"I know my work is only getting started," McCarthy, R-Calif., said in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
    • logicbomb@lemmy.world
      128·
      1 year ago

      This is exactly what he did. He apparently organized the ouster of George Santos, and also was interested in ejecting Matt Gaetz if he was able to before he (Kevin McCarthy) resigned. His intention is to leave the GOP fucked by having only the slimmest of majorities while punishing the people who worked against him.

      It’s the GOP civil war, and they all deserve it.

      • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
        14·
        1 year ago

        No way Bakersfield isn’t returning another maga republican.

        This affects fundraising. He was Mr Moneybags, that’s how he held the caucus together to the extent he did.

        I think the count of Republicans is going to be the same.

        • logicbomb@lemmy.world
          5·
          1 year ago

          If there is a single moment where the Democrats can have the majority, before the Republicans are replaced, then they will have the opportunity to do some worthwhile actions. There is also one other Republican who is expected to leave to take a job at a college.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
            2·
            1 year ago

            Could be nice, but the Speaker has absolute control even if his party loses the majority.

            Nothing in any way positive is being allowed to even be DEBATED on the full House floor as long as the Jericho Johnson is Speaker.

            • ABluManOnLemmy@feddit.nl
              9·
              1 year ago

              Thanks to the new rules from the Gaetz wing though, the Democrats can rather easily remove and replace the speaker. And they just might if they end up with a majority.

                • frezik@midwest.social
                  2·
                  1 year ago

                  There was a point, around the time the Tea Party astroturfing was in full force, where Republican planning and messaging was unified and tight. Trump showed up and didn’t know why things worked the way they did, and Republicans eating themselves is the result.

      • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
        6·
        1 year ago

        Surely it can’t be that difficult to goad McCarthy into continuing his vendetta after he leaves office. He’s no friend to Democrats, but he doesn’t have to be our friend to decide that he doesn’t care if we win, so long as Gaetz and company lose.

      • MacGuffin94@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        And him leaving means less money. Guy was an ahole of the highest order but he knew exactly how to get rich Republicans to give out their money. I highly doubt he passes that on and no one currently is in a position to replace him in terms of fund raising.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    53·
    1 year ago

    I was watching the talking head shows last night at someone raised a good point:

    McCarthy was only good at fundraising, that was his strength.

    After 1/6, corporate donations for the insurrection candidates dropped off a cliff, and without that fundraising, McCarthy literally has nothing.

    • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.clubEnglish
      21·
      1 year ago

      I can see that. Given the actions of the current Speaker, I don’t see the party changing back any time soon.

      • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
        18·
        1 year ago

        Nope, it’s going to take a full implosion before anything changes, and if Trump loses in '24, he’ll keep coming back until he wins or dies.

        • modifier
          16·
          1 year ago

          I don’t think it’s a question of “keep coming back”. Whether he wins or loses, he won’t leave. I want to be clear I am prognosticating, not advocating, but I feel strongly that the next election will lead to some kind of violence - regardless of outcome.

          • Butt Pirate@reddthat.com
            54·
            1 year ago

            I’m convinced we’re at the end of this age - think Wheel of Time. The current civilization has run it’s course and is about to collapse like it has done countless times before. Trump wins and America turns into the next autocracy. Or Trump loses and the conservatives keep working towards their goals next term, with or without Trump.

            And either way, World War 3 is just around the corner. Tensions are high all over the world and Russia won’t stop provocating wars. This is the same kind of build up we saw in WW1 all over again, except this time we have nuclear weapons at play.

            All we can do is try to survive, and hope that when we are reborn this will have all blown over.

            • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
              4·
              1 year ago

              Or trump fails and continues to try, continuing the erosion of the Republican parties ability to win elections. Sure, some places move right but the majority of America moves left and the Dems start to move left too because of it.

              Sure, there may be violence but that’s not the same as a civil war and likely will be quickly quelled. 1/6 was amateur hour but it was scary how easily it still was allowed to happen.iy won’t be allowed in the same way again, but it’s important to prosecute those responsible for round 1, in order to not get multiple rounds after.

