Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Get your popcorn ready, because a gut-wrenching level of drama has gripped the House of Representatives. To quote Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, “The Republican party is currently in a civil war.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy slid over to a lectern and called for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. After rabidly weaponizing the term “corruption,” he turned around and walked away, assuming he had performed another crucial task required of him, regardless of how absurd this effort was in his attempt to retain his tenuous position.
He is on the same ignoble level as Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Lindsey Graham, and many others who have sullied themselves in mounds of filth in an effort to support and appease Donald Trump. It also revealed how craven and obsessed they all are with residing within the periphery of power, regardless of how corrupt or unethical it is to engage in such derelict antics. It appears that little, if anything, is off limits for these morally broken and ethically empty individuals. McCarthy has permanently etched his name and legacy alongside this long and morally degenerate group.
Before securing the speakership, McCarthy had to deny that Trump was lying about the 2020 election after previously denouncing Trump’s scurrilous behavior on Jan. 6, 2021. He had to twist himself back and forth like a weather vane while asking the former president for his forgiveness.
As many of us remember, McCarthy needed 15 rounds of voting to land the House speakership. He finally succeeded only by offering political concessions and compromising himself by giving every member of his caucus the power to call to remove him at any given moment. Thus, as a result of such shameless concessions, he is constantly at the beck and call of the loud, unhinged, and deliriously reactionary Republican far-right wing House Freedom Caucus.
This motley crew of rapacious Republicans are just the latest in a historically long line of American right-wing activists, from the conservative John Birch Society to the White Citizens Council of mid-20th century America. These were organizations committed to fighting influences such as racial integration and communism.
Other right-wing organizations of the late 20th century, such as the Moral Majority and American Enterprise Institute, saw it as their mission to turn back the tide of supposed liberal radicalism they claim had poisoned and morally debased American society. Recent outfits (and there are many), such as The Eagle Forum, America First and Judicial Watch, have focused on multiple issues in an effort to advance their right-wing agenda.
The Freedom Caucus, drunk on their own power, have made it clear to McCarthy they are coming after him. As a result, he has conjured up a ludicrous impeachment inquiry against President Biden to serve as a decoy, a diversionary tactic for the time being. This is without having the votes needed to do so.
McCarthy’s latest cave-in to his far-right flank has revealed a few things. His speakership is in far more jeopardy than many Americans may realize. A small, yet vocal and influential segment of his caucus continues to dictate his decisions. A contentious spending standoff is now very likely to result in a shutdown that could disrupt the economy in a dramatic fashion.
Elwood Watson is a professor of history, Black studies, and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. Contact him at: