Speaker of the House Boehner Announces Resignation 406
halfEvilTech writes: House Speaker John A. Boehner announced Friday morning that he will resign at the end of October. The Washington Post reports: "The resignation will end a nearly five-year reign as speaker, allowing House Republicans to approve a short-term government funding bill that will avert a shutdown of federal agencies. Boehner's hold on the speaker's gavel had grown increasingly unsteady amid threats from more than 30 Republicans that they would force a no-confidence vote in his speaker's position, which would have forced him to rely on Democratic votes in order to remain in charge. Several GOP members told The Washington Post that Boehner would step down from Congress Oct. 31."
House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:2, Informative)
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Informative)
He might have been Republican in name but seemed to vote more like a democrat.
If you're not with us you're against us, eh? If you look at a graph [govtrack.us], he's moderate. "More like a Democrat"? You can be moderate, you know. For a site that rails against the two party system, the comments seem to want to reinforce it.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't you know? If you're a moderate, then you are like a Democrat. The Republican party is far-right extremist, and "the left" no longer exists. Even "socialist" Bernie Sanders is only about as far left as Eisenhower.
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I'm slightly intrigued by the proximity of this announcement to the Papal visit. I know Boehner's said he wanted to quit last time, but only stayed on because Cantor got the boot. And the hardliners in his own party have been circling like wolves to unseat him as Speaker. But is there a chance that he was wavering on this decision, and something about the Pope's visit prompted him to get off the fence?
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I understand all that, my question is why announce it now? Is he trying to "bury the story" under the Papal news cycle? (Fat chance!) I suspect he'll pitch it more as a "come to Jesus" moment, inspired by the Pope. Not that it matters much, he's leaving in any case. I'm just curious to see how it plays out.
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Is he trying to "bury the story" under the Papal news cycle?
wait, papal split from ebay a month or two ago, didn't they?
why is this news, now? did something happen?
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Actually, he already got a private meeting with the Pope. Then he announced his retirement.
Maybe the Pope tweaked his conscience. Or whatever politicians use in place of one.
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According to the news reports the Pope did whisper something to him. No one knows what was said except for the pope and Boehner.
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Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Informative)
Speaking as a Democrat, I'm happy to see that the R's gave in on abortion, funded women's health care, stopped oil subsidies, went along with a single payer health care system, cut back on war funding, funded basic infrastructure, etc etc etc. Oh wait, that never happened.
What did the Democrats get that they wanted? I'm dying to know. That's a big statement. Let's see it backed up.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Interesting)
There are a couple issues the republicans have gone so far to the right that they actually accomplished a far Left policy goal. Berny Sanders has been trying to shutdown the EXIM (Export/Import) Bank for almost a decade and was always thwarted by the Republicans and blue dog democrats. In their effort to be as far right as possible the Tea Party Republicans actually accomplished one of the Sanders policy goals. It's almost Ironic if it weren't funny and tragic at the same time. We've already lost 1000 jobs shutting down a bank that made the treasury money.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
Because contraceptives have other uses than just preventing pregnancy. For example, oral contraceptives lower women's ovarian cancer risk, clears up acne, lighter menstruation, reduction in PMS symptoms, relief from endometriosis, and relief from polycystic ovarian syndrome.
They also serve as a pretty effective form of birth control. But when a woman is advised by her doctor to use oral contraceptives for any of the above conditions (or anything else), and reasonably wants them to be covered by her insurance, she gets Rush Limbaugh calling her a slut. Personally, I think if we can manage to cover boner pills with medical insurance, we can probably cover birth control pills also, regardless of the reason a woman wants to take them.
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The revelation that Planned Parenthood rotates the baby to be able to harvest more body parts - and sells such parts for profit - doesn't sit right with us.
