Breaking: Speaker McCarthy Flubs Acceptance Speech

McCarthy’s “Freudian slip” with music track and snarky comments (video)

During a long session in which fisticuffs nearly broke out, Kevin McCarthy was finally elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives after 15 votes. It happened late Friday night/early Saturday morning, when Never Kevin stalwart Matt Gaetz agreed to vote “present” — in exchange for what, God only knows.

The New York Times reports that former President Trump called holdouts who refused to back McCarthy in the 14th vote. An apocryphal version of events has Marjorie Taylor Greene crying out: “It’s His Voice on the radio, y’all!”

Marjorie Taylor Greene – artist’s rendering

McCarthy, reaching the apex of his acceptance speech, proceeded to flub a long, thinly-connected passage about George Washington crossing the Delaware. He received a standing ovation from fellow House members, whose expectations were perhaps understandably low:

While it’s true that most applauded, a few weary souls were led off mumbling to themselves, trying to work it out on their fingers. If we row in a different cadence, or maybe we don’t let everybody in the boat, then can we overcome some of the obstacles? Is there a size limit? Do we have to wear blindfolds? Are the objects edible? Are they known for their work in the theater?

As in the famous Charles Ives composition, these questions remained unanswered.

Michael Howard

The views expressed are my own, and do not represent any other person or organization.

* * *