Boehner Is Better Than Blunt, But Not Who I Was Hoping For

[Annie]

This speaks for me:

http://boxingalcibiades.blogspot.com/2006/02/republicans-dip-their-toes-in-reform.html

Thursday, February 02, 2006
Republicans dip their toes in the reform water
It's Boehner, by a fairly large margin. Interestingly enough, McCain's having come out for Shadegg appears to have gotten the latter no traction at all. So much for last-minute, triangulated support. If McCain was serious about reform, he'd have tossed his hat in the ring more than 24 hours before the vote, when everybody had already effectively given their promises.

What does this mean? One, it means that Republicans in office might actually start listening to their constituents... but not in any really meaningful way. Just like Sessions here at home, the Republicans are perfectly willing to listen to bad news, if they've already decided that it's in their best interests to do so, for a specified number of minutes. Whereas Blunt was K street's darling, and Shadegg the voice of real reform, Boehner is anti-pork, but in a mild sort of way... basically representing feelings amongst Republicans that they need more than a band-aid (that's Blunt), but that they're uncomfortable with the notion of putting Congress under chemo (that's Shadegg).

Electing Blunt would have been suicidal. Electing Shadegg would have instantly energized the base, and gotten the party respect. In short, the Republican leadership knows that going too far to ignore its believers will lead to a disaster this November... but they want to try to limit the scope of that to as much "business as usual" as humanly possible.

Is it any wonder that Republicans are the only people who hold the Republican political machine in more contempt than the leftist Democrats do?

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! We don't have any blenders, but I'm sure there's something I've written around here that desperately needs correction....

 

[dmp]

I'd never trust a politician named 'boner'.

 

[Annie]

I'd never trust a politician named 'boner'.

 

[Abbey Normal]

I'd never trust a politician named 'boner'.

But it's pronounced throat-warbler mangrove.

 

[dmp]

But it's pronounced throat-warbler mangrove.

I'm unsure what that means, but from now on, if my wife asks, I'll tell her to touch my throat-warbler.

 

[GotZoom]

But it's pronounced throat-warbler mangrove.

I knew people had little pet names for certain body parts but...awwww..isn't that one just the cutest?

 

[Abbey Normal]

I'm unsure what that means, but from now on, if my wife asks, I'll tell her to touch my throat-warbler.

Go for it, D, but it's just from a Monty Python TV show sketch.

As in:
The door opens and Raymond Luxury Yacht enters. He cannot walk straight to the desk as his passage is barred by the strip of wood carrying the degrees, but he discovers the special hinged part of it that opens like a door. Mr Luxury Yacht has his enormous polystyrene nose. It is a foot long.

Specialist: Ah! Mr Luxury Yacht. Do sit down, please.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Ah, no, no. My name is spelt 'Luxury Yacht' but it's pronounced 'Throatwarbler Mangrove'.

Specialist: Well, do sit down then Mr Throatwarbler Mangrove.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Thank you.

Etc...
Monty Python's Flying Circus, Episode 22

 

[dmp]

Go for it, D, but it's just from a Monty Python TV show sketch.

As in:
The door opens and Raymond Luxury Yacht enters. He cannot walk straight to the desk as his passage is barred by the strip of wood carrying the degrees, but he discovers the special hinged part of it that opens like a door. Mr Luxury Yacht has his enormous polystyrene nose. It is a foot long.

Specialist: Ah! Mr Luxury Yacht. Do sit down, please.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Ah, no, no. My name is spelt 'Luxury Yacht' but it's pronounced 'Throatwarbler Mangrove'.

Specialist: Well, do sit down then Mr Throatwarbler Mangrove.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Thank you.

Etc...
Monty Python's Flying Circus, Episode 22

The only speak i know of MP is "Holy Grail"

 

[Abbey Normal]

The only speak i know of MP is "Holy Grail"

I think my age is showing, lol.

(Arch, do I have to pay you royalties to say that?)

 

[5stringJeff]

Go for it, D, but it's just from a Monty Python TV show sketch.

As in:
The door opens and Raymond Luxury Yacht enters. He cannot walk straight to the desk as his passage is barred by the strip of wood carrying the degrees, but he discovers the special hinged part of it that opens like a door. Mr Luxury Yacht has his enormous polystyrene nose. It is a foot long.