Oh, then you'll be happy to know that that doesn't happen and has never happened.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Interesting)
I always get a kick out of this partisan "give them everything" BS that's always quoted. The essence of deal making is no one gets everything they want. There are people on the right like yourself that fail to acknowledge one simple fact. That is that the republicans do not have the votes necessary to override the democrats against their wishes. The solution you propose is to simply refuse to play as if that's a solution. A solution with only one outcome, you shutdown government, put millions out of work, cost millions more and damage the US economy in the process in the hope that the Democrats will roll over and give you everything you want.
So Boehner is going to do the smart thing and quit before the Republican's shut down government yet again and piss off even more Voters with the resulting cost of loss of seats and less power for the party. You and the republicans like you represent the decline and eventual destruction of the republican party.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Interesting)
You must have missed Obama going out of his way to refuse to negotiate with the Republicans over the last government shutdown.
And why should he? The "government shutdown" is Congress refusing to pay for bills Congress ran up. What possible benefit to the POTUS is there in playing with them on this? If they were offering something the Democrats might like in exchange it might be different. But sticking a gun to your own head and demanding my car keys isn't going to get you a "negotiation".
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Informative)
They didn't just want a "negotiation" they wanted him to bend over and let them ass rape him by destroying his single biggest policy achievement. There was no way in hell he was going to agree to that. That's the thing people just aren't getting. If you want to change status quo you have to negotiate. Everything the Republican's have been trying to do it change the current status quo and no one in their right mind is going to agree to such a thing under a threat of refusing to fund government.
This is how Obama-care got through, Obama negotiated with the 1 or 2 republicans willing to negotiate that got him the votes he needed to break the fillibuster and pass it. Then all these new congress-critters from the tea party come in and they think they get to have whatever they want and screw everyone else.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
No one should ever negotiate on the debt ceiling. The time to talk about spending too much is when you want to open the wallet and buy things. It's a bit late to for that discussion when your new TV is sitting in the living room and you're wondering if you want to bother paying the credit card bill for it that just arrived.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Insightful)
this was their idea of negotiation: give us everything we want, and fuck you.
not playing by those rules is not refusing to negotiate.
and linking to the Washington Times only lowers your apparent IQ.
So then (Score:2)
We simply have this again, albeit not by Obama [flickr.com]
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I am a staunch conservative, but I'm not so partisan as to think that people who are equally disposed from the center on the liberal side of things have "no good intentions".
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The debt is caused by the Republicans. Democrats want to spend and tax, Republicans want to spend and hope somebody else pays for it later.
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That graph does show him to the left of literally every other Republican, though, however they measure "ideology". I didn't read through the methodology.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Informative)
For a site that rails against the two party system, the comments seem to want to reinforce it.
This site rails against the two party system only in that they find the other party (ie, the democrats) to be an inconvenience that they need to rid the nation of. Around here if you stand to the left of Genghis Khan you're a goddamned socialist.
This is of course particularly funny when you see slashdotters twist themselves into knots trying to align themselves with Reagan (who is far too far to the left to be welcomed in today's GOP) while still pushing their extreme conservative agenda.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Insightful)
Being a moderate would require being to the left of most elected Democrats. If you'd said he was a mean politician, however, it would be hard to argue.
(Possibly median, but it seems to me to be closer to the mean. And by politician I'm only considering elected legislators in the Federal Government.)
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
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cooperated with Tip O'Neil and the Democrats to get things done
That's the important part. Neither party can get anything done unless they sit down and and cut deals. Obama, Pelosi and Reed proved that.
No president can raise or lower taxes (Score:5, Insightful)
Reagan also cut more taxes than anyone in history (dangerous facts)
No president has ever cut taxes or raised them. That's the responsibility of Congress. The President can suggest tax policies and can veto them but ultimately it is up to Congress to actually affirm or deny them. Now admittedly the President does have substantial influence on tax policy but saying Reagan or any other president raised taxes is technically incorrect. You could correctly say that he supported a tax increase or opposed one and that would be factual.
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... and lets not forget that Reagan supported the tax increase only as a compromise with Congressional Democrats, who repaid Reagan by conveniently "forgetting" to uphold their promise to reduce spending.
