There has been quite a stir among conservatives at the prospect of John Boehner being voted out as Speaker of the House of Representatives. To be clear John Boehner has been quite a disappointment for many on the Right, including this conservative. But his ouster, or possible ouster as Speaker, is another example how we on the Right have lost our ability to engage in cognitive reason and adhere ourselves to the law of "Do not let what is perfect be the enemy of what is good."
Is John Boehner the perfect Republican to lead the majority in the House? No. But would the perfect choice, whomever that would be, have taken us further down the road of conservatism the last 4 1/2 years? We shall never know. But one thing is clear, the case against John Boehner is based in substance even if that substance is not quite as thick as some conservatives have tried to intimate that it is.
After all, under the leadership of John Boehner the House has been able to cut the deficit by 2/3 since January 2011, when the House officially was placed into Republican hands. No small feat in the age of the profligate spendthrift Barack Obama. The House, again under the leadership of John Boehner, passed over 350 bills, many of which were based on solid conservative principles. Unfortunately with Harry Reid in control of the United States Senate, none of those bills ever made it to the floor for debate, let alone a vote.
To be sure, John Boehner has been enervated in many aspects of his role as House Speaker, but how far do his detractors think a solid conservative leader would have gotten? In a perfect world I would love to have solid conservatives in leaderships roles in congress, and maybe someday that will be possible. But think about the lack of success a firebrand conservative would have had as Speaker. Not only would he never get any Democrat support (which Speaker Boehner did for 80% of the bills passed by the House under his leadership) but a firebrand conservative would drive away support of moderate Republicans as well.
I am as frustrated as any conservative at the seeming lack of action by our leadership in the House and the Senate. But these are times when the Left has made serious inroads, not only in the congress, but in the culture as well. And let us face facts, which many conservatives seem unwilling to do, with a radical Leftist in the White House, the options for conservative gains is mitigated to say the least. The Left slowly infiltrated over a period of 50 years, and have come to the summit of their power and influence at this time in history. Do we really expect as conservatives to wrestle that position away from them in one election cycle, one Speakership, or one Senate Majority Leadership?
I have to give credit where credit is due. The blogger has identified another portion of the Republican party. They have RINOs, moderates, beltway elites, faux-conservatives, etc. He seems to have aligned himself with the "Capitulator " sector. "There are three kinds of people, those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened". Mr Koch, along with the Washington Republican "leadership ", are definitely of the "watcher" class.
ReplyDeleteDennis Prager, conservative talk show host, commentator, and lecturer, says that political ideology is a circle. He states that it is possible for someone to be so far Right that they are actually occupying the Left side of the circle. Your coment is illustrative of this theory. Those on the Left always resort to insult when they can not deal substantively with someone's position. Your political platitudes aside, you have failed to deal with the facts I present, facts that are in opposition to your political ideology, so therefore you are unable to deal reasonably with them. Thanks for reading.
ReplyDeleteOoops, I thought I stumbled on a conservative site. My mistake.
ReplyDeleteYou did stumble upon a conservative blog. True conservatism is not about ignoring facts that do not support your political point of view. Apparently that is your special brand of conservatism. Again, you have proven my charge that instead of having a well thought out challenge to my position that disagrees with your political ideology, you simply resort to insults.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you interpret as an Insult? I guess, if you'd like, I could make one up so your paranoia doesn't go to waste. Let me know if you have preference.
ReplyDeleteSo calling me a capitulator is not an insult? Or implying I am passive by being a "watcher?" Or making the snarky comment about thinking this was a conservative blog (which it most certainly is) and being mistaken? Do you really expect anyone to believe that your previous comments were not meant to be insulting. And still you have not even attempted to deal with the substance of my post, or the facts stated therein.
ReplyDeleteInitially I was afraid I was being too subtle. Good to see you got it. Neville Chamberlain was the ultimate capitulator. Care to count the bodies. However, this should please you. I'm outta here..
ReplyDeleteStill no substantive answer to the points I made in my post, just insults like the Left does when they can not compete in the arena of ideas.
ReplyDelete