Speaker for Yourself

There is no truth to the rumor that Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran resigned last week as Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Point in fact, it was Speaker of the House John Boehner who resigned.

Haha, as readers of this blog are unexpectedly aware ...

The Schock of the New

the last time the US Congress was sucked into a galeforce power vacuum, Peter Roskam, Lake County's vestigial Congressman, got swept out of his Majority Whip leadership post.

The stakes are higher this time, by an order of magnitude. For his part, Roskam says picking a Speaker of the House should be more like choosing a mate and less like booking an Uber ride:

I'm going to work hard to make sure we get the leadership we need, not just settle on the fastest, easiest choice.
Roskam: Don't settle on 'fastest, easiest' speaker choice

Roskam, a old fixture in the US House leadership pool, wants to school his less experienced colleagues on the do's and don'ts of picking their first Speaker.  The Sun-Times observed ...

Before electing a replacement for House Speaker John Boehner, Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Illinois, gained the support of enough colleagues Saturday to force a meeting to "confront the underlying issues" that led to Boehner's resignation. Though Roskam wasn't announcing a bid for a leadership spot, the move by the Wheaton lawmaker sets the stage for a possible run in the wake of the shuffle triggered by Boehner's surprise announcement Friday he'll leave Congress at the end of October.
Rep. Peter Roskam setting stage to move up after Boehner departure

Your LakeCountyEye obtained a copy of the memo:

Attn Colleague: It is not every day a sitting speaker of the House of Representatives steps down because of divisions within a deeply conflicted Republican majority. If we launch headfirst into leadership elections like this is a typical succession, without ever taking the time to diagnose our current ailments, we won't heal the fractures in a conference that has thus far proved unleadable. Meeting with a new leader candidate can be difficult, I know. Here are some commonsense Do's and Don'ts that have guided me throughout my tenure in the House: Do make eye contact. Do clean up; make hygiene a priority. Do smile. Don't talk about your Ex-Speaker. Don't get drunk. Do be on time. Do not be judgmental if he has bad hair. Don't tell political jokes. Don't overdo the cologne. Do offer to pay the bill. Finally, there are plenty of fish in the sea, I know. If the choices are overwhelming, my door is always open. I'm here to help you. Peter Roskam

Your LakeCountyEye will keep you apprised when further developments warrant.