McCarthy’s election as Speaker of the House of Representatives is not a triumph but a debacle. Parliament has degenerated into a boxing ring and in some corners into a freak show. And still has tremendous power.
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Peter Burghardt, Washington
So America has woken up with a speaker after all and with sworn representatives. The 118th Congress can begin its work with a historic delay after the representatives had tried unsuccessfully to elect their speaker 14 times since Tuesday. In the 15th round, Kevin McCarthy of the Republican majority scraped together the votes in the middle of the night that enemies in his own party had refused him for four days earlier. However, his election victory in extra time is not a triumph, but a debacle.