[oldbrowser]

Therefore was the Tea Party-led attempt to defund ObamaCare something that met Burke's standard of a "rational endeavour"?

The republicans were clearly outmatched and the effort in and of itself was never going to succeed. However there is another possibility Sometimes a single spark can start a fire.

I recall that there was a man in a middle east country selling vegetables on the street to support his family. When the authorities refused to allow him to continue, he set himself on fire to protest what he could not control.

As it turned out, the public was so incensed that they overthrew the government.

[SoConPubbie]

The republicans were clearly outmatched and the effort in and of itself was never going to succeed. However there is another possibility Sometimes a single spark can start a fire.

Wrong!

The pretend conservatives in the Senate, and those who are blatantly GOP-E types, refused to do their duty and back Ted Cruz in his efforts to defund Obamacare. Add to their number, the congressmen in the House, also pretend conservatives and Democrat Collaborators and you get the real picture of what happened.