Dear Kevin

I know this is a tough time and it’s hard to see a way forward, but I’m concerned that there’s not anyone else who can help you understand that personal growth often takes root as a result of monumental failure. I’ll commend you for smiling through the pain, but I have to say it’s unlikely you’re fooling anyone — especially yourself. It may be early, and it may be painful but there are important lessons to learn and the sooner the better.

First, I saw your statement shortly after the vote to vacate your position as Speaker of the House where you said, doing the right thing isn’t always easy, but it is necessary. A statement of a highly principled person for sure. So was, I was raised to solve problems, not create them. Wow! The thing that most impressed me was to see, as was obvious to anyone, that you actually believe those things. So, step 1 in your recovery is to reevaluate the fiction you have created about yourself. You may recall, for instance, that your fellow Republicans had escorted you to the precipice of a government shutdown last week until Democratic votes for a continuing resolution bought you another 45 days to find a way to be “compliant” with the deal you made with President Biden a few months back to avert a disastrous debt default. And yet the very next day you were on Sunday talk shows blaming Democrats, who bailed you out, for the near government shutdown your own party was gunning for. Kevin, that is not “doing the right thing.” And I’ve gotta say things like failing to support a bipartisan January 6th investigation and starting a sham impeachment inquiry are much more like creating problems than solving them. Oh, speaking of creating problems and doing exactly the wrong thing, how about following up your principled speech about Trump’s responsibility for the January 6th insurrection with a trip to Florida for an afternoon of pathetic ass-kissing? My Kevin! That was a monumental screw-up I have to say, but you’ll always have that precious memory (look at Donald’s big smile).

Look, here’s the “tough love” lesson. I couldn’t help but notice that Uncle Donald didn’t jump in to help you out. Here’s why. When you demonstrate so little self-respect by kissing the ass of bullies like Trump (and Gaetz too) they, in turn, have no respect for you. You just invited the abuse you received, and you deserved. You could take this chance to find how to show some self-respect going forward. You might start by comparing your future life to Rudy Guiliani or Mike "We've lost everything, every dime" Lindell on the one hand, and to Adam Kinsinger and Liz Cheney on the other. It’s your choice — I’m not hopeful you’ll choose wisely.

But here’s some potential good news. It’s apparent to me that a reckoning is coming soon, and either the Republican Party or the United States of America itself is going away. If you just resign, lose your next election or slither away under a rock somewhere out of the spotlight you might just escape the ire of future historians who write this shameful history of Donald Trump’s Republican Cult. Then again, being the first speaker ever deposed by his own party, and that precious memory from Mar A Lago, might be too much to pass over. Good riddance.