The press creates a bizarre portrait of our elected representatives. Campaign contributions signal their "greed" even though the politician never gets the money. They are accused of putting "politics" above the interests of the country, as if that were a coherent charge. There is no Platonic form representing "the interests of the country." "Politics" is the name for the process by which we decide the interests of the country. If a politician is "playing politics" he or she is doing his job. The name "politician" should give it away!
It is just this sort of idiocy that prevents the MSM from accurately reporting what has happened to the Republican Party. When the standard of good behavior is incoherent and therefore impossible to achieve, then both parties will be "bad".
So both sides are doing it.
Bullshit.
The actual job of US Representative is terrible. You work 7 days a week for terrible pay, have very little control of your own schedule and are daily subjected to abuse from people you are working day and night to help. It requires someone who loves spending time with his neighbors, loves talking to people of all stripes, someone who is inclined to see the best in people, even when those people are screaming obscenities in your face.
The Tea Party yahoos that are now the strongest faction in the GOP are not actually politicians in the American sense. They desire elected office not because the like their fellow man, but because they hate him. Their fellow man is an idiot slurping from the trough, too dumb to see that he has sacrificed his Liberty.
John Boehner is woefully confused about economics. Regulation doesn't do the harm he thinks it does, while "job creators" are not responsible for the good he imagines. He doesn't begin to understand the way being a white man has obscured the realities of race from his view.
That said, John Boehner is a good person. He is a politician in the American sense I describe above. He likes his fellow man. There is no place for him anymore in the GOP.
Mr. Boehner’s surprise announcement came just a day after Pope Francis visited the Capitol, the fulfillment of a 20-year dream for Mr. Boehner of having a pontiff address Congress. He had a private audience with Francis before the pope’s address to a joint meeting of Congress.
“The fundamental dynamics don’t change,” Mr. Dent said. “The dynamics are this: There are anywhere from two to four dozen members who don’t have an affirmative sense of governance. They can’t get to yes. They just can’t get to yes, and so they undermine the ability of the speaker to lead. And not only do they undermine the ability of the speaker to lead, but they undermine the entire Republican conference and also help to weaken the institution of Congress itself. That’s the reality.
