It Must Really Suck to be Kevin McCarthy

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has had a very rough couple of weeks trying to get his portion of the House in order.  Not only has McCarthy been plagued by the antics of a couple freshmen members who seem to be focused on making each day's news cycle all about themselves, he is also having to deal with a revolt among conservative members who want to have Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming removed from her position in the House leadership because she dared to vote to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the Capitol.

And as if McCarthy doesn't have enough to deal with, he now has his counterpart in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, openly sparring with one of McCarthy's problem children in the House.

Yesterday McConnell felt emboldened to throw his two-cents worth into the controversies that are percolating around Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, warning that her espousing of "loony lies and conspiracy theories" were a "cancer for the Republican Party."  McConnell opined:

"Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality."

Greene fired back with a tweet saying that the real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully, a situation she claims is "why we are losing our country."

Democrats in Congress are making political hay and fundraising off of the antics of Ms. Greene, and McConnell rightfully fears that Greene and other fringe politicians in the GOP will cost the GOP the support of moderate voters in the 2022 elections.  

Democrats are threatening to force a floor vote this week to remove Representative Greene from two powerful House committees unless McCarthy does it himself.  McCarthy is scheduled to meet with Greene and discuss her history of making controversial remarks and bizarre statements, but there is doubt that he will take away her committee assignments.  Greene says that she has the support of Donald Trump,  and Trump's support still seems to carry weight among the GOP members of the House.  If McCarthy fails to rein-in Greene and the Democrats take the matter to a floor vote, that could be a problem for moderate Republicans who would then have to cast a public vote on the matter.

And if by some miracle McCarthy is able to resolve the matter with the outspoken Marjorie Tayor Greene - who is also a gun rights' activist - he still has to deal with pistol-packing Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert who, like Greene, is now harassing at least one survivor of a high school shooting and who is trying to loosen gun restrictions in the House.   Boebert reportedly was using social media to alert rioters outside of the Capitol about the movements of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and she has also been accused of giving "tours" of the Capitol the evening before rioters stormed the building. 

And when that dust settles McCarthy can then move on to the question of what to do about Liz Cheney.

It must really suck to be Kevin McCarthy.  I just wish I could give a damn!