John Boehner is the Speaker of the House in name only.
The Tea Party fanatics are in charge of that chamber, and they have voted to shut down the government in an effort to extort the defunding of the Affordable Care Act.
Boehner couldn't stop them, so he joined them, showing a stunning lack of courage and leadership. He is not a leader, but a follower -- over the cliff.
It's not even good politics, in the narrowest sense, since President Obama and the Democrats will come out of this stronger, and the Republicans weaker.
According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, a whopping 72 percent of Americans don't want the government shut down over Obamacare. And most Americans (55 percent) blame the Republicans for the gridlock, and only 33 percent blame Obama.
On Monday, Obama forcefully pointed out the crazed character of the House vote.
"This is a law that passed both Houses of Congress, a law that bears my signature, a law that the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional, a law that voters chose not to repeal last November," he said.
And he noted that it would hurt hundreds of thousands of federal employees who are our neighbors.
The longer this drags on, the more the Republicans will suffer.
And Boehner has himself to blame for failing to stand up to the Tea Party that is destroying the Republican Party.
If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the Senior editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story Oh, No, Not Peace!
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