KEVIN MCCARTHY NEW SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

After the formidable Nancy Pelosi, the House gets a Republican at the helm. This new unappealing, unprincipled speaker is more a dummy for Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican and attack dog for the ultra-right. Remember him from the Benghazi hearings?

McCarthy had to swallow every indignity to get there and showed a willingness to be the accomplice of any crazy, wanting to revert to the mayhem of the old Trump days. The GOP has only one agenda: Torch!   Jordan knows very well which buttons to pull to infuriate the Democrats. He is not shy from using gutter talk or body language (he is a former wrestler after all) in his theatrics. He is not impressed by decorum or civility.

The Biden administration looks far too polite and sophisticated to enter the slugfest. Americans are getting slowly fed up with the dejà vu Trump vulgarity. The current president might not be inspiring but he is reversing political addiction to lies and conspiracy lunacy.

Many important issues (health, migration, Ukraine, China...) require a deft, experienced savoir faire which is a concept that is too hard to spell for the political rednecks in the GOP. The few frequentable Republicans left are on the way out.

We can expect the Rule of Chaos to invade our minds yet again. This might only benefit the Democrats in the end as long as they resist a burn-out. They must be wary not to fall into the trap of outrage. Hillary Clinton's sparing with Jordan should be a must watch for Democrats. A great vade mecum for how to keep cool, have self control and defeat the enemy with contempt.