There are different stratas of performative assholery and one favored by politicians is arrogant disdain. If you are looking for a working example of the genre, you will do no better than to read Kevin McCarthy’s statement about how he will not sully himself by responding to the January 6 Committee’s request for his august presence. Righto and tally ho.
Washington, D.C. — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA-23) issued the following statement about Speaker Pelosi’s “illegitimate select committee:”
“This committee is not conducting a legitimate investigation as Speaker Pelosi took the unprecedented action of rejecting the Republican members I named to serve on the committee. It is not serving any legislative purpose. The committee’s only objective is to attempt to damage its political opponents – acting like the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee one day and the DOJ the next.
“The committee has demanded testimony from staffers who applied for First Amendment permits. It has subpoenaed the call records of private citizens and their financial records from banks while demanding secrecy not supported by law. It has lied about the contents of documents it has received. It has held individuals in contempt of Congress for exercising their Constitutional right to avail themselves of judicial proceedings. And now it wants to interview me about public statements that have been shared with the world, and private conversations not remotely related to the violence that unfolded at the Capitol. I have nothing else to add.
And then he adds something.
“As a representative and the leader of the minority party, it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee’s abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward.”
We are sure that the committee members are all reeling from this scathing denunciation of McCarthy’s. What’s that you say? How can a lying hypocrite like McCarthy presume to take the moral high ground to anybody? Precisely. If there is a rattlesnake that slithers lower than McCarthy it’s only because the poor thing has fallen into a ditch.
Oh, well. We’ll send over some smelling salts and a couple of fainting couches to the Committee.
In all seriousness I doubt if Speaker Pelosi has batted an eye. The dear lady has seen it all and she knows who the people that she works with are.
As to the piece I wrote earlier today about what McCarthy would do, this is doing a Mike Pence. McCarthy will hang in there, as did Pence, until the situation becomes completely ridiculous and untenable and then he’ll wriggle out as best he can.
McCarthy is never going to go full MAGA and dive in and wallow with Greene, Cawthorn, the lot of them. No, he’s going to stick his nose in the air and pretend to be above it all, quite.
The J6 Committee has its work cut out. It’s going to be fighting procedural morass and stall tactics all year.
Someone needs to tell Kevin McCarthy to sit the F**k down and shut up. I just don’t understand what Trump has over this dude! Can’t these MAGA repuglicans see what a looser Trump is and will more than likely go to prison? Just boggles my mind! :/
It’s not so much what Trump has on him, which is no more than any other GOP critter which is fear of Trump trashing them. No, as I spoke about in a comment to an earlier article it’s McCarthy himself and his delusional dream of becoming Speaker. More specifically a Speaker that holds legendary status in House history. One of the icons that held power second only to that of Presidents. McCarthy actually believes that should the GOP prevail this fall that the caucus will elect him Speaker. He’s the only person who believe that but it’s what is driving him – and causing him to attempt the freakish, foolish and what will ultimately be unsuccessful dance of maintaining unqualified support from Trump for the job, yet also appealing to a wider swath of the electorate as leader of the GOP House caucus enough for them to carry all the swing districts they will need to carry for him to be in the new majority and therefore Speaker.
1: The committee has no need to ‘damage its political opponents’ – they did a great job in doing that themselves.
2: As for the rejection of his nominees – I don’t believe that anyone suspected of criminal acts is allowed to be members of the jury hearing their case.
3: If he has nothing to hide – why is he scared of answering the questions?
About #2: There’s no “believe” in the situation. Someone who’s suspected of criminal acts is generally known as the “defendant” in the case (prosecution must prove his guilt) and it’s legally impossible to be both the defendant and a juror in the same case. In fact, anyone who has a relationship with said defendant is likely to be turned down as a juror–and it’s really on THAT basis that Pelosi rejected McCarthy’s choices since all his choices, if they weren’t active participants in the matter, had definite ties to the participants.
4. The last indignant outburst gave the democrats total control & a great republican leader to head up the committee. Doubt this one works out any better.
McCarthy is proof that it IS possible to be dumber than Donald Trump.
Kevin can sit down and STFU (and get subpoena’d), or show up and answer questions. He gave the committee everything it really needed when he had his temper tantrum *last spring* over Pelosi rejecting his thoroughly-involved-in-insurrection nominees.
McCarthy IS a stain on the institutional, but he has a lot of company with the 3G’s, Bobert, Hawley, Cawthorne, et al. All a bunch of lyin’ losers.
SUPOENAS AND FINES SHOULD DO IT. IF ENHOUGH FINES ARE MADE FOR ALL OF THOSE ARROGANT REFUSALS, THE GOP MIGHT GO BROKE. THESE ROTTON POLITICIANS ARE NOT ABOVE THE LAW. AND CAN NOT GO UNPUNISHED OR IGNORED. iF WE THE CITIZENS DID IT, WE WOULD ALREADY BE IN JAIL. wATCH, THEY WILL STALL THIS TILL AFTER 2024. nOW THEY ARE ONLY HURTING THEMSELVES WITH BAD PUBLICITY.