With a speaker of the House finally in place, it’s time for the GOP to get real

In the end, after three weeks of embarrassing paralysis simply trying to find someone from their ranks to lead the House of Representatives, GOP members settled on someone unfamiliar to most of the country. Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson is our new speaker of the House.

A member since only 2016, Johnson ascended anyway, probably due as much to simple exhaustion as anything else. On the surface, his selection isn’t encouraging, given the need for compromise to get the people’s business done.