I'm Going to Miss Speaker Boehner (Barf)

Townhall.com ^ | September 29, 2015 | Debra J. Saunders

[Kaslin]

I am going to miss John Boehner as speaker of the House. The GOP looks like the fun party with its ring-a-ding leader and his dash of Dean Martin. Boehner even sauntered into his resignation news conference Friday while crooning, "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay. My oh my, what a wonderful day." The speaker chose not to cling to power but to walk away without compromising his supporters.

"Why do I want to make my members, Republican members, walk the plank?" Boehner explained on "Face the Nation" Sunday. The son of a barkeep wants to avoid a government shutdown -- also known as (another government shutdown. He knew his effort to thwart a kamikaze mission could invite his party's "knuckle draggers," as he calls them, to challenge his leadership. Republicans who stood by Boehner then might face a primary challenge.

Boehner knew his perch was precarious; he likened being speaker to trying to keep 218 frogs in a wheelbarrow. So rather than fight, Boehner, 65, shrugged. His is not so much an Ayn Randian Atlas shrug as it is what Politico's Glenn Thrush called an "'I'm just playing the cards I've been dealt,' nicotine-induced zen" shrug.

I am going to miss the era of smoke-filled rooms and chain-smoking power brokers. Boehner's likely replacement -- Kevin McCarthy, 50, of Bakersfield, California -- has a West Coast sensibility. McCarthy leads his fellow R's on early-morning mountain bike rides when the House is in session. (I learned on "Face the Nation" that Boehner does yoga, but not, I presume, while caucusing.)

I am going to miss those basset hound eyes that shed endless sentimental tears. I am going to miss that orangy mug. It takes a tough man to tinge his skin the same tint as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hair. I am going to miss references to Boehner's patronage at Trattoria Alberto and Pete's Diner. There's something endearingly old-school about a pol who frequents businesses known by an owner's first name.

I think President Barack Obama will miss Boehner more than I. The softy speaker, after all, fell for Obama's ruse about wanting to reach across the aisle to cut a grand bargain.

I am going to miss the speaker who got rid of earmarks -- pet pork-barrel spending -- out of conviction, even though it made it harder for him to impose discipline among his ranks. I am going to miss the barkeep's son who didn't believe in fighting for the sake of fighting. He didn't go for destructive stunts like the 2013 government shutdown championed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. After that house of cards collapsed, he hoped tea party members would see that shuttering the government is a losing tactic. As he said Sunday, "have the courage to do what you can do. It's easy to have the courage to do what you can't do."

[Calpublican]

{have the courage to do what you can do.}

He had the courage to lie to voters, bully conservative members of the House when they did not fall in line, go along with the Democrat agenda,
And make a spectacle of himself on national TV.

He didn’t have the courage for anything else.

[Cheerio]

Boner - and his supposed replacement McCarthy - will indeed find a place in the history books. The final nail in the coffin of the Gelding Old Party as it used to be known. Either the conservatives take over the party or they will never will elections again in my lifetime. I know plenty of friends and acquaintances, who just like myself are planning on sitting out 2016 if the likes of a “Jeb, McLame or Romney” candidate is the party’s nomination.

[TexasCajun]

Notice how most of the praise for Boehner is coming from Democrats, Tea Party haterselike Rep Peter, GOPe and MSM.

...throw in Juan MeCain and his mini-me.

[ichabod1]

These crying jags are sadly the result of nervous system damage from alcoholism and not “sentimental tears.”

I've been thinking they might be the result of guilt, enormous, crushing, devastating guilt at having sold the country down the river. They oughtta put him on suicide watch. Seriously. I wouldn't be surprised if he's found in his car soon.

[elpadre]

Boehner was certainly a good guy at the lunch table or tavern, but not as effective as people think. My principle problem with him is that he choses compromise over principle, getting along was more important than truth. IMO

[Calpublican]

{They oughtta put him on suicide watch. }

You are probably right. I do have compassion, as we are all flawed. However, betrayal on such a massive scale would weigh on a person.

He has appeared on TV trying to attack others, and is going out with a big fat final betrayal, if Cruz and others are correct about the deal he has made with Pelosi. In which case, he may not have a conscience.

[Vince Ferrer]

I can’t miss him until he leaves.