John Boehner – After the Dead Man Walks
No matter what happens House Speaker John Boehner is in for a good cry. Six months ago, no one could have imagined this newly competitive political landscape. Sure, teabag-terrorist governors like Wisconsin’s Scott Walker (another dead man walking) have also damaged the brand. And there is no underestimating the damage done by the Republican primary. But arguably, no one is more responsible for making Republicans look like nattering nabobs than “Weepy-John” Boehner.
Boehner has personally improved the odds for both President Obama and for every Democrat on a ballot. He has presided over the least popular congress in history, and the first one to accomplish less than the infamous Do-Nothing Congress of 1947.
This Republican-controlled House of Representatives will be remembered for made-up crises, short-term budgeting and inability to create or save a single job. It is oddly ironic that the House now hangs its hat on the idea that they won’t accept a short term solution. It is a negotiating tactic they practically invented.
Meanwhile, the Senate leaves town after that body managed to come to a bipartisan agreement, by a vote of 89-10. Who could have imagined that?
Of course, the extension is inevitable. The only remaining question is how much Republicans will further damage their brand. Even, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has even told Boehner to quit it. That’s unprecedented.
John Boehner’s flaw is being a coward while occupying a seat that requires huge cojones. Apparently, his pseudo-plebian background didn’t prepare him for arrows in the back. Pundit Bob Burns notes that many “believe Boehner has run his political gas tank down to empty in his inability to herd the cats in his party.” Of course, in a world not upside down, freshman members of Congress earn political capital by playing for the team led by the Speaker.
Boehner has also been betrayed by his own Judas, Virginia Congressman and Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Wrangling a big legislative body like the House of Representatives requires a leadership – Speaker, Majority Leader, and Majority Whip – who operate in lock step. So it doesn’t help that a simpering weasel like Cantor trying is always trying to slither into the Speaker’s chair.
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