“In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.” These words, delivered at the US Capitol by President John F Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address, seemed particularly apt on Tuesday.
Kevin McCarthy’s ousting as speaker of the House of Representatives was a personal tragedy foretold. The first seeds of destruction had been planted when, days after declaring Donald Trump responsible for the January 6 insurrection, McCarthy went grovelling at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and made his pact with the devil.
