Three weeks ago 19 US senators climbed a hill and put their swords in the ground, declaring that promontory for conservatism, holding it for others still to come.
Two days ago, 144 (that’s right, 144) Republican congressmen and women climbed that same hill, staking out a flag that will be seen by all of us for many weeks and months to come.
While representing only 40% of the Republicans in the Senate, the significance of those first 19 in the Senate, which we reported on then, has become reality, for in the debt ceiling surrender this weekend, they were joined by a full 62% of the Republicans in the House of Representatives.
That’s right, 62%, and yes, I know, you’re scratching your head “How did we lose then?” but the answer to that will play itself out in coming weeks.
But today, Rejoice Dear Hearts! for this was a victory for conservatism. This is the story the media missed, and will continue to miss as long as any other story they can concoct, e.g., the Immigration debate, can be placed center-stage, or if Putin wins a second Person-of-the-Year award at Time Magazine in December.
The real news is that conservatives control 59% of the entire GOP in Congress, and while there will be some ebb and flow in that number in coming weeks and months, it will be likely to grow without any help from us, thanks to both Obama and Obamacare. He is, after all, incompetent, so can’t help it.
So, the real story is what those 144 Republicans are going to do in coming weeks, not what John Boehner is going to do in coming weeks. The real story is whether they will even let John Boehner keep his job. Or at what price? The real story is, once this reality sinks in, how many of the 87 who crossed over to vote with Democrats on the McConnell-Reid knee-pads-across-the-aisle compromise, will cross over a second time? Since most aren’t RINOs, just followers of the herd, not likely. Most will follow power as it slips from one wing of the party to the other.
And to be fair, there were many reasons, even good ones, why many of those 87 voted Yes instead of No, or why Portman of Ohio and Deb Fischer of Nebraska crossed back over in the Senate.
They may have good reasons. And they will get other chances to prove it. But what they will have to do the 144 will not, is go back home and have to explain their vote to their constituents. Maybe even twice. Then pity virtually every poor Democrat who will have to do this as well, for very few of them are safe either, thanks to Obamacare.
NOW WE HAVE LEADERSHIP
Now we have leaders. Now we have leadership. And our flag has been planted. We have a real Liberty Caucus, although a better name can be found. But please, just not “Tea Party,” if for no other reason than to confound the media, who are none too bright about catching hold of old concepts when wrapped up in new nomenclature. (They still haven’t figured the word “default” out, although, in their defense, it does involve math.) Pilgrim suggests Band of Brothers (and Sisters) which is a capital idea to me, for the media will think they’re speaking of an old HBO series or a new music group on Broadway. Or Cruz, or Lee, or Hensarling, or Gohmert can simply step forward and say “Me and the boys and girls were thinking…”, leaving the air pregnant with just who “me and the boys” are.
Between the option of dumping Boehner or holding onto him, only in thrall, I favor the former, only because I lived near his district in Ohio, and remember him from the Contract With America days. On that basis I defended him for the first two years. But he;s changed. He no longer has the fire in his belly. And hasn’t for a long time. I feel jilted.
As for Eric Cantor, I don’t see him as a choirmaster in any new House leadership. Let him go. I like Hensarling and Gohmert, Sessions, Sensenbrenner, and others, with an added nod to Louis Gohmert only because it would put Senator McCain at such an ackward position having to recognize such a vacant moron as the new Speaker, simply because Gohmert had accurately pointed out McCain’s own mental lapse for hanging out with Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria. And being caught at it.
Duh, John.
But in the end, the 144 in the House know who can best lead them.
So, all in all, Dear Hearts, it’s been a good week.
Really.
Just don’t follow the false leads the media will provide for you. While generally mendacious, they probably are as innocent as they are ignorant about the truem meaning of The 162. They will stick a microphone under Ted Cruz & Company’s nose every time he asks for one, thinking they are providing comic relief for MSNBC, CNN, AP, Reuters, et al, and voters in the northeast and left coast, while in fact they will be providing 80% of the rest of America with a fee-free conservative pep rally.
So leave them to their jest.
