It's often hard to understand how House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) sees the world, but his whining at the Ripon Society this week seemed especially odd.
For those who can't watch clips online, this quote, which comes at the 9:56 mark, seemed the most newsworthy:
"[G]iven what we heard yesterday about the president's vision for his second term, it's pretty clear to me and should be clear to all of you that he knows he can't do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans. So we're expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party. And let me tell you, I do believe that is their goal -- to just shove us in the dustbin of history."
There's quite a bit to this. Boehner noted, for example, that President Obama can't achieve "any" of his policy goals so long as House Republicans maintain their majority (and since they've already rigged the congressional-district lines, they don't intend to cede that majority any time soon). This may have seemed like a throw-away line, but it's significant -- the policies the president addressed in his inaugural address enjoy strong public support, but as far as Boehner is concerned, less than a month into the new Congress and days into Obama's second term, the president's agenda is already a non-starter.
But it's the dramatic rhetoric about "annihilation" that raises eyebrows. As Boehner sees it, the even-keeled, technocratic Democrat, who's spent four years pursuing a fairly moderate agenda, endorsing Republican ideas, appointing Republicans to his cabinet, and expressing a willingness to compromise on practically everything, this guy has launched the audacious goal of "annihilating the Republican Party."
And how do we know this to be true? Because the often-confused House Speaker says so.
There is, however, a better, less fanciful, way of looking at the political landscape.
There are two competing political parties -- the president is the top elected official in one, Boehner is the top elected official in the other. The two leaders would like to lead the nation in different directions, but have an obligation to try to find some common ground.
Does Obama hope to defeat Republicans? Obviously, yes. Does he intend to "annihilate" the GOP? Well, no, not really. As best as I can tell, the president would be quite pleased, actually, if the radicalized Republican Party was brought back to the American mainstream, and stood ready to work constructively with other policymakers (i.e., Democrats) on finding solutions to public policy challenges.
If the party is unprepared to do serious work on serious issues, maybe it belongs in "the dustbin of history"?
Regardless, it appears the president's focus is on identifying challenges and solving them in a principled way. Republicans stand in the way of his success, which is why Obama is looking for ways to go around and/or through them, but that's a far cry from "annihilation."
Of course, arguably the most entertaining aspect of Boehner's complaint is the irony. As we discussed the other day, Republicans spent Obama's first term on a scorched-earth campaign, hoping to destroy his presidency and nearly everything he proposed. GOP leaders met privately exactly four years ago this to plot their comeback, focusing on obstructing the president wherever possible, and refusing to compromise with Obama on literally anything, even when he embraced Republican ideas.
Mitch McConnell famously boasted that his top goal -- above the economy, above national security, above everything -- was making sure Obama was "a one-term president." He and GOP colleagues then executed that plot without hesitation or shame.
And yet, this week, Boehner is whining that the president wants to annihilate them?
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Let's face it, the Republican Party has been slowly dying for the past 6 years. By embracing the hard core far-right and allowing the flavor of the moment Tea Party to get a foothold into the Party apparatus, and then consciously forcing out the more moderate members, the Republican Party has effectively painted itself into a corner.
There are people who still vote Republican because their father voted and their grandfather voted etc. etc., but those people are slowly realizing that Republican Party doesn't exist anymore. The Party of Reagan has turned its back on that legacy.
This a totally biased piece of crap as an article the author should be fired and banned from reporting. Referring to the Speaker of the House as "whining" when he was explaining his side. The media is practicing propaganda articles for the rise of the obama Empire. Similar to the KGB reporting. What kind of hold has obama over them? Threats? Taxes? What?? The media is bordering on the edge of criminal reporting. Are there any ethics remaining in the media? If so it surely is hidden. They should be ashamed of their reporting. Omitting many facts and adding there own as if they were factual when in reality the media like obama is usually lying.
