John Boehner Enters History
No, not as the Speaker who presided over the first shutdown of the United States government in the 21st century (he earned that title about an hour ago). Rather, as the Speaker who has the opportunity to usher in the biggest realignment in American political history since Robert Taft’s Progressives in the early 20th century, FDR’s New Deal Democratic majority or the so-called “Reagan Revolution” in the late 70s and 80s.
Speaker Boehner can *both* end the government shutdown *and* effectively eliminate the Tea Party as a political influence by doing one bold thing — convince just 20 or so moderate Republicans to side with the Democratic minority to pass the CR. I’m sure out of 233, he can find 20. Were he to show the courage to split the GOP between its responsible members who actually care about legislating and its radical members who really love Dr. Seuss (hi Sen. Cruz!), he could potentially create a legacy as one of the most important Speakers in American history. I don’t see it happening, but damn Speaker Boehner — this is your chance to actually do what you were (in theory) hired to do: something good for the country.
Destructive Anachronism 