No Sunshine for Kevin

        When we came to California almost 18 years ago I started watching Kevin McCarthy, said to be a rising star. We had dear friends who moved from Bakersfield, accomplished people with government and academic service. They knew Kevin at close quarters and it was solid information to help me calibrate the "man" behind the political facade.

      Well, as just about every analyst has said, McCarthy engineered his own fall by his ego, his "craving" to be Speaker at any cost, his concessions to the most radical wing of his caucus all of which made him weak and as John Heilemann noted, "Matt Gaetz knew they could roll him."

         So now no one knows what comes next for the House divided Republicans, some of whom are only nihilists. Maybe the Republicans can heal their divide and settle on a woman or man who can A) get enough votes and B) actually be able to lead. That does not seem likely now, so we could be left with a bozo food fight among Republicans while government crashes.

        Here's an interesting bit of speculation akin to doggerel. Find 10 traditional or stable Republicans who value democracy and who believe in governance. One of them nominates Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker and suddenly the House becomes a chamber where business can be done and no longer a clown show at war with itself.

        Long shot? Sure! But we are at another "never been here before" moment and the fight to save American democracy will take bold strokes. 

        There is a carnival lot of well fed, under educated, classless, clueless, locked and loaded people who are under the MAGA spell and tent. That is where truth goes to die, maybe history too. 

        As they used to say, it's "hard ball time!"

        Sam Rayburn was elected Speaker of House 3 times and worked with Senate Leader Lyndon Johnson in the in the late 50's and early 60's to get early Civil Rights legislation passed, though it meant he had to court Republicans to compensate for and/or try to persuade Dixiecrats in all three of his terms as Speaker.

        Carl Albert was elected Speaker in 71 and presided over the investigation and resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew and then the Watergate investigation that resulted in the impeachment and resignation of Richard Nixon. Even in those historic and partisan times, Albert sought the needed support of the minority caucus. 

        Both of those events were before Newt Gingrich seeded the political soil with toxins and cancer, but this Biden administration has been able to produce an historic volume of bi-partisan legislation, so there are still Republicans who are reachable, who have not drunk the MAGA kool aid.   

        It would be nice to think that of the 435 members of the House there are enough Republicans who understand a working government is better than a broken government. It would be nice to think there are enough "public servants" who recognize that a crisis exists and that deliberation and compromise are better options. 

        See you down the trail.