Boehner’s Cowardly Resignation Speech Shows How Broken Washington Really Is

By Lina Bryce

After House Speaker, John Boehner announced that he would be resigning some conservatives in the party were relieved. It is no secret that tensions were rising between party members when last week’s spending bill aiming to temporarily fund the government was rejected.

Party members pressured Boehner that they would not vote for the bill which would still include funding for Planned Parenthood. Boehner’s untimely resignation was anything but an honorable and momentous act.

Is this a result of the work of grassroots movement within the party finally showing signs of impact and their repudiation of the establishment? Some say that this is wishful thinking and the change may make the establishment stronger. I believe that Boehner’s resignation should be seen as nothing short of a cowardly retreat and his words are merely adding insult to injury. This is nothing to celebrate. His speech is replete with language revealing Boehner’s overt disconnect as a political insider, indicating just how broken Washington D.C really is.

Boehner strolled toward the podium before live cameras, singing “Zippity Do-dah” to announce his abrupt decision to resign. “I used to sing this on the way to work everyday”, he said. If there was any doubt to his entrenchment with the establishment, he insults the intelligence of every American when he says, “I just woke up this morning and decided to quit.” You see, it’s no big deal. He was planning on retiring last year anyway, folks.

Boehner’s speech made it clear that Pope Francis’ visit proved to be an emotional motivation for him, saying:

I hope we would all heed his Law, to live by “The Golden Rule”. But… last night I started thinking about this, and…uh…this morning I woke up and said my prayers, as I always do, and I decided, you know? Today, I said, I’m going to do this. It’s as simple as that. That’s the code I’ve always lived – if you do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will happen. – John Boehner

The Golden Rule–”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. So simple, but so hard for politicians to follow. It turns out that meeting with The Pope on Friday may have pressed Boehner to act upon his conscience, however any astute observer would notice that his choice of words did little to hide the irony behind any intention to, as he put it, “do the right thing.”

He said, “… It’s become clear to me that this prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable harm to the institution.” Could the turmoil he is referring to  have anything to do with the conflict that exists between the Constitutional Conservative faction of the party and the establishment? For one thing, a Constitutional Conservative would never refer to the two bodies of government as an ‘institution’, certainly not in a literal sense. We elected these representatives to office, however, several times Boehner refers to the House, as an “Institution”, which he says, consists of “members”. This Freudian slip is the key to understanding what lies within the seized the minds of D.C. politicians. The Political elite have become so flagrant as to not even hear their own words admitting to the corrupt, delusional world they’ve created. After all, their loyalty is with “Members”, as though they were some part of an exclusive country club. Perhaps that is a more accurate description, with members of the Unites States Congress making up to $191,533 annually. The Speaker was paid $223,500 a year, certainly an elite club when making over five times what the average American makes. He says, “This isn’t bout me, it’s about the people; it’s about the institution”.

Taking public office should be because an individual wants to do the right thing. Perhaps their ambition is to make the world a better place and represent the people. However, Boehner states what the best thing about being speaker is “The people you get to meet”. It had been on one big road trip, for The Speaker. You would think he’s talking about a vacation and not the ardent job of upholding the Constitution and the tenacious task of ruling over the party, while taking charge of the House of 435 representatives. Well, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that managing the current growing crop of raucous Congressman, would not be revered as one of his most notable moments as Speaker.

Boehner is not alone with his feet over the fire. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is also getting some flack from some unwavering party members. The Washington Times reported that there is an effort to push Senate Majority Leader McConnell out along with Boehner’s departure. Included among those who are calling for his departure, is Gov. Bobby Jindal who is quoted in the NYSE Post, “I don’t like what Reid and Pelosi have done to our country, but they have fought intensely for socialism.”

Louisiana GOP Chairman Roger Villere wrote in a Facebook posting:

“McConnell needs to resign!!”

One can only hope that there will be more disturbances within the party, if it means there will be more intellectual debate over issues, instead of straw man arguments, ad hominem and corporate cronyism.

Perhaps it’s naive to believe that nepotism and partisanship, which have plagued both Houses for the Republicans, would become the minority as they continue to yield to the founding principles of this great country. Civil liberties, ending wars, limited government that values the productive class who work hard to earn a living. This, for which history tells us had kindled the founding of the Republican party.

If my presumptions are correct, the disturbances are far from over and the next Speaker had better be prepared to have the stomach for it. There is no crying in this revolution, for the only ones who have the right to drop a tear, are the American people who have been hoodwinked by the “members” of “The Institution”.