Huh, John Boehner is Resigning

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/25/politics/john-boehner-resigning-as-speaker/

I guess he doesn't want to get blamed for the government shutdown over Planned Parenthood. If the GOP replaces him with somebody ever farther to the right, the 2016 election will be in the bag for Democrats.

I think he is just tired of all the drinking time the job takes from him.

I hope Kevin McCarthy doesn't get the job. He's an incredible asshole.

To be fair, is there any candidate for the job who isn't an incredible asshole?

"To be fair?" No. Every option is terrible.

Apparently Boehner's decision was a pang of conscience.

But that won't make anything better.

Quote :

Prior to 2010, John Boehner was ranked as one of the most conservative members of Congress—and he played an indispensable role in orchestrating the GOP takeover of both Chambers. Yet when the speaker’s resignation was announced at the Value Voters Summit, rather than displaying any kind of sympathy for, or solidarity with, their fellow Christian Republican–the auditorium immediately erupted in wild celebration, with subsequent speakers (to include fellow Catholics Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz) taking potshots at Boehner for the rest of the evening.

All this suggests that the speaker’s caucus remains as committed as ever to their unrealistic maximalist brinkmanship. Boehner has labeled these as “false prophets” due to their toxic and hypocritical demagoguery–and he is absolutely right. But depending on who replaces him as speaker, the situation could grow a lot worse.

Even the “moderate” front-runner for the position, Kevin McCarthy, has been racing to the right in a scramble to maintain legitimacy in the wake of his devastating Benghazi gaffe and subsequent challenges from so-called conservatives.

God willing, other Republican lawmakers will rise up to steer the party, and the country, in a more productive direction. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Kevin McCarthy pulled out of the race, for lack of experience and his tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

Apparently Paul Ryan is the new leading contender. God help us all.

I know you hate Salon, but this sounds right to me.

Amanda Marcotte wrote:

In this environment, you’d have to be a moron with no instinct for self-preservation to vie for leadership in the ranks of congressional Republicans. McCarthy’s rise as the initial favorite was proof positive of that. But his fall shows that the same lack of awareness or baseline intelligence necessary to want the job also makes it hard to hang on to, because you’re simply not smart enough to avoid walking into the kinds of traps that McCarthy strolled right into. That is the pickle that Republicans have made for themselves: Anyone with the savviness you need for effective leadership is going to stay well the hell away from the speakership.

Paul Ryan has said he doesn't want the job.

Third highest job in politics and they can't GIVE it away.

Ryan may be drafted against his will. There is apparently no one else.

I'm not sure that one can be drafted for the position.

If the Republicans are all too scared, give the job to a Democrat.

Or, give everyone in the House a pink slip.

A pink slip would go well with their blue balls.

It's funny how no matter what the Republicans just refuse to use the members of the party who are half-way literate. They shove them aside for fools like Trump and Palin.

I'd vote for Schwarzenegger if they had the balls to run him. Fuckin A. We're a nation of immigrants but you gotta be born here to be President. Bullshit. Geographical location of your emergence from your mother's womb is not relevant to quality or character. But beyond not relevant it's comical for a nation of immigrants to have such a rule. He's got his head on right, I think. For a politician. He's reasonable, he isn't on board with the stupid shit like no access to birth control and family planning. He's a good middle of the road Republican president. And they wouldn't run him if he was the last guy on earth and the only reason I can see for that attitude is that they are clinically insane. They continue to pick the dumbest fucks they could possibly get their hands on and make it a race of losers that has got to be more a reflection of the moneyed class's sense of humor than the candidate's' readiness. Got to. Those are the choices. Insanity or humor.

_Howard wrote:

A pink slip would go well with their blue balls.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/7199njbEIdL._UX385_.jpg
We should Fed Ex them one.

The overwhelming qualification that is emerging for Republican candidates this year is that they must be a total outsider, they must have held no public office before, they must have no experience in politics. Trump, Fiorina, Carson, the top three candidates, have zero political experience between them. Those in the lower tiers - Bush, Christie, Pataki, Kasich, Jindal, Huckabee, Graham, Gilmore all were governors but never served in Congress. Cruz, Paul and Rubio are first termers, elected in 2012. Santorum is the only candidate with even moderate political experience, but nobody takes him seriously (for good reason).

McCarthy was liked for Speaker because nobody knew him. Although elected in 2007, he had sponsored only two bills, both to rename public monuments to somebody's name. He was a clean slate, an unknown, a tabula rasa.

The Republican Party has almost ceased to exist.

I watched a Democratic Representative (forget who) on TV last night say the Republicans have been taken over by nihilists, who want zero government and whose only purpose in Congress is to prevent anything getting done. "They've done an admirable job of it, too," he said.

_Howard wrote:

If the Republicans are all too scared, give the job to a Democrat.

Not as far-fetched as you might think.  The Speaker is elected by the whole House, not just the majority party.  Republicans can't agree that water is wet, so someone from the other side of the aisle, if respected, could sweep the election.

No Republican will vote for a Democrat Speaker, out of fear of losing the next election because of it.

Jenni wrote:

I'd vote for Schwarzenegger if they had the balls to run him.

Be careful what you wish for, Jenni. In seven years, Arnie managed to triple California's debt.