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he was the driving force behind at least a few of them; they're his.
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Are you aware of these 535 people called "Congress"? They negotiate and pass bills. The President just signs or vetoes them.
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President Obama took a page out of the Clinton Playbook by making the Republican agenda his own.
What are the 2016 Republican presidential candidates talking about these days? Not foreign policy, not taxes and not Obamacare.
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He might have been Republican in name but seemed to vote more like a democrat.
Hardly. He did tend to vote moderate though, which extremists tend to find uncomfortable.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
Gotta call Poe's Law on this one...
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Do you not understand that under the category of "extreme" is "extremely good"?
Moderation is the mixing of poison and food..
Moderation is making a dam only moderately strong.
Moderation is a 747 pilot who's only moderately sober.
Drinking Alcohol (a poison) with dinner is moderation.
Building a dam moderately strong to specifications and not ruin the surrounding area due to over engineer is considered appropriate..
Moderately sober 747 pilot, that would be a step up for the normally drunk pilot, right?
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Exactly how does a "real" Republican vote in a way that's in the best interests for all?
Real politics is one of compromise... and I haven't seen a TPR (Tea Party Republican) do that in a long time.
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Yeah, or he was trying to do that thing called 'governing.'
After the elections are over, the Congress needs to actually work together and compromise in order to enact legislation to keep government working. You can't just stamp your feet and demand you always get your way - that's not governing, and results in the completely dysfunctional shitty government we have today.
Oh, I know what you're thinking: "I'd rather have a gridlocked government than one that passes this socialist marxist yadda blah blah" - k
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
You say "gridlock" like it's a bad thing.
Every time Congress does anything, more of our rights and more of our money disappear.
They can all take a good long vacation, if you ask me.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
That would be perfect if Congress didn't have to vote once or twice a year for the government to stay open.
Unfortunately, they seem incapable of that even.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Informative)
It just kills me when I see comments like this, especially when they get modded up. You people have no idea how much the government does that would immediately cease if the government completely shutdown. You might miss border control with unregulated crossing of the US borders, you might miss consular assistance if you're in a jam abroad, you might miss the justice department enforcing a breach of contract you are involved in, you might miss the coast guard if your ship sinks in US territorial waters, you might miss the FAA when suddenly there is no air traffic control. These are all things that are inherently government functions that would cease immediately if the government just stopped. And this is only what I could think of off the top of my head in 60 seconds--the max amount of my life I'm willing to waste responding to drivel on the internet.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
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You say "gridlock" like it's a bad thing.
Every time Congress does anything, more of our rights and more of our money disappear.
They can all take a good long vacation, if you ask me.
You might have to join them if your job requires government funding and they force another shutdown.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
and meanwhile thousands of families lose their livelihood to shutdowns and furloughs because 535 people can't work together to get anything done for the 320 million people that sent them there to do a job they refuse to do.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Interesting)
You just insulted every soldier.
Keep that in mind every time you rant against Federal employees (the largest batch of which is soldiers). And a shutdown WILL harm soldiers, particularly the ones that work for the state guard units funded by federal moneies that will NOT have their wages paid. My nephew in law is a state guardsman, the last shutdown cost him almost a 1/12th of his yearly pay. They almost ended up homeless.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Informative)
Obama will veto anything that the Republicans do anyway, even if it were to get past a filibuster in the Senate.
Anything? Obama said he will veto if a bill has something to defund Planned Parenthood. If the Republicans let go of the whole defund Planned Parenthood thing, Obama more than likely will go along.
It's a shame that heavily edited video came out. PP mostly does women's health screening: pap smears, breast exams, free birth control so they don't have to get abortions, and other free health services that have nothing to do with abortion - all for poor women and it's 99% of what they do. PP does very very little abortions. But unfortunately, the anti-abortionists insist on lying about and exaggerating their abortion services.
