Well, put it this way: Bullies and cowards are the same thing. One breeds the other. A bunch of us have harped on the current makeup of the Republican party -- 1994, that date is generally cited as the jumping off place for Republican bullying or perhaps the triumph of "me" over "us" -- and good sense tells us that it can't go on forever.
Twenty years is plenty. The bullies/cowards may finally be fading into the background or beyond. The right wing's bête noir -- compromise, governing -- should return. We'll see. That self-important weepster, John Boehner, has taken the first step. And on his political tombstone, are these words:
When Boehner announced his impending departure, he expressed pride that he had kept the government open (after a sixteen-day shutdown in 2013) and raised the debt limit. This, to paraphrase a famous Republican, reflects the soft bigotry of low expectations. Keeping the government open and paying its debts are the minimal undertakings of an elected body, not legislative triumphs. But Boehner could point to almost nothing else that happened on his watch, because the Tea Party would tolerate nothing else.
And what did Boehner’s cowardice in the face of the Tea Party stalwarts get him? They forced him out anyway. Boehner built his career around keeping his job, and he still failed. ...JeffreyToobin,NewYorker
Toobin calls Boehner's cowardice "pointless." And that may extend to the two decades of Republican cost and waste -- of resources and of human lives. Pointless, and unforgivable is how history will see the bad manners, cruel wars, dangerous corporatism, and savagery of 1995 to present. A big chunk of those were Boehner years. Gee he must be proud...
