John McCain had a good run as the media's favorite Republican. It's an easy gig to get. All you have to do is rip the conservative members of your own party who expect you to actually accomplish the enactment of conservative policies. You can call them wacko birds. You can call them extremists. The more colorful and condescending the name-calling the better. The media will eat it up and you'll be in high demand.
John Boehner seemed ready for his audition as the new Media's Favorite Republican in his appearance yesterday on CBS's Face the Nation, where he took no prisoners going off on conservatives who thought he actually meant the conservative things he said in recent campaign seasons. And by "meant," we mean, would actually make a serious effort to make them happen - not hold meaningless show votes only to cave at the first sign of Obama resistance for fear of being accused by Obama and the media of trying to "shut down the government."
Silly conservatives! Republican House Speakers don't actually do the things they talk about. They just talk about them. If you thought he was actually going to do them, you're the unhinged, wacko problem. And Boehner's had it with you:
As Republicans jockeyed for influence in the race to replace him, Boehner lashed out at the conservative groups and lawmakers who made his position untenable, including Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, calling them "false prophets" who made "unrealistic" demands.
He said they "whip people into a frenzy believing they can accomplish things they know, they know are never going to happen."
Boehner said he would clear as much of Congress' to-do-list as he could but did not name specific bills.
Congress faces several important fiscal deadlines, including a transportation spending bill needed in October and a larger budget deal that would go beyond the 10-week extension to be passed next week.
An increase in the federal debt ceiling also will be needed by December and lawmakers from both parties want to revive the idled U.S. Export-Import Bank, which Boehner has long supported.
The speaker's resignation frees him to put legislation to House votes without fear of a move to oust him.
Now let's seriously examine Boehner's claim that these things "are never going to happen". If that's true, why is it true? Republicans control the House, where all taxing and spending bills must originate. Not a dime can be spent on anything unless the Republican-controlled House approves it. If they were not willing to give Obama authority to fund Planned Parenthood, he simply could not do it. Period. So why can't they de-fund Planned Parenthood?
Here's why, Boehner thinks, this is the case: Conventional wisdom in Washington is that a spending bill with everything Obama wants is a "clean funding bill," whereas a funding bill that reflects Republican priorities and denies Obama some of what he wants is a "government shutdown." This is nonsense, of course. The two branches of government are co-equal, and Obama if Congress hands Obama a spending bill he doesn't want to sign, then it's incumbent on both parties to work toward a deal. Only in the liberal haze of Washington is it totally on Republicans to please Obama or get blamed for a shutdown because everyone knows he won't budge.
We've been over this before. The problem with Boehner is that completely accepts this Washington conventional wisdom. He doesn't challenge it. He doesn't fight it. He accepts it lock, stock and barrel - and instead of attacking the media and the Democrats for establishing such an absurd mode of operation, he attacks his own side for not being willing to accept it.
Could Boehner do anything about it? Of course he could. He could make it clear that as Speaker he will stand for what's right for the country and not for what will get him media praise, and that Obama is going to take responsibility his own willingness to see the government shut down just so Planned Parenthood can keep getting taxpayer money to butcher babies and sell the body parts for a profit.
But no, Boehner and his allies insist, that's not possible because "the media will blame Republicans"!
So the **** what? When did the media become a branch of the government? Stand up to them for crying out loud! Go on their shows and tell them they are part of the problem instead of kissing their asses! Conservative policy ideas will never have a chance if Republicans think they always have to get the approval of the media. That is something that can never happen, except when Republicans capitulate to Democrats completely. That is the only time you get media praise.
The problem with Boehner is that he decided a long time ago that the media's approval was something he needed, and his allies completely agree. That's the thinking that permeates the Republican leadership in the House right now, and that's why we need new leadership. In the meantime, if Boehner now wants to go full-bore in kissing the media's behinds so he can become their favorite Republican, I guess that's his prerogative. He's not our leader on Capitol Hill anymore. Then again, he never really was, which was kind of the problem all along.
