Let’s put aside for a moment whether you think McCarthy was an okay Speaker or whether you think he dearly needed removal. My question is this: now that Gaetz has crossed the Rubicon, what’s to stop any other small group from doing the same thing? Power is intoxicating; how exciting to be able to exercise it with just a few colleagues! You might theorize that, in fact, Gaetz had more supporters than we know and that others would have voted with him if necessary. But that’s just a theory, and it’s irrelevant to my question because the removal could have been accomplished by that small group alone without any support or help at all from any other Republican. And I don’t think the Democrats would be at all reluctant to continue to cooperate with Republican chaos, and the removal of a succession of GOP Speakers. …

[W]hat’s to stop other small factions from doing the same to any GOP member who replaces McCarthy as Speaker? Is it just the fear that it would backfire on the right and enable the left? That certainly didn’t stop Gaetz.

[The only stop on this process will be the Democrats. This is what Tom McClintock warned about during the MTV process; the only way to be safe will be to kowtow to Hakeem Jeffries. If Jim Jordan becomes speaker and he does exactly what McCarthy was doing — and Jordan supported McCarthy, don’t forget — Gaetz or another of the eight can and will pull the same stunt. Or maybe one of the moderates might decide that they really dislike Jordan and want to sabotage him, perhaps in vengeance for Gaetz’ stunt. Democrats may have been happy to torpedo McCarthy but they will positively salivate at the prospect of removing Jordan, who has been much more a thorn in their side. The only way to survive that MTV threat now is to make one’s self valuable to enough Democrats. — Ed]