THE drama over the U.S. House speakership, which ended in the wee hours of Saturday with Kevin McCarthy’s winning after 15 rounds of voting, is clear testimony of the failing U.S. democracy.

The drama features an unprecedentedly divided and paralyzed Washington.

What started as a political novelty, with the first time in 100 years having a nominee not win the gavel on the first vote, has devolved into bitter partisan battles and endless in-fighting, where there is no shortage of backroom deal-making and shrewd political calculation. It appears to be an astonishing lack of concern and attention to the country’s and people’s best interests. The once-in-a-century political stalemate has made people see the failure of the U.S. political system, as well as the fact that the U.S. government is not, or has never been, a government “by the people.”

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s dream job could turn into a nightmare for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement following McCarthy’s win. “To get the votes, he surrendered to demands of a fringe element of the Republican party.” Schumer warned that the concessions McCarthy made to become House speaker “will cause a government shutdown or a default with devastating consequences to our country.”

Public trust in the U.S. Congress has reached an all-time low, with only 7% of Americans expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in it, according to a Gallup poll released in the summer of 2022.

People fear that the House speakership fiasco could affect other countries as U.S. politicians, instead of addressing real problems in the United States, might turn to adventurism to deflect domestic attention.

(Xinhua)