Self-serving Representative Matt Gaetz had absolutely no plan beyond “oust House Speaker McCarthy.” Some America First Patriots who support Gaetz claim that his actions “exposes” RINOs in Congress. That makes as much sense as Titanic passengers being happy the ship hit an iceberg because that “exposed” that the luxury liner lacked sufficient lifeboats.

Finally, after three weeks of chaos, Republicans have a Speaker of the House! We wish fourth-term Conservative Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana complete success. He is currently the vice chairman of the House GOP conference. An attorney by trainng, he’s a former conservative talk radio host and columnist and a man of deep Christian faith who strongly believes in the U.S. Constitution.

But let’s have an honest conversation. By October 25, Republicans absolutely knew they had to elect a speaker and conclude the Gaetz-produced quagmire. Every House Republican from RINO to MAGA knew the situation could not continue another day. While Democrats enjoyed the mischievous entertainment, the American public was growing weary of the clown show.

Image: Mike Johnson. Public domain.

Johnson's win was all in the timing.

Based on the trajectory taking place in the Republican caucus, if Rep. Mike Johnson had been nominated immediately following McCarthy’s ouster, he would have lost the House floor vote, just as Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan lost the House vote early in the process. Had Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise been nominated on October 25 when Republicans knew they had to elect a speaker and move forward, Scalise probably would have won the gavel. Johnson is the better choice between Scalise and Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, who was also in the running for a few hours.

As Carl Hulse wrote following the vote in “...Man of the House”:

Mr. Johnson was far from the first choice of his own colleagues. He was something of a desperation candidate as House Republicans entered a fourth week without a speaker, leaving the institution paralyzed and Republicans looking inept. Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, defeated him Tuesday morning in an internal vote for the speaker nomination — an outcome that traditionally would have led to Emmer’s being elected speaker on the House floor.

But the old rules are gone. Hard-right conservatives quickly went to work to deny Emmer any chance of obtaining the necessary votes on the floor and forced him to withdraw in just four hours. That opened the door to a second round of nominations. Again, Johnson did not initially win a majority but finally prevailed after multiple rounds of voting.

Now, Rep. Gaetz is taking victory laps. Not so fast, Rep. Gaetz! As an America First Patriot (who is so dedicated to MAGA that she writes a free weekly newsletter called Patriot Neighbors), there are two questions:

1.Why is Gaetz the only one providing “behind-the-scenes” details that are sculptured to benefit his narrative? Certainly, other trusted MAGAs in the House Freedom Caucus would want to share the intimate anti-RINO details about what awful Swamp dwellers tried to do.

2.Why did House Speaker Johnson, in his acceptance speech, go out of his way to acknowledge many political friends and foes that he wants to work with to benefit the American people but purposely omit Matt Gaetz? After all, Gaetz is solely responsible for elevating the obscure Johnson to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. You would think Johnson would have wanted to acknowledge Gaetz in some minor way.

Even if you agree with what he did, there is no denying that Matt Gaetz:

Yes, there is a speaker, but there are still many issues the Republican caucus must work through if they are to have a successful 2024 that enables them to keep the House. Speaking on Fox Business before Republicans announed that Mike Johnson was the speaker-designee, MAGA Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said:

The eight Republicans who joined Democrats and ousted Kevin McCarthy, they need to apologize, and we need to heal our conference in order to move forward.

Since the motion to vacate rule that allows one member of any party to introduce the motion still exists, we will see how this plays out in the months ahead. For now, Republicans are sure to give new Speaker Johnson flexibility as he pushes the MAGA agenda where he can (i.e., releasing the January 6 tapes).

With a befuddled Joe Biden in the White House and a Marxist-leaning Democrat party representing about half of Congress, we pray that God guides Rep. Mike Johnson as our 56th Speaker of the House. However, facts are facts. To support what Matt Gaetz did and how he did it is to support “the end justifies the means.” What happens the next time when the end doesn’t justify the MAGA means?

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.