First off, I'm no fan of Kevin McCarthy. He sold his "soul" (for lack of a better term) for power. I am adamantly opposed to the idea of people having power over other people, and I live my life according to that principle (amongst others). I am also opposed to those who strive for power (be it political, financial, "spiritual", emotional, sexual, racial, etc.) over others. I would qualify Former Speaker McCarthy as one of those people (and, to be honest, I would qualify Former Speaker Pelosi as one as well). So I wasn't rooting for him, and I'm not particularly sad to see him go.
Despite my dislike for McCarthy, I think it was a giant mistake to vote him out. This is a period of American history (post-COVID, healing from a 45th president who sowed chaos and hatred and messed up the economy and international ties) where a shake-up like this can ruin all the progress that's been made in the (mostly successful) healing process over the last 2=ish years.
Rep. McCarthy was a largely ineffective Speaker. He got next to nothing done. The big "success" of his tenure was starting up a hearing process for the (all but doomed) attempt at impeaching President Biden.
I've made no bones about the fact that I'm not a fan of Biden, but I voted for him because I saw him as someone who would bring stability over trying to push some hyper-partisan agenda. And that's what he's done. Rep. McCarthy, in being such an ineffective Speaker, was also a stabilizing force. This isn't the time to pass a lot of crazy bills or waste a lot of time (and thus taxpayer dollars) on Quixotic political campaigns that really have no more substance or purpose other than being an attempt to "own" the other party (and yes, there are Dem's who try to "own the Right" just as there are Republicans who try to "own the Libs").
We're at a point in history where we canNOT afford to caught up in divisiveness and childish power-plays. An America divided is an America that falls. An America that sabotages itself with petty infighting and wastes its citizens dollars (and all the time and effort that went into making those dollars) while doing so is an America that falls.
More than anything, my problem with the ouster is the timing. With a little over a month to get a spending bill signed so federal employees don't have to worry about indefinite employment (but, of course, the politicians have no such worries one way or the other).
Playing with peoples livelihoods in a time of (early) re-stabilization for some power grab slash troll job is pathetic. That's on Gaetz (absence of Rep. intentional) and his cohorts.
But it's also on Dem's. Yes, it sucks to have a glory-hound from the opposite party as a Speaker, but the Biden agenda was moving along fine; it was being checked when it was going too far, and it advanced the things that needed to be advanced to help right the ship at home while keeping up with the current of the rest of the world (which affects our ability to right the ship, so it's not a mixed metaphor).
Like I said, McCarthy was by and large ineffective. Both sides have been playing hardball on the spending bill, and ultimately both sides compromised to get the extension. In the end, both sides would have had to compromise to get a final budget agreement. This can still be done with the Speaker Pro Tempore, but that person won't hold as much sway to navigate the negotiations and play mediator.
IMO, it's bad timing to make these kind of waves, especially in the face of the larger scale issues that still need resolving
Like I said, I put this whole situation on both parties. I'm not a fan of McCarthy (and certainly not a fan of his politics and stances), but this was a bad look all around.
Update: I know he's probably too new to get enough votes, but I'd be ok with Republicans putting Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17) as House Speaker. He's level-headed, non-extremist, and despite being antiabortion he at least isn't trying to impose a Federal level ban (which is a starting point, I guess). A sampler of Lawler: (link). I'd much prefer him over someone like Jim Jordan (yuck).
Update: So Rep. Michael Johnson (LA) is the new speaker, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm not a huge fan of his record (election denier, anti-personal freedom, etc.). He seems slightly less extreme than Jim Jordan, so I guess that's small comfort. And with such a slim Republican majority, I doubt he'd be much more effective than McCarthy was. As long as there isn't much more to his speakership than being a vehicle for checks and balances of the more spendy aspects of Biden's administration, I can live with it I guess. As long as he doesn't act as a vehicle for gumming up a political machine that's in a precarious state, and in need of stabilization as opposed to warring factions of extremes, I'm ok with that. I'm not cheering for this selection, but I'm glad the speaker drama is over.
Update: The more I learn about Rep Johnson, the more I think this guy might be total trash. Hopefully, like I said above, the very slim Republican majority means he'll be mostly ineffective in realizing his bigoted, backwards vision of America. And, if he's the best the Republicans can do, Dems retake control of the House in 2024. I'd take Rep. Jefferies over Rep. Johnson as Speaker all day.