I agree that he’s not doing a great job, but I think one of the problems is not malevolence on the side of people like Boehner, but the same thing that brought down GWB: They believed that the Dems were playing by the rules.
Bush realized by the end of his term that they weren’t, but it was too late. Once Obama got elected, the establishment GOP was terrified of him because, after all, he was part-black and therefore the press would call them racists if they opposed him.
And they’re still scared because they are afraid of being on the end of a press/Dem hate fest. That’s just how they are. A lot of them have been in office for way too long and come from a different political generation.
We need more brave, bold people to come in and stir things up, but we seem to be incapable of electing any. Not only because of obvious fraud like Cochran (and I still hope McDaniel prosecutes him and overturns the election), but because there is so much GOP infighting that we can never get behind a candidate.
In the meantime, though, I’ll take anything I can get. Criticize Boehner when he’s wrong or weak, but support him when he’s right. Think carrot and stick. I can tell you, as a horse owner, that no equine has ever moved only for the stick. They’ll drop in their tracks first. But give them a bit of praise and a sugar lump (with a veiled threat to swat them otherwise, and they’re yours.
Too many of us on FR do not take into account the environment the Republicans have to operate in. The leftists control 100% of the dem party (there are no “conservative” dems - if there ever were); the leftists control the federal bureaucracy (witness Lerner et. al.); the leftists control government education; the leftists control the entertainment industry; and the leftists control the media. Any Republican has to try to get his message out there faced with opposition from all sides, and the media functions like airpower on the field of battle.
We here on FR often want Boehner and others to fight like the leftists fight, but the Republicans do not have any air cover at all. The leftists have total air superiority. The analogy is succinctly described by Bill Whittle:
https://www.billwhittle.com/commentary/bamboo-spears
Boehner and others largely behave as if they are members of a military force that is on the battle field and the enemy has complete and total air superiority. This is asymmetrical political warfare and we really need to understand that.
Heh! I raise cattle, and it is far easier to lead them than to push them.
Much of the fault lies within the system itself, and the spoils that leadership passes out to ensure loyalty. It takes a truly principled person to say “No” to rank bribery, and the process of elections and the attention it brings causes most decent people to decide against such an ordeal. This leaves the field open to grifters and parasites, like we have now...