Specialist: Ah! Mr Luxury Yacht. Do sit down, please.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Ah, no, no. My name is spelt 'Luxury Yacht' but it's pronounced 'Throatwarbler Mangrove'.

Specialist: Well, do sit down then Mr Throatwarbler Mangrove.

Mr Luxury Yacht: Thank you.

Etc...
Monty Python's Flying Circus, Episode 22

Total props for a Monty Python reference!!!

 

[Abbey Normal]

Total props for a Monty Python reference!!!

Thanks, Jeff. Weren't they the best?!

 

[Annie]

Interesting. Lots of links:

http://beltwayblogroll.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/02/praise_and_prej.php

February 03, 2006
BELTWAY BLOGROLL
Praise And Prejudice For Majority Leader Boehner

House Republicans elected John Boehner of Ohio as their majority leader yesterday, and his upset victory over Roy Blunt of Missouri was greeted with a round of cautious Republican praise and predictable Democratic prejudice in the blogosphere.

Boehner won the battle by a vote of 122-109. The victory came on a second ballot conducted after the third candidate, John Shadegg of Arizona, dropped out of the race.

Shadegg had been the favorite of a coalition of center-right bloggers, and Augustine, a blogger at RedState, dubbed Shadegg the "kingmaker" in the race. "Shadegg didn't have enough support to win -- one wonders if an earlier entry would've changed that -- but he did have enough support to ensure that the party went in a different direction than they would under the old leadership," Augustine said. "For that, he deserves our gratitude."

Bloggers also patted themselves on the back for their role in the race. One writer at RedState cited Blunt as the latest victim of an active and influential blogosphere, lumping him in with the likes of former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and withrawn Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers.

"Without John Shadegg, Congressman Blunt would be Leader Blunt," he wrote. "Without conservative blogs pointing out the gaping chasm between public and private committments and political sanity, John Shadegg very possibly does not draw 40 votes."

Though many Republican bloggers were less enamored with Boehner than Shadegg, they rallied behind him after the vote -- but cautiously. Instapundit Glenn Reynolds referred to Boehner as "The Diet Coke of reform. One calorie -- not reformist enough!" And Ed Morrissey of Captain's Quarters called Boehner "The Middle Choice."

Pejman Yousefzadeh of RedState added that Boehner had better remember both Shadegg and the bloggers who helped him win the race. "[H]e will need to understand that those who are his benefactors have done him a favor not just through the delivery of votes but, more importantly, through the generation of ideas," Yousefzadeh said.

GOP Bloggers, Power Line, The QandO Blog and The Truth Laid Bear are among the other center-right blogs who have commented on the election. Pat Cleary of the Manufacturers' Blog also explained why the National Association of Manufacturers is behind Boehner, as it would have been either of the other two candidates.

Democrats, on the other hand, no doubt would have found reasons to criticize anyone Republicans chose as their next leader. They certainly were quick to highlight Boehner's perceived flaws, with two leading liberal bloggers going so far as to publicize "Ten Things Every American Jew Should Know About John Boehner."

To Markos Moulitsas Zuniga of Daily Kos Boehner's election represents the kind of corruption he has come to expect of the Republican Party. "So keep an eye out on stories that pretend Boehner's election means some sort of 'cleaning house,'" Moulitsas warned. "[Republicans] got a corrupt Ohioan, part of the corrupt Ohio Republican Party, to head the corrupt Republican caucus in the House."

Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo also noted Boehner's ethical scars, including the episode that had Boehner, a smoker, distributing checks from the tobacco industry on the House floor. But then Marshall resurrected the story of a Democratic lawmaker linked to an eavesdropping case involving Boehner's cell phone -- a curious move considering that a fellow liberal blogger, John Aravosis of Americablog, is the catalyst behind a push for cell-phone privacy.

At Talk Left, Jeralyn Merritt focused on Boehner's voting record as reason to worry about his leadership. She highlighted his votes on religious issues, abortion, the war on drugs and immigration, and she found only "one admirable vote": his support for language to require DNA testing before all federal executions.

The Stakeholder, meanwhile, posted a lengthy entry with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's many gripes against Boehner.

Posted by dglover | 06:58 AM

 

[Annie]

I'd never trust a politician named 'boner'.

honest to God, found this in a Yahoo news article!

Boehner (pronounced BAY-nur)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060203...8WGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl