Lordy, there were tapes
Watching Kevin McCarthy over the last 24 hours has been like peeling an onion of humiliation. And there is no reason to think we are anywhere close to being done.
The story so far:
In the wake of the January 6 Insurrection the GOP Leader had a spasm of conscience and a momentary sense of duty. It faded quickly.
But, before it passed, McCarthy told colleagues that he was going to tell Donald Trump he would be impeached, and that the president should resign. Within days though, McCarthy’s wrestled with his conscience — and won.
The result, as you know, was this:
And for the last 16 months, it has been humiliation all the way down. McCarthy made the calculation that all of this groveling was worth it, if it got him the gavel. But last November, I ventured this question: “What will happen to a speaker who rose to power by shrinking himself? What sort of power will be wielded by a man who obtained it through displays of weakness?”
Which brings us to yesterday’s rolling revelations, denial, and taped coup de grâce. The morning began with the bombshell report from the NYT”s Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin about the comments that McCarthy and GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell had made to colleagues about their disgust with Trump’s behavior, and their belief that he had to go.
McConnell remained mum. But McCarthy understands that his speakership hangs by the thread of Trump’s favor, and he moved quickly to reassure his audience of one that he had never, ever said the things that the NYT claimed. By mid-day, McCarthy had issued a blanket denial, calling the report “totally false and wrong,”
But, Lordy, there were tapes. And they showed him saying exactly what he had just denied saying.
……..
The episode is, of course, filled with special irony, because he’s having this conversation with… Liz Cheney. As my colleague, Sarah Longwell tweeted last night, “Kevin McCarthy is casually discussing 25th Amendment, telling Trump to resign, and making sure Pence won’t pardon him…WITH LIZ CHENEY. Only to, weeks later, kick Cheney out of leadership for saying the same things he did.”
……..
But, if he is toast, it’s not because he has just been caught in a lie, because that’s not really a disqualification in today’s GOP. If his dreams of becoming speaker have been torched, it’s only because he’s seen as disloyal by Trump. And because he’s a cynical moron.
The karma would be delicious, indeed. As our friend Jonah Goldberg tweeted last night:
I think there would be no more fitting end to Kevin McCarthy’s dream of becoming speaker than the “scandal” of him being exposed as privately believing the right and moral thing.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) April 22, 2022
……..
- Discussion
-
In a brilliant alignment of the political planets, McCarthy’s humiliation came on the same day that the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library announced its 2022 Profile in Courage Award.
One of the winners: Liz Cheney.https://t.co/zYmBFrZ8lD
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) April 22, 2022
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.