and decent is an entirely different order. really, truly lost someone special today. thank you, my friend. and thanks to you at home this evening. california congressman kevin mccarthy, the shortest, serving speaker of the house in over 140 years is ending his extraordinary 2023 by throwing in the towel. now it is time to pursue my passion in a new arena. while i ll be departing the house at the end of this year, i will never, ever give up fighting for this country that i love so much. if you blinked, you might have missed mr. mccarthy s 10-month term as the country s highest public elected official, and that s not because it was so short, it was entirely unproductive. mccarthy bargained away basically everything to win the speaker s gavel, and he got nothing in return for it. that is the lesson for people who court the far right, who do the bidding of donald trump, who look the other way. and right now republicans all across the country are learning that lesson. remember