Common Ground: On Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Helina:

Payton:

Helina, where would you draw the line between bravery and bullheadedness? I’m asking for a friend.

Helina:

Well, if that friend is Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, he falls into both camps. In fact, the recent midterm elections demonstrated the lack of a “red wave.” is seems to have caused tension in the GOP, since they could not even agree upon a speaker until the 15th round of voting. e Democrats have historically backed their choice for speaker, so what happened with the Republicans?

Payton: e division within the party has reached an all-time high. For context, a speaker’s election has not required two or more votes on the oor since 1923. is con ict and lack of unity is likely due to the e ects of former President Donald Trump. An overwhelming number of candidates endorsed by Trump did not come out on top. Unfortunately, I think that this speaker’s election con rms what the midterms ominously suggested a few months ago: you either have to agree with Trump or pretend to agree with him to succeed as a Republican.

Your comment reminds me of the clash between Never-Trumpers and MAGA Republicans. ose are both terms that were coined a er former President Trump’s years in the White House. But having an entire party dependent on one individual as a leader is not what democracy is. At that point, it’s tyranny. Eventually, the lack of unity will lead to a decline in bipartisan bills.

Payton:

I also have that concern. It was disheartening to watch a moderate like McCarthy get bullied by Trump’s cult-like following on a national stage, especially as someone who agrees with many of his views. I feel like the message this polarization sends to moderates like me is that there is no longer room for us to be represented in Washington.

Helina:

What I found most saddening was that McCarthy practically sold his soul to 20 representatives on the far right in exchange for speakership. Representatives such as Florida’s Matt Gaetz wanted to negotiate a limit on the reach of the federal government, even aiming to change decades-old rules and procedures. McCarthy caved, and he’s now straying away from his personal values in order to gain power. While I understand why he couldn't have appealed to Democrats for those six votes that he needed, it would have created distrust within his party. But this tension is ridiculous – there was even a physical altercation involving Rep. Gaetz on the House oor while McCarthy was negotiating for votes.

Payton:

And this whole situation continues to portray how far American politics have strayed from the class and sophistication that they once possessed. We are becoming far too partyoriented. Forcing someone to change what they believe to align more closely with a political party is demonstrative of the gravity of the dilemma our nation faces.

Helina:

Our political culture is too focused on making sure the other party doesn't get what they want. At this point, governance is more about pettiness rather than changemaking. ese are people's lives that representatives have in their hands. Our Constitution gives signi cant power to the federal government, but right now, the House doesn’t seem to be ful lling its job. McCarthy is third in line for the presidency. Someone at that level of power should not be engaging in closeddoor negotiations to gain votes.

Payton:

It seems like Republicans didn’t realize that this was not the time to be picky, and it certainly wasn’t the time to lose the trust of the moderate conservatives that they need on their side to win future elections. Rather than acting as representatives of the people, they acted as representatives of themselves. I agreed with McCarthy’s own views, not the views assigned to him by the politicians playing with his fate.

Helina: e problem isn’t that representatives are focused on reelection. at’s part of the job. e issue is that the representatives are prioritizing reelection over political e cacy. e question that should be asked is: “Will my actions positively impact the majority of peoples’ lives?” I hope and want to believe the GOP-ruled House will lead e ectively, as the middle ground is where change happens, but interparty polarization is setting back progress as made clear by the recent chaos in the votes for the speakership. e scariest thing to tell anyone about myself is that I am a Jew. Because of the posts you share via Twitter, identifying as Jewish is even scarier. e Jewish community – those who identify as Jewish by religion, family ancestry, or ethnic or cultural a nity – makes up 2.4% of the U.S.’s adult population. Yet at the same time, the Jewish community is the target of 54.9% of religiously motivated hate crimes in the U.S., according to the FBI’s 2020 hate crime statistics investigation. ese crimes are not just in the news – they are occurring in my own community, even to my own friends and family. ese crimes have been ampli ed in recent months, at least in part due to your prejudice toward the Jewish people. At this point, there seems to be more individuals who agree with your statements than those who don’t. People idolize you, Kanye. I wish they didn’t. ese comments a ect the Jewish community more than I believe you realize. I notice far more Jews taking precautions with their daily actions. As I sat in synagogue one Saturday morning, I noticed people observing the exits of the chapel, nding the one nearest to them. In addition, several people, including myself, have stopped wearing their Judaica jewelry for fear of visibly representing their Judaism. People are now choosing to participate in services via Zoom as they are in fear of entering their place of worship. e best thing I ever learned from my Holocaust-surviving great-grandparents is resilience. ey used this trait to survive the war, move to America, start a family and live the American dream. ough I may not be able to be resilient in the same way they were, I am going to use it to defend my people. I will use this strength and my voice to educate others as to why the Jewish people do not deserve to be mistreated or the target of religiously motivated hate crimes, nor do members of any other faith.

To put the severity of your comments into perspective: when you write these antisemitic tweets, you speak of a group of 15 million individuals worldwide. When you post these comments, you share it to your over 32 million Twitter followers.

I think of this statistic as a game of dodgeball. If there are two teams, one with 32 players and the other with 15, the larger team is statistically more likely to win the game, right? e smaller team is outnumbered, unable to defend themselves and their teammates, while the larger team uses their advantage to win the game.

I ask you, Kanye, is this who you want to be known as for the rest of your career? For the rest of your life?

Personally, letting anyone into the religious part of my life is terrifying. I do not know how someone will react when I say that I am a Jew. Some people are judgmental, others accepting and some even relate to my religious identity.

Sincerely, Allie

Schnitzer