
<p>There is a quip that circulates around Washington that America is governed by two parties – the evil party and the stupid party. ; And when there is bipartisan action, it is both evil and stupid. ; It is credited to former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson – a bit of a maverick Republican.</p>



<p>If you debate which party is the evil half, it will result in a heated partisan exchange. ; But … if you first consider the stupid party, the GOP wins on points.</p>



<p>To change the reference, the Republican Party is like the little girl of poetry – to paraphrase, when good, the GOP is very, very good. ; But when bad, it is horrid. ; The entire issue of the House Speakership is an example of the latter.</p>



<p>I was not in favor of the GOP electing Kevin McCarthy Speaker in the first place. ; My pick was Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise. ; That should have settled the issue – even if not to my liking. ; The move to oust him was … well … stupid.</p>



<p>Democrat members could have prevented McCarthy’s ouster. ; After all, they claimed that it would result in chaos and great harm to the work of Congress – to the very Republic. ; And yet, they let it happen for purely political reasons. ; Some might say that is evil. ; But that is not the focus of this commentary.</p>



<p>Having ousted McCarthy, I opined in a previous commentary that the House Republicans had a golden opportunity to come out looking good. ; All they needed to do was to quickly elect a new speaker who could really unite the Republican Conference and present a comforting image to the nation.</p>



<p>I thought the right guy was Scalise – but there were others. ; But did the House Republicans seize the opportunity to show they know how to operate like a political party – and how to govern? ; Nooo!!</p>



<p>Instead, they engage in political mud wrestling based on politics, personalities and petty grievances.</p>



<p>For a moment in time, it appeared that had followed my strategy and were about to elect Scalise. ; His chief competitor, Jim Jordan, had essentially withdrawn from contention – or so it seemed. ; But even though Scalise had overwhelming support among the members, he could not reach the 217 votes needed to become Speaker. ; So, he dropped out. ; That left a situation in which there was no apparent person who could get 217 votes. ; What was to be settled smoothly in a couple days dragged on in an aura of uncertainty and controversy.</p>



<p>In short, House Republicans looked stupid again.</p>



<p>To fully understand the kind of thinking that prevented Scalise from becoming Speaker, it is necessary to hear from those who opposed him. ; They were:</p>



<ol class="wp-block-list" type="1">
<li>Chip Roy of Texas. He could not find agreement with Scalise over House rules.</li>



<li>Lauren Boebert of Colorado. ; She would still votes for Jordan in the final floor vote.</li>



<li>Nancy Mace of South Carolina. ; She said she would not vote for someone who spoke at a white supremacist group years past. (No one has ever accused Scalise of being a racist.) ; Shame on her.</li>



<li>Max Miller of Ohio. ; He would defy the majority vote and still vote for Jordan on the floor.</li>



<li>Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. Another Jordan vote if it came to the floor.</li>



<li>Michael Cloud of Texas. ; He would not vote for Scalise because he resented the vote that nominated him in the closed meeting.</li>



<li>Carlos Gimenez of Florida. He was still going to vote for McCarthy in any floor vote.</li>



<li>Bob Good of Virginia. ; Another Jordan vote.</li>



<li>Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania. Did not believe that Scalise was conservative enough.</li>



<li>George Santos of New York. ; He said he did not believe Scalise represented the interests of his district. (Scalise did not lie enough?</li>



<li>Jim Gomez of California. ; He accused Scalise of being a progressive Democrat. ; (Even Santos did not offer that lie).</li>



<li>Eli Crane of Arizona. As a Navy Seal, Crane would vote against Scalise because he had not been in the military.</li>
</ol>



<p>There may be others who I have missed, but you get the idea. ; This is not a collection of legislators who cannot get past their small-world petty view.</p>



<p>They say that legislating is like a good sausage. ; You just do not want to see how it is made. ; Not only are we seeing it being made, but it seems more and more likely that the sausage will not be grade-A when we finally get it. So, there ‘tis.</p>

GOP proves to be the stupid party
