The Speaker Has Left The House

Official portrait of United States House Speaker (R-Ohio). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pope Francis is in the United States right now, in case you haven't noticed.  So far he's visited Washington and spoke to a joint session of Congress.  As this is being published, His Holiness is in New York City, having addressed the United Nations and holding Mass at Madison Square Garden.  Then he's off to Philadelphia for a family conference before going home.

No doubt the Pope's visit has influenced the many lives of those who have come from far and wide just to get a glimpse of him.  This includes John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives and third in line for presidential succession.  The day after the Pope made his historic address inside the House chamber, Boehner rocked the political world by announcing his resignation as Speaker and as a member of Congress, effective at the end of October.

The Ohio Republican--he of the perpetual tan and a noted tendency to cry a lot--has served in Congress since 1991, and has been Speaker since after the GOP took control of the House in the 2010 elections.  Boehner said in a news conference that he made his decision after meeting with Pope Francis following his address, then prayed on it.  He said he had planned to resign at the end of the year, but events forced him to move up the timetable.

Boehner, a conservative who as Speaker has had numerous run-ins with President Barack Obama and other "my way or the highway" Republicans over his fiscal policy and his leadership--to the point of shutting down the U.S. government, apparently reached his limit when some of the more conservative members of his party tried to shut down the government again over funding for Planned Parenthood.  They wanted Boehner to take a harder line on the issue, but he said he just couldn't go through with that again.

The GOP is in complete disarray right now.  The Tea Party faction is willing to stop the U.S. government from doing its job for idiotic reasons, disrupting the lives of those who work for them or otherwise depend on it to function.  They're so far right that Dwight Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan would be considered Democrats today.  So who are the leading candidates in the GOP presidential race?  Donald Trump. Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson.  Businesspeople who have never held political office before.  That's how screwed up the Republicans are, and why few of them are sad to see Boehner go.

Kevin McCarthy, a California congressman and House Majority Leader who also happens to be Boehner's deputy, is considered the early favorite to be the next Speaker. 

Now that John Boehner is putting Congress in the rear view mirror, it'll be interesting to see if anything changes in Washington before and after the 2016 elections.  As it stands right now, it's going to take more than just a visit from Pope Francis to get those from the far left and right to come together for the good of the country.

It's going to take a miracle.