Posted on 09/27/2015 7:09:33 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Leaders who try to operate within realistic constraints face certain revolt from insurgents demanding ideological purity.
The speaker of the House is the first constitutional officer mentioned in the American Constitution, well before the president. In Article 1, Section 5, the Constitution says “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker.” The Speaker is thus a hugely important and prestigious figure in American life. So why would John Boehner, who wept copiously when he realized on Election Eve 2010 that he was soon to achieve this incredible honor, a lifetime dream, leave in the middle of a term and give it all up?
There is an immediate answer. Boehner has struggled since he became speaker with an unruly party caucus—a growing collection of Republican lawmakers who are, to put it gently, not interested in the pragmatic realities of policy making in a system of divided and overlapping powers. For the past five years, Boehner has tried to keep his team in check, often giving members leeway to pursue reckless tactics and radical policies, only to rein them in by turning to Democrats for votes after their efforts had turned catastrophic. But that approach was no longer working.
Trying to show that Republicans could govern responsibly, without another government shutdown or debt-ceiling showdown, he faced a nearly unprecedented motion from his own ranks to vacate the speakership, with a strong chance that he would be ousted from the post unless Democrats—at a price—bailed him out. That would have left him in a weakened and embattled state for a miserable 15 months remaining in the 114th Congress. The day after the high point of his tenure—the appearance of the Pope at his side for a joint session of Congress—he decided it was no longer worth it.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Radical - One who expects a politician to keep promises made while campaigning.
Also, one who disagrees with the Uniparty Establishment.
We want the conservative equivalent of Nancy Pelosi.
I dont remember any hand wringing from the press about Nancy representing the far left of her party and fighting for what they wanted!
The Atlantic. That reminds me, I have to clean my toilet this week.
If I’m a “radical,” then The Atlantic ought to love every bone in my body.
...not interested in the pragmatic realities of policy making in a system of divided and overlapping powers...
Agreed, Obama should bend to the will of the People
This is just another excuse for appeasing cowardice. This writer speaks of a rancorous, raucous group in Congress [those Conservatives he and K-street despised] as if it never existed in the history of this country before.
The truth is this is by no means new and unique. There are accounts of fist fights, duel challenges and the like over the early history of the Congress.
What the writer and the rest of the towel wringers in this country are lamenting about now is the loss of a PARTNER (on the part of Boehner) in their devolvement of this country.
The man is a sleazy, underhanded, scheming, lying, appeasing traitor to this country in my opinion, especially to those of us who still value freedom and sovereignty over entitlement and what it brings with.
We gave this bastard his crew ANOTHER chance last November, and the slug took it as a mandate to continue stabbing us in the back. F@ck him and his buddies.
Yeah...He was a stalwart defender of conservative principles.
A real, "bitter clinger" sort of guy.
“The Atlantic”
Left-wing magazine lamenting the demise of their best puppet.
The Atlantic....when they are complaining about the Bonehead’s leaving, we know we found the target and were putting a direct hit on it. I await their commentary when Mr. McGoo gets his walking papers.
People weren't elected to ‘make nice’, and one could say that the only reason having to appease the democrats was ‘pragmatic’ is because they were unyielding and holding their own party line. Obama himself said about Republicans in 2010 ‘They can come for the ride, but they gotta sit in back.’. Why should the response to that kind of partisanship and rhetorical disrespect be greeted with ‘a pragmatic reaching across the aisle’? Americans elected the members of Congress whose opinions Boehner ignored or tried to suppress/circumvent. In doing so he was disregarding the rights of those who sent these people to Congress to represent them. I'm very sorry if the job ceased to be fun.
BINGO!!! Pelosi fights like a BADGER!! I just want one on our side to fight like a squirrel. NO MORE CRY BABIES AND WEAKLINGS!
Stopped reading at the word “Radicals” in the headlie.
You've got to be kidding me!
Yeah it’s tough, you gotta do the will of the people instead of wheel and deal, as your predecessors have done.
“Leaders who try to operate within realistic constraints face certain revolt from insurgents demanding ideological purity.”
“Balance the budget” and “don’t subsidize sellers of vivisected baby parts” are hardly unrealistic constraints.
The Right needs to make their axioms clear and simple:
- The Constitution means what it says, including the Bill Of Rights
- Life begins at conception, ending human life without adjudicated cause or grave urgency is murder
- Sort of national existential crisis, balance the budget
THOSE are “realistic constraints”.
“realistic contraints” = would rather cave to fascism than fight for America
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