But I don't care. See, I'm well to do. If a woman in my family want's an abortion and it's illegal, we'll hop on a plane and get it done where it's legal and there's not a goddamn thing in the World anyone can do about it.
Banning abortion just commits poor women to have their babies.
And the adoption myth. Adoption is viable for white healthy babies. The rest get thrown into the foster care system or into abusive families who are gaming the welfare system.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:5, Insightful)
Obamacare would have done much to reduce the need for Planned Parenthood's rural healthcare services had states actually expanded Medicaid as the law required. Because so many states with Republican controlled legislatures and governors offices refused to support the medicaid expansion planned parenthood's services are still needed by many poor women.
Your argument is without merit until the medicaid expansion is fulfilled.
Re:House loses most staunch Democrat (Score:4, Informative)
You failed to read my response. Planned Parenthood isn't the only choice. There are PLENTY of other Woman's Health Centers out there, most don't perform abortion. And I suggested expanding coverage for these. So your view is simply binary choice selection, which is what I said in the first place.
Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)
Speaker of the House Boehner Cashes In (Score:3)
So which corporation will now fork over the board positions and stock bonuses that they've been promising? It's called cashing in. Politicians are doing it younger these days so that they have more time to enjoy their ill gotten wealth.
I'm afraid (Score:5, Insightful)
that this will leave the insane tea partiers in charge of the asylum that is the House of Representatives. It's like the last adult is leaving the room.
Hopefully McConnell and Pelosi are next. (Score:5, Insightful)
Good tidings (Score:2)
Coincedence or crisis of conscience? (Score:5, Interesting)
Boehner is a devout Catholic.
Boehner invited the Pope to speak before Congress.
During the Pope's address to the Congress, an address that specifically rebuked many Republican stances* Boehner has supported, Boehner was visibly crying.
The day after the Pope's address, Boehner announces his resignation.
We should wait and see what he actually does next following his resignation, but a part of me can't help but hope that he saw the light finally, that he saw the discrepancies between the faith he claimed, and the party he was part of for so long. One can hope.
(*yes I know he chastised both sides)
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My money is on he finally got a clue of the upcoming train wreck that will be the GOP and decided he didn't want to be one of the engineers driving the engine.
Re:Coincedence or crisis of conscience? (Score:5, Insightful)
Possibly, but Boehner tends to cry at the drop of a hat.
Certainly, there may have been a causal link between the pope's message and the timing of his resignation, but I'm guessing that its mostly cover so that he can resign with dignity before the imminent infighting in the Republican caucus caused him to get fired.
He did suggest that he was planning on resigning until Eric Cantor got beaten. I can believe that because Cantor's loss was a big upset and it was likely that Cantor would have been an immediate front runner for the Speaker job. Boehner could certainly have decided to ride it out after that in the interests of continuity. I'm just not sure that it ended up helping, but it may have given him some more time to get someone else lined up who isn't a Tea Partier.
The Pope Did It For Him (Score:2)
Boehner to Pope: "Holy Father, I can't take this anymore."
Pope to Boehner: "Life is short, my son. Dump these idiots and learn to drive a truck."
Re:Coincedence or crisis of conscience? (Score:5, Insightful)
Boehner is a devout Catholic. Boehner invited the Pope to speak before Congress. During the Pope's address to the Congress, an address that specifically rebuked many Republican stances* Boehner has supported, Boehner was visibly crying.
Boehner has invited THREE Popes to speak before Congress. It is something he has hoped to facilitate for many years. He finally succeeded, and I suspect that was a greater source of his emotion than any sort of crisis of conscience you may imagine.
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Boehner also told the lawmakers that Pope Francis' visit to Congress the day before was a crystallizing moment, according to the lawmaker. Boehner then read the prayer of St. Francis to the conference after announcing his decision.
So yes, it looks like you were actually right on the money. It was going to happen eventually, but as to why today? The Pope did this.
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Give me a fucking break.
