Kevin McCarthy has resigned from the race for Speaker of the House of Representatives. McCarthy shot himself in the family jewels with imbecilic comments that suggested the purpose of the select committee on Benghazi was to damage the political fortunes of Hillary Clinton. The subsequent uproar forced McCarthy to run for the tall grass.
Many electrons and some actual ink has been spilled over the incredibly dunderheaded gaffe of John Boehner's heir apparent. McCarthy threw the Clinton campaign a lifeline, and the GOP has been thrown into disarray as a result. How could a seasoned politician such as McCarthy makes such a dunderheaded mistake? And how could the GOP have so grossly mishandled this situation after the fact?
Writing at American Thinker, Arnold Steinberg catalogues the many mistakes of the GOP in this affair. While Steinberg's list is inarguable, one must ask if this whole affair is a matter of a gaffe or is there method to the madness of McCarthy and the RINO wing?
This Benghazi business has been quite destructive to Mrs. Clinton's campaign, and the GOP insiders may be concerned about that very fact. It is an axiom among pundits and analysts that the GOP is afraid of Hillary. But there are outsiders - people like Rush Limbaugh - who point out that Hillary has huge negatives and that she really is neither popular nor especially adept. And the more we see of Frau Blucher the less the nation likes her. Remember the election of 2008; Obama walked in out of nowhere and simply took the nomination from her. He won because he could campaign as an outsider. This was a huge tip-off that Hillary is a weak candidate, and it may be the GOP insiders, while professing to be frightened of Mrs. Clinton, are secretly hoping to face her in the general election.
And it may be that Hillary is more in line with the beliefs of the GOP RINO wing than are other Democrats - or Republicans, for that matter. The RINO wing would rather see America burn than surrender power to "outsiders" in the GOP. They despise the Tea Party, hate Trump, and refuse to share power with anyone else who isn't in their personal country club. While speaking about a "big tent" they actually have a private room in Studio 54, and anyone who wants in must pass the bouncer line and then move through several other secured doorways. The "big tent" is merely for the votes that will cement the Elites in power.
They may be more comfortable with a Hillary Presidency than with a President Cruz. Or Trump. Or Fiorina or Carson. And the repercussions can be managed; if McCarthy is out, the RINO wing will simply replace him with another.
Keeping her in the race but weak would be a logical move for them.
One must also wonder how much did personal pique enter into this? Boehner and McCarthy were good buddies, after all. Furthermore, McCarthy may well have sought to punish the Tea Party for taking Boehner's scalp. As Barack Obama would say "if they bring a knife we'll bring a gun" and that is truly the way of power politics. McCarthy couldn't afford NOT to send a shot across the bow of the right wing. That he was willing to take this risk now illustrates the power of the Establishment in the House of Representatives.
Finally, what is happening behind the scenes? We know that Valerie Jarrett has been leaking a good deal of the information detrimental to Hillary. Obama won every election prior to his Presidential runs by destroying his opponents through opposition research and scandal. Jarrett got this information from somewhere. Do we have any reason to believe that the Chicago political machine has anything less on any of the GOP? The Obama Administration is clearly trying to manipulate the next election, doubtlessly to keep one of their own in power. But remember, they do not want the GOP to retake power.
The British used to employ a strategy in geopolitical affairs known as Balance of Power, where they played one rival against another. Bill Clinton called his policy Triangulation, but it was the same strategy; allow your enemies to exhaust themselves and then stroll to victory. Keeping Hillary weak but in the game is as important as is keeping the GOP down. One wonders if the Chicago Way doesn't have a hand in this. Many people have wondered about John Boehner's tough talk and spineless action, and it has been theorized that Boehner was compromised. Why not his good chum?
There could be other reasons for this step, but one must question if it was actually a gaffe. Granted, it has just cost him the Speakership. That may have been a miscalculation, or it may have never been something McCarthy wanted. No matter; the election for Speaker has been postponed, and it may be that John Boehner could wind up staying anyway - for the good of the Party, don't you know!
Maybe that was the whole point?
Timothy Birdnow is a conservative writer and blogger and lives in St. Louis Missouri. His work has appeared in many popular conservative publications including but not limited to The American Thinker, Pajamas Media, Intellectual Conservative and Orthodoxy Today. Tim is a featured contributor to American Daily Reviewand has appeared as a Guest Host on the Heading Right Radio Network. Tim’s website is tbirdnow.mee.nu.
