The Select Benghazi Committee has finally claimed its first victim as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has dropped out of the race to become the next Speaker.
That isn't altogether surprising given that he has almost single-handedly disarmed the party of Benghazi talking points, but apparently some members of the House GOP caucus took the news very hard.
Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., said the meeting opened, Republicans said the Pledge and then McCarthy stood up and took himself out of the race. The prohibitive favorite said he didn't want members to take arrows for voting for him and that he was taking himself out of contention.
Speaker Boehner then immediately moved to adjourn the meeting. Rooney said there was "total shock" and some members were audibly crying.
More:
Rep. Peter King tells me that members are crying in cloakroom, unable to handle the unrest and confusion. "A banana republic," he says.
— Robert Costa (@costareports) October 8, 2015
Our government is run by manchildren.
With McCarthy out of the race, there are only two alternatives. Either current Speaker John Boehner will remain at his post rather than resign, or the House will elect a true believer nutcase approved by the Cro-Magnon men of the Freedom Caucus.
If they choose the latter, it's possible we're all fucked. We will hit the federal debt ceiling on November 5th if it isn't increased.
If we're lucky, our elected government will maintain the bare-minimum of the status quo to continue functioning as a country. We certainly can't expect anything more than that.