I’m not going to gnaw bitter bones – I forget where I stole that line from, alas – on yesterday’s Meltdown over Plan B, but I’m going to make one observation about how bad a PR disaster the GOP (specifically, the folks that I’m usually allied with) stumbled into last night. To wit: Yes, the Media hates us, and wants us all to die in grease fires. This does not mean that you get to pick your nose in public. And I’m not really happy at the way that some of our fire-breathers got caught committing rhinotillexomania. You should have been at that meeting, Rep. Huelskamp. You shouldn’t have been surprised that you called up something that which you could not put down, Rep. Amash. This vote was more important than gumbo, Rep. Gowdy.
The merits of their position are one thing; I could very well be wrong about how we’re in a worse place right now. Wouldn’t be the first time. But don’t make it easy for the Media to have a field day. And yes, it does matter.
Moe Lane
PS: STOP. It matters. Things can always get worse.
2nd law of thermodynamics, Moe. Things always will get worse.
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(I agree, though, that isn’t (or shouldn’t be) an excuse for deliberately shooting snot rockets)
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Mew
Murphy was an optomist, he only listed the things that could go wrong.
Maybe if Boehner spent as much time standing up to Democrats and proving to be a tough negotiator as he has in standing up to conservatives, undermining their progress through leadership, he’d be able to get the votes he needs when push comes to shove. You notice, Nancy Pelosi gets what she wants when she wants and no one speaks an ill word against her.
jbird …so it’s all right, then, for Huelskamp to miss the very meeting that he helped precipitate?
You’re acting like “Plan B” was this awesome ploy that would sucker the D’s into extending the tax cuts for everyone and doing meaningful spending reform. I think a better plan B would have been to pass the president’s tax plan, add in Glenn Reynold’s tax plan, and put the spending reforms you want in it. Tell Reid and Obama what’s negotiable and what isn’t. Pass it and go home.
jbird …so it’s all right, then, for Huelskamp to miss the very meeting that he helped precipitate?
Boehner undercut conservatives in leadership and then turned around and told them to vote for something they disagreed with. Now you seem to be arguing that the conservatives cut off their nose to spite their face, but Boehner is not really without a significant level of blame himself here.
Sure it is. It’s giving Boehner the (lack of) respect that he’s earned. There’s no point in going to a meeting to be yelled at by people.
You’re giving Huelskamp too much credit: he was trying to get to the meeting, but he couldn’t be arsed to get there on time. Rookie error, and one that reduces my opinion of his professionalism.
Ah, ok, so he wasn’t one of the gumbo ones. Decent gumbo, if such can be had in DC, versus being yelled at for sticking up for principles by someone not deserving of respect? Not even a close question.
Gowdy merely demonstrates that Nikki picked the right guy for SC-SEN.
Sorry, folks, but I am REALLY cranky at our legislators right now. I expect everybody in DC to take this sh*t as seriously as I do, and I only approve of grandstanding when it’s aimed at a Democrat. I expect a higher standard for our internal fights; our legislators are supposed to be the grownups in the room.
There’s your problem.
The clowns in DC haven’t shown any willingness to take things seriously over most of the past century. That a majority of them would actually start, would take a miracle.
Yes, it’s their job. By all lights, they should.
But denial is a strong force in mankind. Even when disaster is staring us straight in the face. Mehmet II was at the walls of Constantinople, and their grandees were much more concerned about arguing about the nature of angels.
Let. It. Burn! BURRRRRRRN!! *laughs*
Yes, you used that one already and I have rules against manual spambotting.
It’s because I have become somewhat of a pyromaniac of late.
I don’t know how this will play out and at the time I very much wanted Plan B to pass, but let’s not forget while the media roasts us on an open fire that not a single democrat would go along with Republicans on the issue of RAISING taxes. If we had some support from the Dems, than this would have passed.
It isn’t just the Rs playing politics with America’s future.
This is a very good point, earlgrey, and one that I brought up over in that other thread.
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Boehner painted himself into a corner with sequestration .. the Dems get a cut to the armed services, and a tax hike, and they don’t have to vote *for* either!
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Plan B wasn’t great .. but by shiv’ing Boehner, the gumbophiles played right into the Dems’ hands.
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That said, no, I don’t think any of the idiots in D.C. have our best interest in mind. Part of why I’m in the “Let It Burn” camp.
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After all, if Boehner had our best interest in mind, back when he supported the sequestration compromise, or the debt ceiling compromise, or any of the other compromises that got him the nickname spineless crybaby, we *wouldn’t* *be* *here*.
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Bah, let it all burn.
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Mew
The basic problem is that Boehner has no leverage in this fight. Obama doesn’t care about the cliff, its a win/win for him, he gets what he wants and gets to blame Congress. This last election showed that even if the economy tanks, Obama is protected politically from the fall out.
Obama lost a lot of his leverage by winning… He’s a lame duck now. Not everyone has realized it yet, though…
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Mew
His lameduck status cannot be used against him until his own party begins to splinter trying to figure out succession. As long as his party are still publicly united behind him, the advantage of not facing the voters again is his. If there was a repeat of 2010, then we can use it as leverage
Best get the band Tea Party back together then.
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Mew
And what makes you think this is grandstanding, rather than standing on principles, or a direct attack at Boehner? Plan B, now that was grandstanding, although aimed at Democrats as you say. Killing a plan that was never going anywhere, no, I can’t see that as grandstanding.
While I don’t think Boehner’s Plan B (a.k.a. the Pelosi plan) gambit would have worked, the gumbophiles (and Erickson and Heritage) have conspired to make Boehner appear weak, and to let Obama and the Dems out of the box “passing Plan B and going home” would have left them in.
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I don’t think Plan B would have worked either, but it would have left Obama with the shit end of the stick. This just hits Boehner upside the head with it, with no benefit other than a moment’s enjoyment.
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Mew
Because if it *wasn’t* grandstanding, Amash wouldn’t have been standing there afterward visibly wondering at how all of that escalated quickly. I mean, it really got out of hand…
That’s not really how I read that – I read it that he were stunned to have actually won, and was just uncomfortable with the incivility of it.
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And acat, as for aspiring to make Boehner appear weak, he did that to himself. Did he _really_ think that he could attack the conservative base without consequences?
Skip – in a word, yes.
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What event, between Boehner’s attempt to oust Gingrich in ’97 to today would have convinced Boehner otherwise?
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Mew