For the love of Mike, @Vageorge, how is it that some ten years after the first blogs sprung up on the interwebs, you still don't understand the difference between a blog post and an actual newspaper article? Blogs largely exist to express a particular point of view. This is a blog. Please take your hysteria back over to "fair and balanced" Fox News. Oh, the irony!
Do they allow comments over there?
"Scorched earth" goes around, "annihilation" comes around.
.
What goes around, comes around.
Hey, Honkey, have you ever heard of the French Revolution? If you are real lucky, it won't be worse than that.
Oh goody!
One symptom of advanced alcoholism is paranoia.
Maybe I am stating the obvious here but, all this GOP whining about "Debt, debt, debt" seems like a transparent device aimed at de-funding and obstructing any progressive undertakings that involve spending money. If they were serious about their stance we would see them proposing cuts to the military, but I think these war hawks would die before they slashed military spending to pay for things like education and infrastructure. After all, their party benefits most from an uneducated and poverty ridden populace.
The one who is delusional is you. As everyone else knows the OP was talking about the dim wits who vote against their own handouts just so billionaires can get more handouts and somehow the dim wits believe that there will be a trickle down from Cayman Island tax havens. Here is a clue wealth does not trickle down instead the wealthy hoard their wealth and hide it while demanding more from tax payers, that is why they are wealthy and you are not.
Honkey isn't delusional, he's aggressively malicious.
Thank you for proving my point.
Except you leave out the fact that red states are the biggest welfare states. But then I see you are playing that good old game of pulling percentages out of the air with no source to back your claim up.
Hey whom.....long time no chat...gotta admit ...it's not the same on the Ed Blog without you....I don't like the new format either...but I don't know many of the folks on the Maddow Blog....
So do you think that Obama intends to annihilate the GOP? I don't ....I think they have hurt themselves for the most part.....
Obama doesn't have to annihilate the GOP. The GOP will do that themselves.
OK, so we’re talking about a political party that fights to protect the Second Amendment rights of felons and the mentally ill to keep and bear arms, while simultaneously fighting to rig elections and prevent legal citizens from voting.
The dustbin of history can’t arrive soon enough.
On a related note: I think it’s time for a new Constitutional Amendment stating “The will of the people shall not be infringed”. The left clearly has the “will of the people” on its side regarding policy matters and national elections. The right clearly has the other “shall not be infringed” folks on theirs.
Which do you suspect our Founding Fathers would prefer to take precedence?
Which constitution is that whitey the one that GWB said was only fit for toilet paper or your version were there is only 1 amendment, the 2nd, Which you get wrong 100% of the time.
Those on the right typically pretend that their rights are absolute, and that they can do anything they want to anybody they don't like.
We already know what your argument, just most sane people don't buy the insanity you try to sell.
Actually, Boehner may have a point. The Reds made a strategic decision four years ago: "Rule or Ruin." They bet the farm on making a total failure of the Obama Presidency by trashing the country in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and blaming it on the Democrats.
If things had worked out according to plan, they would have gotten control of the House and Senate in 2010, and 2012 would have given them the Presidency and a solid majority on the Supreme Court. At that point, they could have done at the National level what we've seen going on in the States: engineering the electoral process to make for the "Permanent Conservative Majority" that eluded them under GW Bush.
Oh, demographics would eventually catch up with them, but with reversal of the Voting Rights Act and across-the-board gerrymandering and splitting EC votes in blue States, it would have taken a very long time. Very likely longer than the lifetimes of any of the leading players in the Party.
Obama didn't play according to that script, and by doing so may well have ensured a disastrous decade (or perhaps a few generations) of Republican irrelevance. Not by what he has done, or plans to do -- but simply by existing, and by denying the Republicans what they themselves see as their only (if slim) chance at power.
No wonder they hate him.
Obama doesn't have to annihilate the GOP - they are doing a fine job of it themselves as evidenced that they haven't learned anything from the election. This from the folks that claimed their number one goal was to keep Obama from being reelected. And the house DID NOTHING for 4 years except pass some 33 anti abortion bills and voted uselessly many times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Boehner - go cry over that!
