“my brain reeled as I saw the mighty walls rushing asunder” Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher

It was not the crashing collapse of the Republican elitist class but the shrill cracking of its domination of the party that reverberated through the press this weekend. The sudden announcement that the Republican House Speaker John Boehner would not only resign his speakership, but his seat as well, sent shock waves across the political spectrum. Usually such announcements are connected to some brewing scandal or personal tragedy. In this case it was neither.

The tides of political fortune were rising against him. For John Boehner and his cohorts, the stacks of broken promises towered over any they may of kept. Even when they feigned to have a back bone, it would only turn out to be all for show. Inevitably disappointment would come with the revelation that the establishment had planned to capitulate all along. For Boehner, the Planned Parenthood Scandal became a watershed moment between those for whom the need to get along is all encompassing, and the men and women for whom principles really matter.

It was not that John was a bad man, just that he could never quite decide whose side he was on. Standing up, he would make grandiose speeches that hit all the right notes, but they would be followed shortly there after by a plethora of backroom deals. By attempting to find middle ground, and maintain control, he came to represent the worst of political gamesmanship. The question asked in this latest debacle was, if the dissection of aborted babies to sale their parts, and in some cases even murder, was not reason enough to stand on principle, what was? To this Boehner and his cronies had no answer. That is because standing on principles had become a catch phrase, a platitude thrown out to the masses but without meaning.

The pressure that resulted in Boehner’s resignation is not just a Washington phenomenon. What the political punditry trying to divine the meaning of Boehner’s resignation is missing the bigger picture. It did not happen in a vacuum, nor is it just connected to the goings on inside the bubble of DC politics. The rise of Trump, Carson and Fiorina are not disconnected aberrations, but part of the equation. The pressure brought to bear came from a citizenry sick of what they have been seeing. On one hand the country has seen a far left political take over, and on the other an opposing party that has shown itself utterly inept at stopping it. For people like Boehner, they are caught in a vise, squeezed between the rising tide of a political revolution and their loyalty to the political establishment.

There should be no mistake, the revolution is not over. This is something that started under President Bush, and gained steam with Obama. The Tea Party is one of its creations, and so are the plethora of new conservative web sites and organizations. It is both a civil war within the Republican establishment and a war of ideas aimed solely at the Democrats. A two fronted conflict that sees no need to take prisoners.

Within this conflict there have been casualties on both sides, but the momentum has been on but one. The Tea Party primary strategy has removed from office many establishment loyalist, while others have survived utilizing lies and dubious tactics. When Republicans purchased the services of Democrat operatives to protect a Mississippi Senator’s seat it signaled a new all time low for American politics. For the Democrats, and the Republican establishment, their victories have been two edged. While they may of advanced an agenda or helped them cling to power, they have also fed the rage and strengthened the resolve of their adversaries.

Boehner’s resignation announcement at Value Voter’s Summit

Boehner’s resignation is likely to mean no more than Doolittle’s Tokyo raid. A small victory involving a skirmish in a drawn out conflict. Nonetheless, it has given something of inestimable value to those in the trenches, hope. A push back against the entrenched status quo for whom the only value held dear is that of power for its own sake. An army of citizens willing to take on the power brokers in one party in order to break the hold of suicidal idealist in the other.

For God and Country

“The Conservative Mind”

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