Posted on 09/27/2015 7:09:33 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Leaders who try to operate within realistic constraints face certain revolt from insurgents demanding ideological purity.
The speaker of the House is the first constitutional officer mentioned in the American Constitution, well before the president. In Article 1, Section 5, the Constitution says “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker.” The Speaker is thus a hugely important and prestigious figure in American life. So why would John Boehner, who wept copiously when he realized on Election Eve 2010 that he was soon to achieve this incredible honor, a lifetime dream, leave in the middle of a term and give it all up?
There is an immediate answer. Boehner has struggled since he became speaker with an unruly party caucus—a growing collection of Republican lawmakers who are, to put it gently, not interested in the pragmatic realities of policy making in a system of divided and overlapping powers. For the past five years, Boehner has tried to keep his team in check, often giving members leeway to pursue reckless tactics and radical policies, only to rein them in by turning to Democrats for votes after their efforts had turned catastrophic. But that approach was no longer working.
Trying to show that Republicans could govern responsibly, without another government shutdown or debt-ceiling showdown, he faced a nearly unprecedented motion from his own ranks to vacate the speakership, with a strong chance that he would be ousted from the post unless Democrats—at a price—bailed him out. That would have left him in a weakened and embattled state for a miserable 15 months remaining in the 114th Congress. The day after the high point of his tenure—the appearance of the Pope at his side for a joint session of Congress—he decided it was no longer worth it.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
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RADICAL SALUTE!
Norm’s not happy. Good.
Does anyone actually subscribe to or buy the Atlantic?
Another Beltway and NYC GOPe pundit/mediot wasting electrons trying to tell us how to vote!
Don’t waste your time reading about how dumb we are?
Yep - we conservatives who want the Constitution followed are SO radical. (sarc)
...a growing collection of Republican lawmakers who are... not interested in the pragmatic realities of policy making in a system of divided and overlapping powers.
“The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker.”
"Chuse"?
Bloody 'ell. Hire a real editor, you lot.
Tar, feathers, hemp neck-ties—All are in order, as our elected “representatives” have forgotten who they work for.
Id est, Republicans who do not want to be Democratics.
“The day after the high point of his tenure—the appearance of the Pope at his side for a joint session of Congress”
Why would that be the high point of his tenure?
Chuse is the word used in my copy of the Constitution. But not in Section 5 of Article 1 as claimed by the article.
In my copy, the last sentence in Section 2, Article 1 is: “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and Officers; and shall have sole Power of Impeachment.”
FWIW, in researching this, I found other copies of the Constitution where the word in question was spelled choose.
FWIW, Atlantic traps that I’m using Ad Block Plus and shuttles me off behind a paywall. No paywall if I turn off ABP. Humph!
Really. I must needs do some research on that then, as I have never before seen such a spelling on official documents previously.
You learn something new on FR every day, it would appear. Thanks for the references, and I mean that sincerely.
Time to go do some research now. :)
I'd be pleasantly surprised shocked if the power brokers inside the beltway ever permitted that to happen.
So where is the BARF ALERT for this “reporting”?
Thanks so much, mate! Appreciate it, no doubt. :)
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