Bridge of Wills

The beginning of every month is always a time of reflection: the environment around us is changing as fall begins to slip away into winter, the passage of time reminds us of our own mortality and lives, events around the world that demonstrate how fragile the relationship countries and men can really be and a speakership battle that could come straight out of a book of funny stories if its implications weren’t so serious for the country.

Speaker Down-

Following McCarthy’s efforts in passing a spending bill to avert a total government shutdown with the aid of democratic colleagues- the hard right wasn’t very pleased. At the 11th hour, the hard right demanded concessions in the form of steep spending cuts, namely to social programs, but their pleas went ignored, and McCarthy pushed forward anyway and, in the process, doomed his job; McCarthy was already a weak speaker to begin with- having won the speakership after 15 rounds of voting and compromising agreements that one step out of line meant ruin for a Speaker McCarthy, and ruin did come. The agreements McCarthy made with members of the far right can be equated to a Faustian bargain, the earthly pleasures of the speakership without truly having them; McCarthy gave away the steering wheel and still called himself the driver, and this whole dilemma rooted itself in the ability to vacate the chair.

The ability to vacate the chair is a powerful tool: this motion is defined as the capacity of a sole member to force a vote as to whether the presiding officer (McCarthy) steps down from the role. “The capacity of a sole member,” and that’s the pillar on which McCarthy built his flimsy house of cards- he made the foundation of his speakership so that a single member could place him on the political ropes. The ropes proved too hard for McCarthy to survive. On October 5th, the intricate web of promises and compromises would collapse as Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida filed a motion to vacate that would end McCarthy’s run as Speaker in a nail-biting vote that former Speaker McCarthy lost by two votes; all the machinations and swears McCarthy could levy upon the hard right could not save him, his speakership was dammed since he banged the Speakers’ gavel. This crisis didn’t end with McCarthy’s ouster, and the true chaos was about to commence.

True Chaos-

McCarthy is gone. What now? This was the question that all Republicans were asking themselves after October 5th, and apparently, the solution to the chaos was more chaos. What occurred over three weeks is the equivalent of a homeowner adding more water to an already flooded home; let’s recap the crisis. Five different nominations, three failed votes on the floor, and a whole lot of embarrassment; Scalise was the first on the chopping block, the number 2 of house leadership fell on the sword after it was immediately evident he wouldn’t have the votes from the far right. Jordan followed Scalise and, with the blessing of former President Trump, won the nomination and failed to win the House vote three times, with each increasing his margin of defeat. At that point, all hell broke loose in the conference; an obscure congressman named Austin Johnson won the nomination and dropped soon after it became evident he wouldn’t win; following Austin Johnson’s loss, the number three in command won the nomination- Tom Emmer- and proceeded to drop out after a mere few hours. After all this chaos, you’d presume the House Republicans would nominate an experienced lawmaker to quell the tumult and restore order?…..

Speaker Mike Johnson-

Mike Johnson, a congressman from Louisiana’s 4th District, was elected to the house in 2016 and without any significant legislative achievements to his name thus far. Besides his name, Mike Johnson, which is what people worldwide think most Americans are named, there isn’t anything notable about this congressman, except one thing- his relationship with former President Trump. Johnson’s achievements come in the fact that he was an architect of the former President’s schemes to try and deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election- in fact, he actively helped collect signatures in a Texas lawsuit that claimed mass irregularities in the election and that was laughed out of the Supreme Court. It seems that the only qualification needed in this era is to bow down at the altar of the former President; it’s consistent how low you can go for members of the Republican party.

Of course, we should all wish the new Speaker well in his new post, but the process by which he earned the job is more than concerning. Now more than ever, with the complicated domestic and international scene, we must throw the chains of demagoguery off and focus on governance. The timeless message of bipartisanship that has moved our country forward is needed now, and we should dedicate all our efforts to healing the divide that finds itself rooted in all facets of our society and constructing a bridge to maintain our shining city strong and free.