Leave it to the Rip-One society to come up with this alcoholic A-hole to speak..
It takes one to know one, or in your case, to pretend to know one.
The current POG party is a disgrace to itself and it's own history. It is a party the can no longer govern or even participate in governance. There are no "respectively disagree" situations because there is no respect. An occasional glimmer, maybe, but then it has to be completely overwhelmed with vileness, else the Limbaugh's get restless. It needs to, and is, imploding--and trying to take the country with it. Yes, the party of Lincoln championing "state's rights". Truly sad.
Isn't there a chapter of AA for members of Congress? If not, he really needs to start one.
Certainly, another tax-payer funded peice of pork, a special AA group, with leather chairs and parking slots and 5-star coffee?
The President's SECRET plan to annihilate the GOP?
STAND BACK AND WATCH.
And the problem is?
The Republican Party is doing a fine job of annihilating themselves, all they have to do is continue spewing the same vile rhetoric, and policy proposals that cost them the 2012 election. Despite the redistricting, that was the only reason they maintained control of the House, they will eventually lose that as well. The Republican belief system and ideology is losing popularity with it's own members because media technology is showing the reality of what it really represents, and the majority of the American people are repulsed by it.
There is a transparency about Republican complaints: if they are concerned about annihilation, it is because they practice annihilation (witness Virginia's gerrymander); if they are concerned about voter fraud, it is because they practice voter fraud (witness the last election where they attempted to prevent voters from voting); if they fear a biased media, it is because they practice biased media-ship (witness Fox News trying to bankroll a Petraeus Presidential run); it goes on and on. Watch what is complained about to see what they are doing themselves.
The GOP has already been shoved into the dustbin by the TeaParty and by the GOP's kissing their asses.
Read between the lines. Boehner is predicting the demise of the Republican party! His last gasp is an attempt to the shift blame away from himself and other Republicans who have caused the rifts.
Dear Speaker Boehner:
Why should Obama try to annihilate the GOP?
Y'all are doing such a fine job of it all by yourselves!
GOOD!
The sooner the better.
ACTUALLY the Republican Cartel is SELF DESTRUCTING!
They do not need any assistance from the Democrats.
Mr. Dickerson from CBS said as much the other day.The destruction of the GOP that is and he, in a round about way said Obama can count on his aid in every way.The media has had a hard on for the Republicans for a long time.Now they have their David to slay the giant.Mr. Speaker is a little late on this revelation.
The Republicans themselves are doing the job of annihilating the GOP. They don't need any help from progressives or Democrats.
Almost 4 years of obstruction, and we missed the chance to fix part of it.
Fix the House in 2014.
I am a daily viewer of Hardball (Chris Matthews), The Ed Show, TRMS, and The Last Word (Lawrence O'donnell) and cannot believe that there is not more outrage on what went on in the Senate today where the Senate failed to take more complete action to streamline filibuster rules. Bottom line, the Senate is broke and the Congress is broke and this is not just a thing that the Republicans should take blame. There is more than enough blame to go around and Harry Reid in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House should not be spared from this criticism. Ed is outraged, Rachel tonight reported the news from the Senate like business as usual. Rachel where is your outrage??!! You have the culprit - Harry Reid but in my opinion you played down the fact that he is a Democrat. I normally love Rachel's reporting, but in all due respect to her, her reporting fell short on this Senate filibuster issue. Lawrence O'donnell, another one of my favorites, instead of coming down on one of his fellow-democratic Senators, Harry Reid, for his operation of the Senate on the filibuster issue, he chooses to put the focus on "Tom Selleck"? Do not get me wrong, I prefer MSNBC reporting over FOX News, however, on this filibuster issue in the Senate they are giving the Democratic Senator, Harry Reid, a pass. Again, where is the outrage? Bottom line the NRA owns Harry Reid and you should call him out and others out for it.