Tough days for the Orange Man

These are challenging days for Speaker John Boehner. And its not just because this week he had a "guess who's coming to dinner" moment (LOL).

Perhaps you've heard how Eric Cantor's efforts to try to sabotage Obamacare instead of repeal it kicked off an internal battle with the Republican lunatic caucus and wound up with the bill being pulled from a vote on the House floor. But you won't get the full picture on what an embarrassment that all was until you read this summary of the email battles over the whole thing.

The collapse of the bill was a humiliating defeat for a leadership team that has struggled for years to keep its conference in line and is a testament to the continuing tenuous grip they have on their members.

"It's the outside groups' obsession," said a senior Republican aide, complaining that pressure from these groups was directly responsible for members abandoning their leader.

"We built this. We built our majority in 2010 on this. And now it may consume us," the GOP aide said Wednesday.

Wow! I couldn't have said it better myself. In 2010 the Republicans rode the wave of lunacy and now its consuming them.

Immigration reform is next up on the agenda. With both McCain and Rubio standing by the Senate bi-partisan proposal, someone is going to have to breech the divide in the Republican ranks between them and the lunatic caucus in the House that can't countenance a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers.

Finally, even if they manage to get through all of that intact, there is the looming debt ceiling issue that will arise yet again over the next few months. Republicans know now that President Obama isn't going to play games on that one so they have zero leverage. But its still a fight the lunatics are demanding.

“The one real frustrating thing is that the impending [debt-limit debate] that we’re about to have — there’s no plan for that. There’s no meeting, no discussions ...” the Republican lawmaker said.

So the lunatics are itching for a fight and Speaker Boehner doesn't seem to want to play. Different issue, same conclusion.

John Feehery, a former aide to ex-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and a columnist for The Hill, defended the House GOP leadership: “When the followers don’t follow the leader, it weakens the team..."

What's most appalling about all this is that - in the midst of this kind of incompetence battling lunacy - anyone with even a few brain cells would be talking about the shortcomings of President Obama's skills at governing. Until Republican leadership finally tells these lunatics to sit down and STFU, let there be no doubt about what's broken in our political system right now.