Thanks to Trump, any distinction between the Republican Party and the WWE has pretty much disappeared. 

Wait until the debt ceiling needs to be raised later this year.  That's essentially the next pay-per-view event they've got coming up.  It will make this week pale in comparison.  The lunatic fringe was rewarded for their intransigence yesterday, which means there's no way they will give in on the debt ceiling. I predict the first-ever default in US history. 

"We go to gain a little patch of ground

That hath in it no profit but the name."

- William Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 4, Scene 4

Witnessing the debacle in the House of Representatives, I was reminded of the above words of the Immortal Bard... probably because I was familiar with Superman alluding to them in Action Comics #600. Who says comic books aren't educational?

We've watched Kevin McCarthy, so incredibly desperate to at long last become speaker of the House of Representatives, offer more and more concessions to the Republican extremists, giving up more and more power & authority, in exchange for their support. The result is that even though he has finally become speaker, he is now little more than a powerless figurehead, having gained a position which, as Shakespeare phrased it, hath in it no profit but the name.

Great question.  Among the concessions McCarthy made to the far right is that it only takes a single Republican to file a Motion to Vacate that requires a vote by the entire House.

That could happen at any time.  And at least one Dem (AOC) has gone on record saying that Democrats will vote to vacate if that occurs.  

Hypothetically, lets suppose the far right brings a Motion, and Democrats vote with them to vacate the speakership.  What then?  If a new Speaker comes in, do they get to re-write the rules, or are they stuck with the rules that have already been agreed to for the next session of Congress?

If they're stuck with the same rules, then I think the Speakership will inevitably move further to the right.  Under the current rules, Democrats have no reason to vote for any Republican speaker, so Republicans would have to find a consensus candidate amongst themselves.  

The problem with that is there is nothing left to negotiate.  McCarthy seemingly made every possible concession to the far right.  There is nothing left for a moderate candidate to give in order to unite the party, so the only way to get a consensus candidate is to pick someone who is conservative enough to be acceptable to the far right.  

For that reason, Dems may be reluctant to boot McCarthy, just as some were reluctant to help Mark Meadows expel Boehner.

Rebecca, it really shows just how much of an absolute monomaniac McCarthy became in his single-minded pursuit of the speakership. As I commented above, he wanted to be speaker of the House so badly for so long that he was willing to give up pretty much all of the actual power associated with the position just to obtain the title. It's insanity... but then again so is much of what goes on in the Republican Party. I guess it ties in with the Republicans' whole "feelings over facts" lunacy.

Also - conveniently - they found these documents the first day the Republicans gavel in to lead the House? Okayyyy.

-C!

That is, after they're caught.