By Ray Cardello for October 4, 2023, Season 22 / Post 21

Great job, Matt Gaetz. You threw a temper tantrum and have no plan for your next move. When everything favors the GOP, you pulled the fire alarm and made it personal. We have a President wearing Depends in the White House, a totally inept Vice President that nobody wants, a GOP front-runner who will spend more time in court than the campaign trail for the next year, and Matt Gaetz decided it was a good idea to throw a grenade into the GOP led House.

Kevin McCarthy had a no-win situation when he became Speaker of the House in a tumultuous battle in January. He performed above expectations for most with a slim five-vote majority but not well enough for Matt Gaetz. Gaetz has had McCarthy in his sights since McCarthy first held the Gavel, and today, he got his wish and got McCarthy expelled from the Speaker’s office. The third person in line for the Oval Office is out because a young punk from Florida flexed his muscles and got his wish. Excellent work, Matt, but being young and stupid, you forgot to think the process through. Who is your successor? Who now holds the Gavel in Matt Gaetz’s House of Representatives? Don’t ask Matt. He does not have a clue, but the crap show we will witness over the next few weeks to find a new Speaker is all on Matt. Did I say, great job, Matt? I think so.

Matt Gaetz has a very short memory. He forgets he was almost outed from the House on charges of sexual improprieties. The GOP stuck with Matt when tossing him aside would have been easy. His way of thanking his fellow Republican Congressmen is to throw their party into major disarray. When the Republicans should be uniting and concentrating on defeating the Democrats in 2024, we are beating each other, and the Democrats are laughing at us.

Kevin McCarthy has been kicked to the curb. He worked tirelessly to keep a GOP House divided into five fractions. His job was compared to a Mafia Don, keeping the five families aligned. It was not the Republicans against the Democrats. It was the five caucuses fighting for relevance and McCarthy pulling the strings to try and keep it all together. Nobody could have succeeded under those conditions. McCarthy did his best, but in the end, one of the families prevailed, and Kevin was dead on the side of the road.

The Speaker selects his successor as one of his first acts in office. The list is kept secret and only revealed in the case of a situation like today. When McCarthy made his selections, he chose GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry, a top McCarthy ally, to serve as interim Speaker. The House will now need to elect a new speaker. According to sources, the House GOP will have a conference meeting Tuesday night, although the election is not expected to happen on Tuesday.

It isn’t easy to be objective today. I am angry, frustrated, and disillusioned as I have never been. My hope, as this country is spiraling down the drain, was that the GOP could get their act together, win this election in 2024, and turn the lousy decisions of Joe Biden around. I do not feel too good about any of that tonight.