New Speaker: Johnson

The wait is over. After three weeks of chaos, name-calling, and backstabbing, the House of Representatives elected Louisiana congressman Mike Johnson to be the next House speaker. Now comes the hard work of governing. It will not be easy. The big question that will be asked is how much of a difference will there be between former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Johnson when it comes time to negotiate to handle the many problems that this nation faces. Make no mistake, speaker Johnson is about as conservative as they come. He is a Trump loyalist having voted to deny certification of the 2020 presidential election. Even now Johnson refuses to acknowledge that President Joe Biden is the legitimately elected president of the U.S. Johnson fired a shot over the bow saying what we already know, that Republicans will stand for their “core principles” letting the nation and the world know that unless things change, it will be business as usual. While watching Johnson give his acceptance speech, one could see that it was not a rousing speech that got people excited knowing that America is back in business. Johnson said that the “People’s House” is back in business. As a matter of fact, Democrat leader in the House Hakeem Jefferies gave a speech that at times had even Republicans cheering because they know that nothing gets people excited to work for something better than the one who can inspire them. There was no inspiration in Johnson’s speech. This article is replacing one that was written before Johnson was elected and showed the folly of what was transpiring in the House as Republicans couldn’t elect one of their own to lead the House. It was titled “No End In Sight” because it seemed as though Republicans were incapable of electing a speaker. One must remember that the nation is where it is because of a Republican mutiny in the House when Matt Gaetz led the charge to make McCarthy walk the plank. Speaking of plank, can you imagine what would have happened to Mike Pence if those insurrectionists had succeeded? They wanted to hang him. Will there be an “end in sight” of the bickering and the partisanship that one has to believe will continue even though there is a new speaker? What is going to change about Republican’s way of governing, as Joe Biden is still president and Democrats control the Senate? Donald Trump still controls the Republican Party. Jim Jordan will still do what he does best along with Marjorie Taylor-Greene and other hard-liners in the House. It might be a “feel good” time for Republicans with some “pats on the back” for a job-well-done moment, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And there are tough times ahead for the nation. The threat of a government shutdown will be a big test for Johnson. The deal that McCarthy made with Biden is one of the things that got him looking at Johnson who will try to do what he couldn’t as Speaker. That was to please the hard-right members of his party who did not believe in compromise. Johnson is a hardline conservative who said in his speech that he would work with Congressman Jefferies to “find” common ground on issues that divide them, even though the issues that divide the nation were already there when McCarthy was speaker. There was a reason why Republicans weren’t jumping up and cheering in the gallery doing Johnson’s speech. That’s because electing a new speaker really was the easy part. They had the votes but not the unity. There are too many fractures within the party. It was on full display. So, the question becomes, how can Republicans show the nation that it can govern effectively and work with Democrats when they have shown that they can’t work together even among themselves? Louisiana has the prestige of having her first Speaker of the House in its history. Perhaps Mike Johnson may agree with Mr. Spock when he said that “often one may desire something that appeals to him, that over time, one will find that what he seeks was not so appealing at all”. You Trek fans know what I mean. Remember, the world is watching. So is God.