Re:Coincedence or crisis of conscience? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm with you on that. While I've never followed any Pope's activities before, his humble nature and the points he chooses to focus on have elevated my opinion of the man to nearly a point of reverence. The head of the church with a reasonable position on just about every issue he takes on? Remarkable This is a guy that I believe is truly seeking whats best for us all and sees the world as it is. Now if only more of us can follow his lead and release the entrenchment that has dominated for far too long.
Re:Coincedence or crisis of conscience? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm with you. Pope Francis is an incredible man who has demonstrated an ability to change the world with the influence of his words. I think it was a crisis of confidence.
I'm an Atheist btw. Considering calling myself Catholic though as a result of this Pope.
Calling yourself Catholic for that reason is kinda crazy...
I agree that Pope Francis is an incredible man. I'm not amazed that there exist a few christians like him who read the gospels, rather than just the old testament and Paul. But I am truly astounded that the cardinals selected him.
Good Riddance (Score:5, Insightful)
Do Nothing Congress (Score:2)
His replacement might be worse and the House of Representatives may get even less done.
Is that actually possible? Seems like the only thing they do is have repeated pointless votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act and de-fund Planned Parenthood along with periodically trying (and even succeeding once) to shut down the federal government over the spending cap.
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If they do shut down the government, does that count as doing something? Or even more not doing something? It's so confusing.
Re:Good Riddance (Score:5, Insightful)
Lawmakers can fix broken laws, and even repeal them.
But you were just playing to the peanut gallery, weren't you?
Don't blame him (Score:4)
I never would have guessed this day would come (Score:5, Funny)
"... amid threats from more than 30 Republicans that they would force a no-confidence vote in his speaker's position..."
Wow! I never knew politics could be as exciting as a Star Wars movie!
I mean, yeah, the most boring part of the most boring one, but still...
like drug dealers (Score:3)
Lesson learned (Score:3)
Translation / Correction (Score:2)
"The resignation will end a nearly five-year reign as speaker"
Translation: "The resignation will end a nearly five-year reign as a lame, inept, orange-colored buffoon who couldn't get his own fucking party to back his loopy ideas."
His "leading by resigning" strategy follows that of Sarah Palin and Scott Walker.
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Well... (Score:2)
Goodbye House, Welcome Solarium!
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Does it matter? They'll be just as crazy as the rest.
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2014 midterm. D'oh!
Re:Boehner QA (Score:5, Insightful)
Expected outcome: End to gridlock, new era of bipartisan cooperation, intelligent debate, and compromise.
Nobody expects that. The reason he is being pushed out, is that he is perceived by the right as compromising too much.
Re:Boehner QA (Score:4, Insightful)
Great. So the new guy elected Speaker either does the same out of the necessity to keep the government functional at any level, or completely destroys the Republican brand with a new completely unnecessary shutdown which only ends when he capitulates anyway.
We've seen this before, and it won't work. Boehner was right to get out now.
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Great. So the new guy elected Speaker either does the same out of the necessity to keep the government functional at any level, or completely destroys the Republican brand with a new completely unnecessary shutdown which only ends when he capitulates anyway.
That is the Republican brand now: get elected on a platform that consists entirely of refusing to do your fucking job. This applies to Congressmen, and all the way down to county clerks.
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That is the Republican brand now: get elected on a platform that consists entirely of refusing to do your fucking job. This applies to Congressmen, and all the way down to county clerks.
On the plus side, at least they're telling the truth while campaigning now. I still remember W campaigning on a platform of "fiscal responsibility, trustworthiness, and no nation building". Then we got the deficit, WMD in Iraq, and, well, Iraq.
Not that democrats are perfect, but when they say they'll try to raise taxes and increase social spending, they ain't lying.
But I'm amazed at the people who are mad that Boehner didn't singlehandedly dismantle Obamacare/taxes/immigration/the Kenyan Dictator. He did
Re:Boehner QA (Score:5, Insightful)
I wish the people who wave the constitution would occasionally read the damn thing
The same goes for the Bible, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.
