Today is Tuesday, October 3, 2023. On this date, for the first time in our nation’s history, the feckless and untrustworthy Kevin McCarthy was ousted from his role as Speaker of the House. He was expelled in a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy from the post. No one is going to miss him, I dare say. He was a terrible leader and a liar and a Chump sycophant. No Democrat came to his defense either. This historic development in Congress is covered in a CNN article by Clare Foran, Haley Talbot, and Kristin Wilson entitled “McCarthy removed as House speaker after motion to vacate. Here’s what that means.”

House Republicans control only a narrow majority, a dynamic that has left McCarthy with little room to maneuver and has given hardline conservatives outsized influence to exert pressure over the speaker.

But you have to recall that McCarthy himself made the concession to restore the ability of any one member to offer what’s known as a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair – a move that can trigger a House floor vote to oust the speaker, and that was what was done in this case.

That motion to vacate the chair came from firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz from Florida today. Thus Gaetz became the fulcrum for McCarthy’s ouster when he introduced a House resolution on the floor to have him removed. As a result of this unprecedented action, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry, a top McCarthy ally, was named interim speaker.

The last time a high-profile showdown played out in Capitol Hill over a motion to vacate was in 2015 when then-GOP Rep. Mark Meadows (remember him?) of North Carolina filed a resolution to declare the office of speaker vacant, while John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, was serving as speaker. It was not brought to a floor vote, however.

Another notable incident took place in 1910, when then-House Speaker Joseph Cannon, an Illinois Republican, held onto the speakership after a resolution to remove the speaker came to a vote on the House floor and failed – 155 to 192.

Personally, I couldn’t stand the guy and I won’t miss him at all. I’m just wondering what his ouster means for the narrow House repugnican caucus and what it means for governing the country. Also, could there be an equally worse candidate out there to replace him in the speakership?

The juvenile known as former “Chump” president Donald Frump was finally put in his place today during the second day of his civil trial going on in Manhattan by Judge Engoron who rebuked the insurrectionist for attacking his own clerk in a social media post he made today and forbade the parties from making any future comments about his staff. This public rebuke of the former president is reported on in an online CNN article by Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell, Sabrina Souza, and Jeremy Herb entitled “Judge issues gag order and rebukes Trump after social media post attacking his clerk.”

The judge vehemently reprimanded the baby known as Chump Trump in a statement, saying, without naming Dumpf by name, “This morning one of the defendants posted on (a) social media account a disparaging, untrue, and personally identifying post about a member of my staff. Although I have since ordered the post deleted and apparently it was, it was also emailed out to millions of other recipients.” Then he went on the warpath against the bully known as Frump, saying, “Personal attacks of any member of my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I will not tolerate them.”

At that point, Chump looked straight ahead at the judge (I would have loved to have seen his face when he was getting rebuked) as he issued the order. The judge then stated all parties must not speak publicly about any members of the court staff.

Engoron threatened the parties with “serious sanctions” if they did not abide by his gag rule.

The reason why Chump Frump got rebuked by the judge was that he posted on Truth Social today attacking Engoron’s clerk, claiming she was a “girlfriend” to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and showing a picture of the two of them.

Then he wrote, “How disgraceful!” He added, “This case should be dismissed immediately.”

There is no proof that Engoron’s clerk was seeing Schumer or even acting as his “girlfriend.”

Frump went after the clerk in comments yesterday when he commented outside the courtroom, “And this rogue judge, a Trump hater. The only one that hates Trump more is his associate up there. The person that works with him. She’s screaming into his ear almost every time we ask a question. A disgrace. It’s a disgrace.”

So here you have a very powerful former president going after a lowly clerk which is despicable, and he should definitely have been reprimanded by the judge in this case. I say, “Once a bully, always a bully” in Frump’s situation. He can’t help himself and I seriously wonder if he and his team will comply with this new gag order handed down by the judge hearing their case. If they can’t, they should suffer “serious sanctions.” Maybe a spell in jail might cure Chump of his loose mouth. Let’s see how long he tries Engoron’s patience.

Here is a real whopper: Trump himself said he will testify in his own defense in the civil trial. A lot of good that will be! Every pundit I know has said he will self-destruct if he decides to do so. He will shoot himself in the foot, indubitably.

What is more unsettling about the events of this day is the recognition that the Grinch called Matt Gaetz has become quite powerful as a result of this action. How gruesome is that reality?

Stay safe and be well.