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LETTER: U.S. Congress turns politics into worst circus act

Donald Trump is still the ringleader after Speaker voting debacle, letter writer claims
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To the Editor,

I was hoping for a bit of routine political theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 3, when turning on the television for the election of the new Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. It turned out to be a lot more than I or anyone else had expected, with the election coming four days and 15 hotly-contested, controversial ballots later.

There were so many bad actors and so many drama queens participating; what should have been a dignified process, turned into a theatre of the absurd.

Congressional elections were held last November with Republicans gaining a narrow victory, their leader Kevin McCarthy had recently moved into the Speaker’s Office vacated by Nancy Pelosi, but for the 118th Congress to begin the Speaker had to be chosen by a majority of its elected members.

Not to say that all politicians have evil intentions, but in my humble opinion, politicians are merely circus entertainers.

Congressman McCarthy was walking the tightrope, and there were rowdy clowns determined to make him fall. All were following orders of the ringmaster, former President Donald Trump who was cracking his whip from behind the high walls of his Florida mansion.

It sounds quite ridiculous, but those opposing McCarthy considered themselves more rigidly aligned to the doctrines of Donald Trump than he is. The dissident 20 were publicly cajoled into supporting McCarthy little by little, but only after he granted them one concession after another.

After the 14th ballot resulted in one vote short of a majority, there was almost a display of fisticuffs. A vote to adjourn for the weekend with the Speakership unresolved was about to be adopted, then reversed when a telephone message came through from that Florida mansion, and that vital 15th ballot confirmed Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker.

The usual comments were made about democracy being a messy business, and we all know that eggs have to be broken to make an omelette. In this case, in front of the entire world, American democracy ended up with a whole lot of egg on its face.

Bernie Smith,

Parksville, B.C.