I remember a long time ago there used to be men who knew how to fight.  Men who knew how to stand their ground, even in an inevitably losing cause.  Men who also knew how to win, and what it took to win.

Sadly, none of these men appears to be John Boehner, who apparently will need Obama-care to pay for the medical appointment to find his spine.

I say this on the eve of the inevitable cave in on the current budget fight from the Republicans, who, despite their best efforts, are still going to force themselves to stab the American People in the back.  So the trolls know, you can be conservative and not be a Republican, which many of us here stake our claim to our political identity upon.  Once again the Republicans are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in an effort to appear “bipartisan.”

But in the DC Bubble, “bipartisan” means “agreeing with Democrats” and it is never the other way around.  John, choosing a side means something.  It means that you have chosen to identify with the values, mores and ways of the side you have chosen.  You don’t have to like everything they think, but being pretty solid on the basics (like fiscal responsibility, pro military, anti-dumb) is important.

Pssst.  John, we were winning….

Anybody been affected by this shutdown of 17 percent of the government?  I have been out and about and I haven’t needed government for one damn thing since this whole fight started.  I wasn’t in line at Walmart with my EBT card thinking I just won the lottery (because I have the dignity to work to feed myself and my family), I didn’t need to stop by the Social Security Office, the Passport office, the Welfare Office or any of the other tax redistribution centers the Federal Government has placed all over town.  Costco, the grocery store, the coffee shop, my mechanic, the burger place I love, and the private school my son goes to all continued on business as usual.

The only thing that has been closed so far is the forest, the mountains, and open air monuments that you can’t find a Park Ranger at on any other day, and then they must be secured on a level that equals Fort Knox.

And for a picture perfect example of what the model of government of the future and their efficiency is going to look like, head on over the the interwebs and try to get yourself some insurance.  Come on back here in two weeks and let us know how that turned out.

When you stand “on principle”  John, like you did when you sent over a bill to the Senate that said no one is exempt from Obama-care (the law of the land, the President tells us) and the Senate tells you to “Piss Off,” you get yourself over to a Fox News Camera (No point in MSNBC, only Keith Olberman watches) and politely explain that the Senate has decided that they are too good to live under Obama-care, and invite the viewing public to call their Senator and get him to explain why he is so special, along with telling him that actions like this will get him thrown the hell out of office.

The point is, you stand, you draw a line in the sand and you say “this is where we stand, no further.”  You force them to come your way.  You force them to give up something.  And if they choose not to, then that becomes their problem.  You have explained your deal to them, and now you walk away.  Why do I know these things but this guy doesn’t?  Hasn’t he ever bought a used car?

But John, you can sit back and sprain your shoulder patting yourself on the back for your alleged good works, but you held no line and you didn’t spawn any compromise.  You caved.  You waffled.  You didn’t stand on principle.  You tripped your running back on the way to the go ahead touchdown.  In 2014, when we hold The House, and take back the Senate, without your help I might add, conservatives like Ted Cruz might be able to be intransigent long enough to actually get a President who can right the ship and steer the country away from the rocks.  But like many, my money is on “not.”

Where do we go from here?  We hold fast.  We blog.  We call.  We get involved.  We set aside more time to work to elect those that support our values, we find men (and women) of principle, who will stand for what they believe and we plead, cajole, and beg them to run for office, and when necessary, we run them against the people who pretended to be this when they asked for our vote during the last election.

But maybe, I will also load some more magazines and do some more canning.  You know, just in case….