At one time, the Speaker of the house stood for leadership and principle, that noble concept came crashing down with the advent of Nancy Pelosi back in 2007 when she ushered in the era of demonization and blazon retribution. The era of bludgeoning and vitriol lasted until 2011, when the Republicans took the majority in the House and John Boehner became the next Speaker of the house. Initially, conservative thought that we would finally see some real action on our behalf, some truly principled leadership such as we hadn’t seen since Speaker Newt Gingrich. Alas, that was not to be; we traded the daily vitriol of Speaker Pelosi for the boot-licking antics of John Boehner, and we still have Nancy Pelosi singing background to John Boehner’s never-ending surrender ballad.
A majority of those republicans were elected on pledges to rid the nation of Obamacare, which more than 70% of the American people disapproved of and wanted abolished.
Unfortunately, many of those republicans lost sight of that goal and have repeatedly fallen into the same traps that have ensnared Republican politicians for centuries: Stand your ground on principle until the going gets rough and then promptly cave in, hoping that by looking for a consensus with Democrats they could ride off into the sunset together to the adoring praise of their public. On the surface, that ideal doesn’t sound like it could be all that difficult; we’re all adults and finding a common ground shouldn’t be that hard, right? Ah, but that could only work if one assumed that the Democrats would ever be willing to go along and that is exactly where we witness things falling apart. Every time a “Gang of this,” or “Gang of that” pops up touting their flavor-of-the-month grand compromise, they end up giving up the very principles they shouted from the rooftops before their adoring public.
Why? What would they hope to gain?
Well, they stand to gain two things: By compromising their principles they hope that just enough conservative measures are left in the bill that it will make some kind of difference. The second thing they apparently believe they stand to gain is public perception. If I play nice and like the nice guy, I’ll get more people to like me and I won’t get voted out.
Both of these ideals ignore some obvious realities of American politics:
- The democratic party has played the bait and switch game for over 40 years with great success. First against Reagan, going back on their promise to seal the borders after Reagan agreed to amnesty. Doing so once again after Bush’s “Read my lips” as they promised us major compromises in exchange for a new tax they so desperately wanted to pass. Every time Republicans trust in an agreement with Democrats in exchange for “I little compromise,” we the people get stuck with the bill. We get stuck paying for the fact that our so-called conservative representatives can’t learn simple history lessons well enough not to repeat them.
- The media will never be on your side. The hope that somehow you will win points with the public by getting coverage of your “good deeds” or “Heartfelt sacrifices for the good of the Nation” in the media never happens. Conservatives have always been maligned by the media because the majority of the media are self described liberals and as such are diametrically opposed to allowing any conservative principles to go unopposed.
- When has it ever been a good strategy to compromise continually before your opponent has taken a single step towards any meaningful negotiation? Why are the republicans so enamored with the thought of themselves in the role of the benevolent fool? Every time they see an opportunity, they fall all over themselves to give the appearance that they are above the fray, they will be the one to be the bigger person and give ground each and every time! When they do that they are giving up on our hope and dreams; it is our future they are so benignly flushing down the toilet for a better sound bite from CNN or ABC. It is our causes they abandon time after time.
Where is the Leadership? Why are the republicans left to wander aimlessly without direction with 6 different directions and solutions being touted every time we turn around? Why is it that the Democrats can stick together for their common goal, while our leadership is focused on selling us up the river?
There are quite a few answers to that question, and all of them stem from one major problem: We have a cave man leading the House Republicans.
When Obama makes demands, Boehner caves.
When Democrats call Republicans terrorists and Jihadi’s; Boehner caves.
When the media and Democrats Blame Republicans for the Government shutdown, Boehner caves.
When Democrats refuse to move an inch on any budget item put before them, Boehner caves so badly that he begins to carry their water for them and actually pushes for the Democratic plan proudly waving the white flag claiming he has “Fought the good fight.” He never fought for anything! Every single proposal was flatly refused and each time he went back with his tail between his legs bringing a more emasculated bill at each attempt; giving ground at every turn, caving in left and right.
Cave-Man Boehner has lead this House down a deep black hole with stunningly unprincipled leadership directly in the wrong direction. Cave-Man Boehner pushed and leaned on fellow Republicans to shun and admonish Mr. Cruz or anyone else who stood up for what they believed in, anyone who got off the Cave-Man express and fought for the people and the core conservative values we cherish earned his scorn and the scorn of all his crony’s and yes-men.
Because there exists no principled leadership within the House, there will be no hope for conservatives in America today. Cave-Man Boehner has rolled over and given up at every single chance he has been given, and the only time he has ever stood up for our principles is after a major public outcry in reaction to his stupidity. “Obamacare is the law of the land, let’s move on.” Really? When 70% of your constituents say get rid of Obamacare, you ignore all of them and just blithely roll over and fetch their water? Cave-Man Boehner might as well be the craven coward licking the boots of his betters, because that is the role he has adorned himself with today.
Somebody needs to step forward and stop this foolishness. Somebody within the Republican party needs to start ignoring fools like McCain and stand up for the core conservative principles they all shouted from the mountaintops during the last election.
Somebody needs to stand on their principles and stop giving ground; stop giving up the ideals we put them there to protect, stop abandoning our dreams when the going gets tough, stop making deals without reciprocation, stop negotiating yourselves down over and over again without a single concession.
Get rid of the Cave-Man and find a leader with some backbone who isn’t afraid to make the hard choices. Or all of us will pay the price…
Just my view from the cheap seats…
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