Speaker, but at what cost?

Re “McCarthy paid a humiliating cost for speakership,” Jan. 8

The spectacle of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) begging his right-wing faction to let him be king for a day was pathetic.

Republicans have had two years to figure out who their leader was to be if they took the House. McCarthy’s claim that he is going to show us how to govern is laughable; his party cannot even govern itself.

The next two years will be spectacle of ineffectiveness, chaos and lunacy until these extreme fanatics are kicked out.

Phil Kirk Encinitas

The fact that 20 members of the Republican House conference held the majority of the caucus hostage may be annoying in the extreme, but it was clearly not undemocratic or dangerous.

Crocodile tears from Democrats that valuable time was wasted and the people’s business was unduly delayed are farcical, as any casual observer of our House of Representatives knows.

We are not a pure democracy; we are a constitutional republic wherein minority rights are protected and preserved. The rules changes that the obstinate minority within the House GOP forced may well inform our governance for years to come.

Paul Bloustein Cincinnati

The attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was a sickening display of arrogance and greed on the part of then-President Trump. The election of McCarthy as speaker, turning over our nation over to a handful of ultra-right-wing Republican House members, shows the same thirst for power at any cost.

Our democracy is in deep danger. The election in 2024 is our only hope of saving the United States.

Eileen McDargh Elvins Dana Point