Hmmm. I didn't know John Boehner was a king.
Huh. I guess it's good to be the king.
I could have sworn that we are a constitutional republic governed by democratic institutions. And that our political parties operated on the same essential principles: one person, one vote, open debate, free choice of leadership. Oh: and without fear of retribution because, after all, we're all on the same side, right?
Not right, apparently.
Those congressmen who are in this space vilely, disgustingly castigated as the "TEA 25": are in fact the only sons of bitches with balls left in the GOP.
They represent not a minority, but over 60 percent of the rank and file Republican Party - not the establishment pukes with rich relations, but actual voters marginalized by a political process that utterly favors the supporters of the massive, overbearing, insatiable State - because they gets the goodies, while those who don't want a damn thing get their pockets picked every April 15th.
If John Boehner was one-tenth the leader some of you appear to think, he would have graciously accepted his Speaker's role, thanking those who voted for him and commending those who did not for their independence of mind, because, after all, we're all Republicans.
Instead, he threw a predictable hissy fit, like the privileged, sniveling little doll-collector we all know him to be. A real leader - a man with vision and testicular fortitude - would have quietly taken his opponents aside and said: "Look. I know we have different visions of how to proceed right now. But we have an incredible opportunity at this moment to seize the initiative and help set the stage for victory in 2016. Let's not blow it. So, if you'll promise to support the party leadership, I promise to absolutely consider your ideas and amendments, and I certainly will not speak ill of you or act to remove you from your chairs. Only a small man would act like that. After all, the enemy is across the aisle, not in this room. Are we good?"
But we're not dealing with a leader here. We're dealing with our very own stiff Boehner, which as any man will tell you, has no conscience.
That is a load of crap.
The "TEA 25" represent the people who sent them to DC, and the other 221 Republicans represent the people who sent
them there.
The 60% crap that your waving around only represents the opinion of 602 people who may or may have not been Republicans or people who voted for a Republican in 2014.
One of the most basic functions of a leader is the ability to get others to follow him or her.
Gohmert's leadership gave him two votes plus his own. That's what you call a leader?
The hissy fit was the vote against Boehner, and that vote also clearly exposes Gohmert and company as frauds.
In order to get anything done in DC you need to have the votes. They didn't, and most importantly they knew that they didn't, but they did it anyway because the other thing that they know is that to their supporters the grand gesture and the appearance of doing something is more important than actually doing something. "Doing something" requires votes, and the "TEA 25" know that they'll need to get support from the rest of the GOP (and maybe even some Democrats) for anything that they want to actually do. They also know that to get that support they need to negotiate and compromise, but what they know (and what Pat Caddell knows) is that "compromise" is a "dirty word" to "radical conservatives" (Reagan's words, not mine) which is why TEA Party darlings like Mia Love fall from grace the moment they transition from speeches and rhetoric to governing.
P.S. Here's another set of questions from that same survey:
Fifty-two percent of respondents trust that Bohner will fight for the issues important to most Republicans.
Sixty-four percent believe that he's not been effective in fighting Obama's agenda and I agree with them. However, I also realize that his ineffectiveness has been largely due to Reid's obstructionism and Obama's propensity for Executive Orders and Memos.
A plurality of voters believe that he's got the best interest of the people at heart.
Those are impressive numbers when you consider that Congress as a whole has a 13.8% approval rating.
