'Paragraphs of pablum with no substance': Kevin McCarthy's departure op-ed ripped apart

The decision by former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to announce his retirement from Congress with a pledge to stay involved in some manner in the pages of the Wall Street Journal was panned by one MSNBC analyst as the final humiliating act of his fall from power.

On Wednesday McCarthy confirmed the rumors that he was stepping away following his ouster as the speaker by far-right conservatives led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), writing, "I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only getting started," before listing off what he claimed were his accomplishments — none of which saved his job.

According to MSNBC's Hayes Brown, what McCarthy will be remembered for — aside from the historic ouster vote — will be his 16 years of "opportunism," while noting the rest of his op-ed was nothing more than "paragraphs of pablum with no substance."

"The closest thing to a thesis one can draw from the piece is that Congress is pointless, so his failures don’t really matter," Brown wrote before pointedly adding, "The op-ed is also oddly self-congratulatory for someone leaving office with no real victories to his name."

More to the point, he noted that McCarthy's entire tenure in Congress was marked less by getting legislation passed than it was by his desire for power.

"Congress was merely a place where Kevin McCarthy showed up to work in the hope of one day becoming manager," he wrote before concluding, "There is no courage required in that."

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