And Then It Was Over Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Speaker Boehner is resigning. A Boehner aide told NBC News that the Speaker “believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution. He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30.” Boehner has been under prolonged pressure from conservatives in his party, who have accused him of failing to fight the Obama administration on issues important to the GOP. Foes within his party had been pushing to oust him if he presented any legislation that would continue to fund the government and avoid a government shutdown without stripping federal funding for Planned Parenthood. News of Boehner’s resignation was vigorously cheered at a gathering of social conservatives just miles from the Capitol in Washington D.C. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio announced the news and told the crowd that “the time has come to turn the page and allow a new generation of leadership in this country.” An aide to Boehner said that the Ohio Republican had planned to serve only through the end of last year, but that the stunning primary loss of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor changed that calculation. (NBC News↱) What is perhaps the worst speakership in the institution's history is coming to an end; Speaker Boehner's tenure is genuinely interesting; a proper successor in a Party that has come to loathe its own rules and customs, his caucus never did seem to properly support him. Steve Benen↱ notes: Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was ousted last year in a primary, which leaves current House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) next in line. The California Republican, however, is already the least experienced floor leader in congressional history, and there will be credible questions as to whether he’s genuinely prepared for a position that would leave him second in the line of presidential succession. There are rumors this morning that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) may make a run for Boehner’s gavel, but the scuttlebutt has not been confirmed. Given the state of the House GOP caucus, it’s not altogether clear why anyone would want this job anyway. Democrats who may welcome the departure of a hapless Republican Speaker should probably be careful what they wish for. Boehner’s replacement will almost certainly be even further to the right, even less interested in compromise, and even more committed to dangerous brinkmanship. And that latter advice is probably going to be very important. With a clusterbumble lined up to succeed Mr. Boehner, and a tinfoil-wrapped racist mulling a challenge, it is no longer the Obama administration facing terms like lame duck and twilight↱. While the Speaker Nobody Wanted has struggled to find a path to efficacy, President Obama, post year-six, seems to find some manner of fulfillment in harvesting the fruits of his prior seasons, and accomplishing the bits and pieces left after House Republicans finish slapping together their latest found-object testimony to the thesis that government just doesn't work. Looking forward, Obama perceives his position in the pending meeting↱ with Russian President Vladimir Putin as one in which the U.S. enjoys substantial empowerment. Compare the current Russian posture↱ with the swelling right-wing bromance↗ a couple years back. No more gauzy talk of "a real he-man", or chess and marbles↱. With marriage equality, health care, and nuclear nonproliferation already scratched off the 2016 calendar, Obama seems happy enough to receive Mr. Putin, and looks forward to doing what he can to keep the country moving in some useful direction while Congressional Republicans continue their slow-motion implosion. And speaking of chess and marbles, we might both wonder at a Speakership that can be foiled by a freshman U.S. Senator fomenting rebellion against House leadership, and also the prospect of a Continuing Resolution shutdown fight without Mr. Boehner's moderating hand on the helm. We should be seeing what the Republicans have to offer in fairly short order. Nor does one actually need to like the Speaker in order to comprehend that his catastrophic failure might, in fact, be indicative of a larger disaster only now revealing itself. ____________________ Notes: Benen, Steve. "House Speaker John Boehner is resigning". msnbc. 25 September 2015. msnbc.com. 25 Septemer 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1R5CrPD —————. "Russian economy faces freefall conditions". msnbc. 16 December 2014. msnbc.com. 25 September 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1yYD6MR NBC News. "Speaker of the House John Boehner to resign next month". msnbc. 25 September 2015. msnbc.com. 25 September 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1FydATf Robinson, Eugene. “Obama has plenty of reasons to smile”. The Washington Post. 7 September 2015. WashingtonPost.com. 25 September 2015. http://wapo.st/1UDjunt
I find it hard to be enthusiastic about this. The right is going to replace him with someone more right and less bi-partisan.
I wouldn't characterize Boehner as bipartisan. But he isn't stupid. He is most definitely a spineless, immoral, scumbag, liar and an incompetent leader. I share you concern. The question now is who comes next? Will we go back to government shut downs and debt default threats?
Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Here's the sad irony about that. To the one Rep. Boehner was an unfortunate Speaker from the outset; I might not like him, but at least I recognize his political creature. He was the right choice at the time by traditional customs of House leadership, and most of the reason to doubt him at the time was purely partisan. That is, it was quite easy at the time to say I expected nothing good of his tenure, as I prefer to expect very little of Republicans, and only good by coincidental necessity of circumstance. Still, though, what we got was spectacular failure; he assumed the Speakership according to traditional, customary processes and expectations at a time when Republican voters were electing politicians who cared nary a whit for such niceties. Mr. Boehner became the House Chief Sausage Grinder in an Age of Absolutists who would deign declare Go-Gurt a cased meat. It could be worse; at least Mr. Boehner isn't phoning Elton John. But he cannot turn the grinder while his own caucus is hurling sabot. Speaker Boehner is of a generation who believes that government inherently cannot function properly. The new Republican generation seems disappointed with their antecedents, and aim to prove the thesis by wrecking the whole Show. To the other, it is also true the prospects going forward are dim. If ascendency follows tradition, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy↱, a California career politician, will receive the reigns, and we should at least hope that he is as incompetent as Mr. Boehner has shown himself; everything only goes downhill from there. But this could also be the year House Republicans buck for an insurgent; Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana's First is also said to be eyeing the job, and hardliners would like one of their own to have a chance―they can't do their part unless they are also in charge. This will be, proverbially speaking, interesting. ____________________ Notes: Alman, Ashley and Ryan Grim. "11 Things About Kevin McCarthy You Need To Know, Or Might As Well Know". The Huffington Post. 25 September 2015. HuffingtonPost.com. 25 September 2015. http://huff.to/1QDvUuH
Of course it will be business as usual in no less than 6 months. Shutdowns and defaults and all the jazz. The crazies have gone no where. Negotiation and compromise are deadly sins to them.
I fear you are correct. The Republican crazy contingent, which is most of the party, demands drama at all cost. On the good side, it will destroy the party. On the bad side, they can inflict great damage on the country while doing so.
He doesn't seem to be crying about it. He has grown. Some of his colleagues have not. If the far right members of congress had no intention of fulfilling the requirements of their oaths of office, they should not only resign, but leave civil service to those who have a greater sensitivity to what it means to be charged with treason by executive order and removed physically by security professionals who do. This is the legitimate function of the executive branch the constitution empowers. If supporting a government shutdown is not yet formally considered treason, it should be added to the list. It is not in the same category as a fillibuster, which shuts down only part of congress temporarily. While the government is shut down, constitutionally guaranteed rights and other critical functions are suspended. This is both sabotage and an act of war against the government these representatives swore an oath to uphold. It should not be tolerated. The power and privileges they enjoy are guaranteed by the constitution they swore to uphold, and these are revokable by the same means. I'll bet a lot of them had confederate flags displayed prominently in their offices, or had given the idea serious consideration. Lacking a Confederate honor guard to remove them, any such emblems of a foreign power should be removed by our military, confiscated and unceremoniously burned.
The United States House of Republican Chaos Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Someone once told me to blog it and post the link, but dumping nine or so at once―and it's a growing list―seems unfair, so let us instead pretend we've all been following along the whole time and actually have a reasonable sketch of the conservative implosion taking place in the House of Representatives: Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has dropped out of elections for House Speaker, shocking Capitol Hill and raising questions about who can possibly lead the House Republican conference. (Wong↱) I will go so far as to acknowledge a bizarre sense of paradox. To the one, yes, it has gone this far and we all could see it coming. To the other, really, when the Tea Party surged in 2009, would it not have been unkind to predict such outcomes? And yet, that bit about hindsight seems nearly comforting: Of course it comes to this. What else did we expect? It is not an easy contradiction to reconcile. Still, the Show goes on. (sigh) ____________________ Notes: Wong, Scott. "Shock! McCarthy drops from Speaker's race". The Hill. 8 October 2015. TheHill.coim. 8 October 2015. http://bit.ly/1Oo9VJg
The Republicans Party is in a state of chaos. The party is falling apart. The demagoguery it so loves and needs maybe good entertainment, but it isn't consistent with good governance.
The Joke Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! No, really, I made a joke↱. It wasn't a good joke; it was an obvious joke about a House Republican Conference so fractious and intractable that the Speaker of the House could not actually manage to do anything useful. And it is a House Republican Conference so fractious and intractable that we now get to find out whether or not Speaker Boehner is capable of merely resigning properly. (bd↱) Truly, it really was a cheap, obvious joke↱: This really could be interesting. No, really, I mean, if Speaker Boehner can't even resign properly? Worst Speaker ever? Hello↱? Hello↱? Come on. Tell me that wouldn't be the instant crown jewel of our young century's disarray. Tell me it wouldn't be awesome. Truth told― Boehner said in a statement that he'll continue to serve as speaker until the House selects someone to replace him. "We will announce the date for this election at a later date, and I'm confident we will elect a new Speaker in the coming weeks. Our conference will work together to ensure we have the strongest team possible as we continue to focus on the American people's priorities," said the Ohio lawmaker. (Frumin↱)____________________ Notes: Frumin, Aliyah. "Kevin McCarthy abruptly drops House speaker bid, race postponed". msnbc. 8 October 2015. msnbc.com. 8 October 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1L90Nnq
Well, let's see where this goes. I hear Boehner will stay on until a new leader is selected and that may take many weeks. Wouldn't it be funny if the more moderate wing of the Republican Party formed a collation with the Democrats? It would be great for the nation, but it would be a dramatic about-face for Republicans. Hopefully, Boehner will be able to fund the government and avoid a debt default.
