John Boehner couldn’t muster up enough votes in the House for his debt plan, and with good reason: it sucks. It doesn’t address the long-term debt and it’s a short-term fix, which means we’ll be going through this whole frustrating exercise again in six months in the heat of a presidential campaign. In other words: it’s a political game.
I just don’t get it. I can’t imagine what Boehner is thinking, wasting so much time and effort and political capital on a failed plan that will just result in the same awful scenario in a few months. This has to be the mother of all political miscalculations: does Boehner really think the Republicans are coming out smelling like a rose here? Poll after poll says otherwise.
Yesterday I spoke to my Conservative Friend™ about this; he’s pissed off, mightily pissed off, says if he loses his small business because of political games people are playing in Washington he’s going to do something rash. The Tea Party “can kiss my nuts,” he said, which made me laugh because he said it with so much … passion. And then, of President Obama, he said: “I didn’t vote for the guy. But at least he’s trying to get people to come together on this, you know? At least he’s making an effort to protect the country. He’s probably being too bipartisan at this point.”
And then he stunned me with this astute observation: “What it all boils down to is they want the president to fail. They don’t want to fix the problem, they want the entire country to go down the drain so they can blame Obama. And you know why? Because he’s black. That’s what this is about.”
Yeah, that’s a conservative saying this. Not just any conservative, but a Wilson County, redneck, small-business blue collar guy. A guy who told me he voted for John McCain because he liked Sarah Palin. So, nice job Republicans. You’re not doing a very good job of selling your message to the American people here.
You really want to go through this again next year, too? Really?
[UPDATE]:
Southern Beale 
One can only hope that your friend’s enlightenment lasts the next sixteen months.
That’s just stunning! Alienating their actual Base (as opposed to Teh Crazee.)
Yep. Sounds like your Conservative Friend™ is dead on.
Hope his attention span is longer than most.
Also hope he has like-minded friends.
“Tea Bag the Tea Baggers” or something like that. Well said CF™ .
Oh wow I didn’t even get that! Irony ….
It’s gotta be verrrrry bad for the GOOPERS when they lose guys like this.
It’s going to be an “interesting” week next week… I think they are bent on backing Obama into a “Constitutional Corner” so that they can impeach him…. if he invokes the 14th amendment, they can impeach him for overreaching; if not, for violating the Constitution by allowing a default. Too clever by half, though, cause it will come back on them.
I think you’re correct, Reverend … but I think it will backfire on them. To all but the most crazy Teanutters, the tinfoil hatters and Orly Taitz crowd, this will be so obvious. And after the GOP impeached Clinton over an affair when their own people levying the worst charges (ahem, Newt Gingrich) were doing the same thing … it will be quite obvious that the GOP plans to impeach every Democratic president that the people elect. I don’t think the people will support impeachment, not in this case.
Hell, Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq illegally and we didn’t impeach them. Impeaching Obama for trying to save the nation from fiscal default, should he do that, will just be so obviously bogus.