Listen up, Republicans. The world is in chaos, so why are you playing stupid games?

Nothing illustrates the absurdity in Congress last week better than Rep. Nancy Mace parading into a meeting wearing a big red “A” on her shirt. 

The South Carolina Republican’s performance art may have gotten her attention, but it certainly shouldn’t get her any accolades. 

Mace was one of eight GOP members who voted to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3 – the only time that has ever happened. Since she’s the only woman among that number, she apparently thought it would be cute to compare herself to Hester Prynne, the ostracized main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19th century classic “The Scarlet Letter.” 

While I’m all for people paying more attention to literature, that’s hardly the point here. 

Mace told reporters Tuesday that she has been unfairly treated and shamed for her stance: “I’m wearing the scarlet letter after the week that I just had last week, being a woman up here and being demonized for my vote and for my voice.”

“I’m here to let the rest of the world know and the country know I’m on the side of the people. I’m not on the side of the establishment," she said. "And I’m going to do the right thing every single time, no matter the consequences, 'cause I don’t answer to anybody in D.C. … I only answer to the people.”

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The right thing? It’s a real head scratcher why Mace and others in this small group of misfits (led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz) made the decision to get rid of a perfectly fine speaker at a time when pragmatic leadership is needed more than ever.

And it’s disappointing coming from Mace, who has taken more prudent stances on issues like abortion in the past. 

Without a speaker, House is paralyzed and can't help Israel

In case these Republicans hadn’t noticed, their publicity stunt came at a really bad time. Just days after the U.S. House became speaker-less, Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people, including nearly 30 Americans. 

Until a speaker is in place, the House is unable to do any business. It can’t even pass a simple resolution offering support to the Israelis. Israel needs the United States to be a strong ally now – not a country mired in a political standstill. The same goes for Ukraine. 

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And we’re just a few weeks from another potential federal shutdown if Congress can’t pass bills to keep the government running. The “reason” Republicans had for wanting McCarthy gone supposedly centered on his decision to work with some Democrats (the audacity!) to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government running while budget details were negotiated. 

As I’ve said before, I think Democrats don’t look good in all this, either. It would have taken only a few of them to cross over to keep McCarthy in place. But for all their talk of breaking through partisanship, they’re in it only for themselves.

GOP has no game plan. And it shows.

Chaos is what happens when you oust a leader and then have no Plan B (Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, bless her heart, has backed former President Donald Trump for the role, but at least she has named somebody. And to her credit, she backed McCarthy).

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana was in the running for a short time last week, after winning a GOP conference vote over Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. 

Scalise seems like he could have been a grownup in the room, but on Thursday he dropped out of the running when it became clear he didn’t have the 217 votes needed to become speaker. 

Jordan, who is chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is now going to take another stab at it. Given he had even less support than Scalise, it’s hard to see how the caucus comes together around Jordan. 

McCarthy, after saying he would not consider another run at speaker, changed his tune after the attack on Israel. 

I don’t see him succeeding, even though he had the support of the vast majority of Republicans.

Yet it would be a perfect resolution in showing what a pointless charade this all was. 

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at Paste BN. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques