Los Angeles Times: House Speaker John A. Boehner called last fall’s government shutdown a “very predictable disaster” that he warned his fellow Republicans to avoid, but ultimately went along with it at the behest of colleagues intent on a standoff with President Obama over his healthcare law.Leading by following. It’s the Boehner way.
Making his “Tonight Show” debut Thursday, the Ohio Republican told host Jay Leno that the episode reflected the challenges he faces leading an often rambunctious House majority.
“When I looked up, I saw my colleagues going this way. And you learn that a leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk,” he said. “So I said, ‘You want to fight this fight? I’ll go fight the fight with you.’ But it was a very predictable disaster.”
After telling this little story, The Orange Weeper explained his job as Speaker, as he saw it: “Some members, I have to be the big brother figure. Some, I have to be the father figure. Others, I have to be the dean of students or the principal. Some of them, I have to be the Gestapo.”
And sometimes he has to be the irresponsible babysitter who lets the kids eat all the candy they want, so he doesn’t have to listen to them cry about it. And if the kids are up all night puking afterward? Not his fault.
[photo by Gage Skidmore]
