Boehner was the lesser of two evils.
But not by much.
You had Obama on the one side and Mr. Spray Tan on the other, and the hatred of one did not mean the love of the other.
And for five years he failed.
Handed the speakership by a pissed-off public, he did nothing with it. He didn't figure out how to handle Obama, he didn't figure out how to handle Reid, he was clueless with Pilosi and rudderless with the Republicans. He could neither command nor cooperate.
Nor could he speak.
As half the population was left without a voice, he gurgled nonsense, completely unable to articulate or inspire. And when he did get a sentence out, half the time it was in derision of the people and principles which empowered him.
Boehner failed his party, the House and our country.
There are lots of different ways to be Speaker. He didn't figure out any of them.
Now his wingman is up for the job.
Which sounds like a heaping helping of same-o same-o.
SSDD – same crap, different day.
And nobody in America has an appetite for that – most particularly the people who have given the Republicans control of the House. Because this isn't about which snake climbs to the top of the heap, it's about saving America, about doing what's right, about standing up in our generation to protect and preserve the principles of American liberty.
And preserving liberty is always a here-and-now proposition.
We don't want to be blown off to another election, manipulated for more donations or inflamed for a party's benefit.
We want to get crap done.
And we want to start now.
And to do that we need a speaker with brains, backbone and voice. Someone who can preach what we believe, stand up when he needs to stand up, and figure out how to go forward within the inspired confines of our constitutional system.
The Constitution demands cooperation, compromise or consensus. It punishes the extremes and rewards coalitions, making sure that the American ship of state stays in the main channel. The Constitution forces the government to do those things which are simultaneously respectful of the rights of all and the wishes of the majority.
The Speaker is the point man, the leader who more often that not has to bring the ball down the court and set up the play.
Boehner couldn't do that.
And you can't teach others to do what you can't do yourself, so the likelihood that Boehner's wingman can get the job done isn't very great.
Which gets us to Chaffetz. Jason Chaffetz. House Oversight Committee, fixture on Fox News, watchdog of Obama and the Constitution.
Yesterday he said he wanted to be Speaker.
Here's hoping the Republicans in the House are smart enough to give him the job.
Because it's time for someone different. Someone who isn't a go along to get along, who doesn't have his lips stuck on leadership's derriere, who believes in American principles, has fought for American principles and can use the bully pulpit of the speakership to speak powerfully and convincingly for American principles.
And Jason Chaffetz can do that.
He is a common-sense guy next door who doesn't back away from a fight or get bashful when it's time to say what's in his heart. He isn't obnoxious or rude, he can work well with anybody, and he knows and does what's right.
Most importantly, he is a good communicator of the conservative message.
In an era when the country is increasingly liberal, and the left has taken vilification and mockery as its favorite tools, fewer and fewer Americans know the principles upon which their Republic is built. Real leaders of the Republican Party – and true servants of the country – must teach them. Ronald Reagan – often cited and seldom truly understood or followed – was an evangelist of conservatism. He taught people, in an affirming, positive way, what their freedom was and where it came from. He didn't live off the cultural understanding of an earlier day, he actively built that understanding every day.
That's what Jason Chaffetz can do.
From his first days in the House, he has been a media darling. Comfortable, approachable, affable, he's a lot less talking points and a lot more straight talk.
He would be a positive face for the House and the Republican Party.
A positive young face.
In the House, he has been unflinching in his oversight role, tackling anyone and taking heat from the Obama Administration for doing so. Just last week we learned that the Obama Secret Service, in a hatchet job that reeked of Watergate, had violated federal confidentiality law in an effort to take him down.
In this case, you can judge a man by his enemies.
If Obama hates him, then he's alright by me.
But Chaffetz isn't a bomb thrower. He doesn't want to tear the temple down, he wants to cleanse it. He has shown an ability to work within the structure of caucus leadership, and to reach across the aisle. And while a purist, he is not a martyr. He understands that without compromising principle or betraying constituents, there is room for the accommodation of others' views that is inherent in our Constitution.
Those are good traits in a Speaker.
And trying something new is a good trait in a party.
Especially when what you're doing doesn't work.
America has given the Republicans the House.
Specifically, conservative Americans have given Republicans the House.
It's time for a Speaker who will do something with it.
