Oh, how I want to give Keith Self the benefit of the doubt as he settles more firmly into his new public office: as a congressman representing the Third Congressional District of Texas.
Self is my elected representative, which means I have some skin in the game he is playing while seeking to earn his spurs as a junior member of the House of Representatives.
I have heard a good bit already from this former Collin County judge. To be candid, I am a bit alarmed that he’s bitten from the fruit offered by the MAGA-inspired, Freedom Caucus wing of the Republican Party.
He admitted at a meeting I attended the other day he voted for fire-breather Jim Jordan to be House speaker in order to get the eventual Man of the House, Kevin McCarthy, to agree to demands made by the MAGA crowd. McCarthy eventually buckled and the far-right-wingers who opposed McCarthy came around. Self was one of them.
He wants the House to inquire into whether to impeach President Biden. It made me go: What? Why? For what reason? He also is concerned that McCarthy might pull impeachment inquiry off the table, which is a non-starter in the Book According to Self. As we learned during Donald Trump’s twin impeachments, those who favor an inquiry generally want to take the next step. So … I’ll put Rep. Self in the category of congressmen and women who want to impeach the president.
To what end? For what good cause? It’s a mystery to me.
I was one of those North Texans who was quite sure that former Rep. Van Taylor of Allen would be re-elected in 2022. Silly me. I didn’t expect Taylor — a Republican — to end his campaign after revealing he had engaged in an affair with a woman once married to an officer of the Islamic State.
Self and Taylor were set to face each other in a GOP runoff. Taylor’s withdrawal handed the nomination to Self, who then defeated his Democratic opponent.
One thing that seems apparent to me is that Self will not follow the path forged by Taylor, who prided himself in working with Democrats, seeking consensus on ideas he hoped would lead to legislation.
But … it’s still early in Keith Self’s new career. Maybe he can find some bipartisan “religion” that can please skeptics such as me.