were paid. Something Gaetz just doesn't understand.
He went on. "So I think we're going to have an upgrade at the position of Speaker of the House. For me it was never about any one person, it was about ensuring that we got an upgrade at the position."
Sure, if "upgrade" means an election denying flamethrower who has shut down the government on multiple occasions and cost Republicans the House more than once.
After some blather about how McCarthy "failed" them, Gaetz added, "This is what it's supposed to be and it's not clean and it's not orderly and the lobbyists and the special interests hate it but I don't seem to mind too much."
Manu Raju cut in at that point, reminding him that they can't get anything done. But for Gaetz, that's just fine, because he doesn't want to do anything but amass power at the expense of the people he's supposed to represent.
These people in their gerrymandered districts do not understand the meaning of the word "compromise." Earlier, Lauren Boebert tweeted this bit of idiocy, referring to the plan to expand McHenry's powers on a temporary basis while working toward electing a permanent Speaker.
"I will not sit back and watch a complete betrayal of the GOP base with this 'plan' that's being discussed," she wrote. "I ran because I was sick and tired of politicians coming up here and cutting deals and releasing 'holier than thou' statements about why we just had to accept it."
That statement proves in stark terms that Republicans like Boebert think if they hold their breath until they're blue they'll get their way. That isn't how this works. Not now, not ever. The whole POINT of politics is to engage in debate and compromise, and yes, to just accept it. Democrats do it all the time, because some progress is always better than none. The difference with Republicans is that they don't want any progress at all.
Lauren Boebert's days are numbered in the Congress anyway. Adam Frisch has got a fat bank account and the full support of Democrats this time around. Last time he only lost by a handful of votes to her. This time will be different.