              • Monument@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
                3·
                1 year ago

                My hunch is that if the Republican Party implodes, anything but a symbolic leftward shift by the Democrat party will be halted by a flow of money from donors.

                Any real change won’t happen without overturning citizens united.

                • frezik@midwest.social
                  1·
                  1 year ago

                  I’d be fine if the Democrats became the conservative party without changing a single policy goal. A new party can emerge to their left.

              • Butt Pirate@reddthat.com
                32·
                1 year ago

                Either Trump wins, which will destabilize America and lead to the collapse of society

                Or

                Trump loses and the Republicans continue pushing more and more extreme candidates. I know everyone here loves to circle jerk themselves about how all the Republicans will just die out and I think that’s really near-sighted. Lots of young people increasingly support Trump. I’m around Gen z a lot and not all of them are democrats.

                Or

                Russia, feeling the pressure of an endless war, colludes with China, India, and the Arabs to wage all out war against America. Alone, none of them stand a chance against the US Military. But together, maybe they figure they have a chance. There’s a lot of deep seeded anti-american resentment out in the world. A lot of politicians are tired of the American hegemony, and they have lots of support.

                I just don’t see a scenario where Trump loses, the Republicans give up trying to institute a theocracy, and Putin says “ok I guess this is enough war, we’ll go home”.

                And I haven’t even mentioned what would happen to global markets if Russia collapsed and countries started coalescing out of the rubble.

                Or of the Israeli-Hamas genocide.

                Or of unstoppable climate change.

                Or of the pandemics that are sweeping the world.

                Global hunger is on the rise again.

                Make no mistake, this is the end of a chapter in human history. I’m not religious; I don’t believe this is the end of days or anything like that. I think humans will survive and will continue to build new and great things. But I think a shitload of people are going to die first.

                • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
                  1·
                  1 year ago

                  The biggest thing that kills countries or societies is revolts. China is experimenting to see if they can hold back revolts using technology to control citizens. We will have to wait and see if it works or instead creates a bigger tipping point.

                  For those in power before, war allowed them to increase their riches. As economies have become more interdependent, war hinders wealth generation, apart from on the military industrial complex. The incentive for war is less. That’s the whole point of the EU, the marshall plan and globalisation efforts in general. It seems to be working. Putins position is more precarious than before the war. Trump is less liked overall, but does have more youth support than previously. That may be a side effect of youth growing up knowing no difference. 20 year old voters now were kids before he was a politician.

                  Look at current hardship with cost of living increases after the pandemic. Things are hard and it’s starting to stabilize but it’s less widespread hardship than, say, the great recession after Spanish flu. There is a rose in populism and authoritarianism worldwide but there has not yet been the same backwards jump in living standards.

                  If Trump is successful, I think he’ll struggle to do much. He’s old and it’s dangerous but he’s self interested, so as soon as it’s hard he gives up and leaves it to others. If he loses, his power within politics diminishes more. The Republicans can try to shake him off and risk him weakening them or continue as now and go down with him. They will weaken either way, as has already been happening. I’m optimistic that we are indeed at one of those turning points in humanity. I wonder if the rise of ai and self driving will free many from work and truly lead to a post scarcity society. It all depends on how we distribute the spoils.

  • affiliate@lemmy.world
    49·
    1 year ago

    McCarthy […] said he is leaving “to serve America in new ways.”

    this is very ominous sounding

  • gregorum@lemm.eeEnglish
    261·
    1 year ago

    who? oh, they guy who barely squeaked onto the position, spent the year doing nothing while nearly getting fried, then finally did in a tantrum?

    oh, yeah, real loss there…

  • Nougat@kbin.social
    18·
    1 year ago

    Redistricting in 2022 turned CA-20 from strong blue to strong red, so it’s unlikely that a Democrat will fill the seat. But - and I never thought I would say this - thank you, Kevin McCarthy, for further threatening the American Fascist majority in the House.

  • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
    151·
    1 year ago

    “No matter the odds, or personal cost, we did the right thing… in this spirit that I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year”

    Never thought we’d agree. Hope more people decide to make the right choice.

  • TWeaK@lemm.eeEnglish
    10·
    1 year ago

    So where is the revolving door of corporate lobbying sending him?