Insanity

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

I normally save this sort of thing for “Text the Times” but I didn’t do one for today’s e-ediiton, so I thought I’d include it here.

I got a message this morning I rather enjoyed. All it said was “GOP…SMH…LOL” Quick and to the point.

Now, if you don’t speak “text” and/or aren’t up to date on your abbreviations, it basically says, “The Republican Party… shaking my head… laughing out loud.” In other words, watching the Republicans in Congress right now trying (and failing) to elect a Speaker of the House is both disappointing and laughable.

Look, it’s very clear that no one (or at least not enough people) in the party wants to see Rep. Kevin McCarthy preside over the House. They have (at last count) had nine votes on the House floor and the guy just doesn’t have the support to win the spot. Or to quote the musical “Hamilton”, “You don’t have the votes! You don’t have the votes.”

Hats off to McCarthy for actually having the nerve to stand there like a sad kitty at the glass door wanting to be let in while his own party sabotages his ambitions of

See VIEWPOINT, page A10 VIEWPOINT

From page A4

being Speaker of the House. He needs 218 votes. The GOP holds 222 seats.

If this it their man, it should have already happened. Instead, the American people are watching the party they just gave control of the U.S.

House of Representatives implode on national TV in real time.

I’d like to “LOL,” but honestly, I’m just “SMH” because it’s really just sad.

These men and women who are supposed to be the best and brightest of us and are supposed to lead us as our duly elected representatives are acting like a bunch of school kids trying to pick teams for kickball in P.E. class.

I really used to think it was the Democrats who had the biggest problem getting out of their own way, but this really takes the cake. The voters throw you a bone and give you control of the House but you can’t even get “control” of your own “house” to get the job done and it’s pathetic.

There’s a quote. It’s often attributed to Albert Einstein as well as Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin or even Confucius, although no one really knows who said it first. It just suddenly appeared out of the ether.

“The definition of ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” My favorite part about the quote is that the earliest written example of it comes from a pamphlet for Narcotics Anonymous, which I think is awesome.

And if there were ever a better example of doing the same thing over and over only to get the same results, I think this is it.

Or Congresemen, shall we put it up for a tenth vote?