THE ROLE CALL of The 162 (H/T Pilgrim)
Alabama
Sen. Jeff Sessions
Sen. Richard Shelby
AL 2nd Martha Roby
AL 3rd Mike Rogers
AL 4th Robert Aderholt
AL 5th Mo Brooks
Arizona
AZ 4th Paul Gosar
AZ 5th Matt Salmon
AZ 6th David Schweikert
AZ 8th Trent Franks
California
CA 1st Doug LaMalfa
CA 4th Tom McClintock
CA 10th Jeff Denham
CA 39th Ed Royce
CA 45th John Campbell
CA 48th Dana Rohrabacher
CA 50th Duncan Hunter
Colorado
CO 5th Doug Lamborn
Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio
FL 1st Jeff Miller
FL 2nd Steve Southerland
FL 3rd Ted Yoho
FL 6th Ron DeSantis
FL 7th John Mica
FL 8th Bill Posey
FL 11th Richard Nugent
FL 15th Dennis Ross
FL 17th Thomas Rooney
FL 19th Trey Radel
Georgia
GA 1st Jack Kingston
GA 3rd Lynn Westmoreland
GA 6th Tom Price
GA 7th Rob Woodall
GA 8th Austin Scott
GA 9th Doug Collins
GA 10th Paul Broun
GA 11th Phil Gingrey
GA 14th Tom Graves
Iowa
Sen. Chuck Grassley
IA 4th Steve King
Idaho
Sen. Michael Crapo
Sen. James Risch
ID 1st Raúl Labrador
Illinois
IL 14th Randy Hultgren
Indiana
IN 2nd Jackie Walorski
IN 3rd Marlin Stutzman
IN 4th Todd Rokita
IN 6th Luke Messer
IN 8th Larry Bucshon
Kansas
Sen. Pat Roberts
KS 1st Tim Huelskamp
KS 3rd Kevin Yoder
KS 4th Mike Pompeo
Kentucky
Sen. Rand Paul
KY 4th Thomas Massie
KY 6th Andy Barr
Louisiana
Sen. David Vitter
LA 1st Steve Scalise
LA 4th John Fleming
LA 6th Bill Cassidy
Maryland
MD 1st Andy Harris
Michigan
MI 2nd Bill Huizenga
MI 3rd Justin Amash
MI 7th Tim Walberg
MI 10th Candice Miller
MI 11th Kerry Bentivolio
Minnesota
MN 6th Michele Bachmann
Missouri
MO 2nd Ann Wagner
MO 3rd Blaine Luetkemeyer
MO 4th Vicky Hartzler
MO 6th Sam Graves
MO 7th Billy Long
MO 8th Jason Smith
Mississippi
MS 1st Alan Nunnelee
MS 4th Steven Palazzo
North Carolina
NC 2nd Renee Ellmers
NC 3rd Walter Jones
NC 5th Virginia Foxx
NC 8th Richard Hudson
NC 11th Mark Meadows
NC 13th George Holding
New Jersey
NJ 5th Scott Garrett
New Mexico
NM 2nd Steve Pearce
Nevada
Sen. Dean Heller
NV 2nd Mark Amodei
New York
NY 23rd Tom Reed
NY 27th Chris Collins
Ohio
OH 1st Steve Chabot
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OH 4th Jim Jordan
OH 5th Robert Latta
OH 6th Bill Johnson
OH 7th Bob Gibbs
OH 10th Michael Turner
OH 16th James Renacci
Oklahoma
Sen. Tom Coburn
OK 1st Jim Bridenstine
OK 2nd Markwayne Mullin
OK 3rd Frank Lucas
OK 5th James Lankford
Oregon
OR 2nd Greg Walden
Pennsylvania
Sen. Pat Toomey
PA 4th Scott Perry
PA 10th Tom Marino
PA 12th Keith Rothfus
PA 16th Joseph Pitts
South Carolina
Sen. Tim Scott
SC 1st Mark Sanford
SC 2nd Joe Wilson
SC 3rd Jeff Duncan
SC 4th Trey Gowdy
SC 5th Mick Mulvaney
SC 7th Tom Rice
South Dakota
SD-at Large Kristi Noem
Tennessee
TN 1st Phil Roe
TN 2nd John Duncan
TN 3rd Chuck Fleischmann
TN 4th Scott DesJarlais
TN 6th Diane Black
TN 7th Marsha Blackburn
TN 8th Stephen Fincher
Texas
Sen. Ted cruz
Sen. John Cornyn
TX 1st Louie Gohmert
TX 2nd Ted Poe
TX 3rd Sam Johnson
TX 4th Ralph Hall
TX 5th Jeb Hensarling
TX 6th Joe Barton
TX 7th John Culberson
TX 8th Kevin Brady
TX 10th Michael McCaul
TX 11th Michael Conaway
TX 12th Kay Granger
TX 13th Mac Thornberry
TX 14th Randy Weber
TX 17th Bill Flores
TX 19th Randy Neugebauer
TX 21st Lamar Smith
TX 22nd Pete Olson
TX 24th Kenny Marchant
TX 25th Roger Williams
TX 26th Michael Burgess
TX 27th Blake Farenthold
TX 31st John Carter
TX 32nd Pete Sessions
TX 36th Steve Stockman
Utah
Sen. Mike Lee
UT 1st Rob Bishop
UT 2nd Chris Stewart
UT 3rd Jason Chaffetz
Virginia
VA 4th Randy Forbes
VA 5th Robert Hurt
VA 6th Bob Goodlatte
VA 9th Morgan Griffith
Wisconsin
Sen. Ron Johnson
WI 1st Paul Ryan
WI 5th James Sensenbrenner
WI 6th Tom Petri
WI 7th Sean Duffy
Wyoming
Sen. Michael Enzi
WY Cynthia Lummis
