alex night starts to be incredibly fe thing but to be incredibly funny and decent is an entirely different thing. also a rare combination. thank you my friend. and thanks to you at home for joining us 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 the 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, he might have missed mr. mccarthy s ten month term is the country s highest republican elected official, and that s not just because it was so short. it was entirely unproductive. mccarthy bargained away basically everything to when 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, look the other way. and