Re:Boehner QA (Score:5, Insightful)
The Constitution hasn't been enforced in a long time.
As originally written? Damn good thing, too. Slaves counting three fifths of a person, no women's suffrage, no birthright citizenship, appointed Senators, poll taxes: the original constitution was a fucking shambles, and took quite a few amendments to get functioning properly as the foundation for a modern government.
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Kim Davis is a Democrat.
Show me one Democrat (aside from her) who is defending her choice to not carry out the duties of her office.
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Kim Davis is a batshit crazy superstitionist who allowed herself to be elected to a position she wasn't, and isn't, qualified to hold. Identifying her as a "Democrat" or "Republican" is about as relevant to what she's been up to as identifying a serial killer as a stamp collector.
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Right, and Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz flew down for photo ops in support of her liberal ideology.
Re:Boehner QA (Score:5, Informative)
Kim Davis is a Democrat.
Not any more! [thehill.com]
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Re:Boehner QA (Score:5, Funny)
THE BRAIN SAID : Since I control everything and do all the work I should be boss.
THE FEET SAID: Since I carry man where he wants to go and get him to do what the Brain wants, I should be boss.
THE HANDS SAID: Since I must do all the work and earn all the money to keep all the rest of you going, I should be boss.
THE EYES SAID: Since I must look out for all of you and tell you where danger lurks, I should be boss.
And so it went with the Heart, the Ears, and the Lungs.
Finally the Asshole spoke up and demanded that he be boss. All the other parts laughed and laughed at the idea of an asshole being boss.
The Asshole was so angered that he blocked himself off and refused to function. Soon the Brain was feverish, the Eyes crossed and ached, the Feet were too weak to walk, the Hands hung limply at his side, the Heart and Lungs struggled to keep going.
All pleaded with the Brain to relent and let the Asshole be boss, and so it happened. All parts did the work and the Asshole just bossed and passed out a lot of shit.
MORAL: You don't have to be a brain to be boss, just an Asshole.
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Tea Partiers grinding their gears really grinds my gears.
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I'd be scared shitless right now if I was a moderate Republican.
All the moderate republicans are running as democrats, Clinton, Biden...
Re:Government shutdown ahoy (Score:5, Insightful)
A large and increasing portion of Americans realize that their financial health is threatened by immigrants and their very existence is threatened by Muslim terrorists.
Please elaborate on exactly how "Muslim terrorists" constitute an existential threat to America. More people die if bathtub falls and choking [usnews.com] than die in terrorist attacks.
Many smaller, less stable countries deal with far larger rates of things like suicide bombings without their societies being destroyed. Is America that fragile?
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A large and increasing portion of Americans realize that their financial health is threatened by immigrants and their very existence is threatened by Muslim terrorists.
Please elaborate on exactly how "Muslim terrorists" constitute an existential threat to America.
Their evil clock kinda-maybe-bomb-like devices will kill us all! Or at least kill the people with bad heart conditions and worse brain conditions.
For that matter, how is our financial health threatened by immigrants? By all reasonable studies, immigrants improve the economies where they live and work, and deporting all of the illegal immigrants would cause a major hit to our economy.
Re:Government shutdown ahoy (Score:5, Informative)
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On the contrary; the only real threat to America and freedom is bigoted idiotic cowards like you.
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A large and increasing portion of Americans realize that their financial health is threatened by immigrants and their very existence is threatened by Muslim terrorists. They also realize that Democrats are encouraging these dangerous things. Tea Partiers, Republicans generally, and anyone not suicidal or delusional will vote for the most pro-America, pro-freedom candidate they can find.
A large and increasing portion of Americans realize that their financial health is hardly threatened by fruit & vegetable pickers and that their very existence is scarcely threatened by terrorists of any ilk. They also realize that fear-mongering Republicans are encouraging these calculated lies. Your day of reckoning is rapidly approaching.