Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy can be replaced. And he will be. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who introduced the motion to vacate McCarthy from his leadership perch, should be replaced.
Gaetz and seven other House Republicans turned on McCarthy, whom they branded as insufficiently conservative. You see, McCarthy was willing to work with Democrats to prevent a government shutdown. That, social media trolls argue, makes McCarthy a RINO, or Republican in Name Only.
In GaetzWorld, the eight Republicans who voted with 208 Democrats against McCarthy are good Republicans.
Rep. Chip Roy — a Texas Republican, member of the Freedom Caucus and McCarthy vote — was not amused. "Some of our brothers and sisters — particularly in the, you know, MAGA camp, I think — particularly enjoy the circular firing squad," Roy told The Blaze. "You want to come at me and call me a RINO, you can kiss my" — well, you can figure the rest out.
Roy added that he spent "a lifetime fighting for limited government conservatism. I have laid it all on the line. I have not seen my family for two days in the last 30 days. You go around talking your big game and thumping your chest on Twitter? Yeah. Come to my office, come have a debate, mother."
I understand his rage. The GOP used to be a party that valued its diversity — a "big tent" that recognized that people of good faith can disagree.
Be it noted: Republicans don't win government shutdowns.
And they cannot possibly win a government shutdown without the Senate and the White House.
After he was dumped Tuesday, McCarthy announced he would not run for his old leadership post. Who can blame him for leaving the field to the likes of Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio?
Now everything's a loyalty test. Forget honest disagreements. Let the extremes define the middle. Let the eight bark orders to the 210 who voted to keep McCarthy.
They've tossed the car keys to the opportunists who are happy to cede the majority if that gets them with a sweet spot on cable TV.
Debra J. Saunders is a fellow with Discovery Institute's Chapman Center for Citizen Leadership. She has worked for more than 30 years covering politics on the ground. She has also covered politics in Washington, D.C., as well as American culture, the media, the criminal justice system, and dubious trends in our nation's public schools and universities. Read Debra J. Saunders' Reports — More Here.