The inept plot to unseat John Boehner
Final step: Pulling it off. Here’s where things went truly, hilariously awry. Any good coup depends on stealth. But on Thursday, an enterprising Politico photographer snapped Rep. Tim Huelskamp sitting in open session reading from his iPad — not making this up — the entire roster of the plot against Boehner. Just so there was no mistaking that he was up to no good, the document was entitled “YOU WOULD BE FIRED IF THIS GOES OUT.” Not making that up either.
Worse still, half the roster on Huelskamp’s iPad lost their nerve and bailed out. In the end, only nine Republicans broke ranks. Three cast votes for Cantor (who was visibly disgusted), two for recently ousted Rep. Allen West, and one for a former U.S. comptroller general. Several of the plotters even voted for each other. Boehner was reelected Speaker.
Republican Rep. Trent Franks probably put it best when he described the coup as “a ridiculous miscalculation on the part of a sincere, but completely inept” group of colleagues.
Blowback
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Let the gnashing of teeth begin anew.
rhombus on January 4, 2013 at 12:12 PM
Our next option to get rid of John Bonner is to Paula Broadwell him.
Oil Can on January 4, 2013 at 12:13 PM
Too bad they all can’t focus on one big issue…Senate, where is the budget??
right2bright on January 4, 2013 at 12:13 PM
The anti-Boehners needed to have a viable alternative ready to rock and roll before going into the meeting. Decide on SOMEBODY—Sarah Palin, Alan West, Zenobia Queen of the Amazons, SOMEBODY.
The idea a bunch of Congressmen would vote for a whole non-unified slate of protest votes, and ad-hoc the right guy would come up is ludicrous.
Sekhmet on January 4, 2013 at 12:17 PM
Are you talking about the Speaker or the last election?
right2bright on January 4, 2013 at 12:21 PM
As a matter of fact, YES
Sekhmet on January 4, 2013 at 12:31 PM
Bwahahaha. They couldn’t find 20 CINOs, oh I mean, TrueCons to unseat the Speaker. This is what separates the men from the boys, or in other words ‘rhetoric and sniping from the sidelines’ from ‘governance’. Way to go for ‘Conservative Principles’. Either put up or shut up. Next time round, follow the leader, or have the courage to throw him/her out. Whining is useless.
tommy71 on January 4, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Adults plan… children get bowed up and throw tantrums. I’m no great fan of John Boehner, but what the hell good are our guys if they behave like whiny brats instead of mature intelligent adults? I have teenagers who would have planned this better.
CantCureStupid on January 4, 2013 at 12:32 PM
Nothing wrong with a shot across the bow, to get weepy to grow a pair.
Rebar on January 4, 2013 at 12:36 PM
Unless it makes the conservative faction look like the Keystone Cops, which is precisely what just happened.
KingGold on January 4, 2013 at 12:46 PM
Way to buy the MSM spin.
Rebar on January 4, 2013 at 12:47 PM
Amash isn’t very smart, is he? Luap Nor is crazy, but he is also politically astute. I think that the little Keystone Kops plot justifies why these bozos lost their primo committee assignments.
Also, Cantor’s b*tchface would make McKayla Maroney proud.
Illinidiva on January 4, 2013 at 12:50 PM
Of course the plot was inept. The GOP was involved.
RoadRunner on January 4, 2013 at 12:58 PM
Maybe if Mr. Weepy wasn’t so inept, there wouldn’t have been a “plot”.
Rebar on January 4, 2013 at 1:01 PM
When top level people look down,they see only sh*theads;
When the bottom level people look up,they see only azzholes.
Schadenfreude on January 4, 2013 at 1:02 PM
A vote of mostly-no (but we’re too chickensh~t to actually do anything about it) confidence
Jeddite on January 4, 2013 at 1:05 PM
Was there even really a “plot?” I’m dubious that it was much beyond a lot of talk. There was never any one willing to stand up to Boehner, unfortunately, and for good reason.
Doomberg on January 4, 2013 at 1:05 PM
No worries, Nancy Pelosi will get rid of him. She’s got a pair.
The eunuchs certainly don’t.
Schadenfreude on January 4, 2013 at 1:30 PM
No.
But lets not let that get in the way of smearing conservatives voting their conscience.
Rebar on January 4, 2013 at 1:33 PM
What plot? It was a dozen or so members giving a protest vote.
And it’s nice to know that Boehner, who cries at the drop of the hat and has considerably less skill at negotiating than a kid trading Halloween candy on Nov 1st, is the “adult.” Thank f-ing God we have an adult sucking so bad!
Dongemaharu on January 4, 2013 at 1:40 PM
Right on. When it comes to organization, the GOPers are a joke compared to the Dems.
Ward Cleaver on January 4, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Please read the above subject matter. There was indeed a plot, but it was absolutely inept. Lol
tommy71 on January 4, 2013 at 1:46 PM
Yes.. It was apparently a plot. There was even a list of conspirators. It was so well organized and top secret that there was a picture of Huelskamp’s IPad flashing a list of the conspirators on Politico. BTW, considering how inept they apparently are, I wouldn’t be surprised if Huelskamp helpfully emailed that list to Cantor and Boehner just so the leadership knows who else needs to be purged.
Illinidiva on January 4, 2013 at 1:53 PM
Who chose the terms “plot” and “conspirators”? It’s equally true to call it a “game plan” and the participants “allies”. But that would get in the way of the spin. I realize that you want to trash conservatives at every opportunity, ID. But these are people who actually understand that nothing going on in Washington bears the least bit of resemblance to the world outside of washington. They will get better at the political game, whereas you will never figure out why your guys keep getting killed at the polls. Remember, several “reasonable” Republicans also lost their senate races this year.
alwaysfiredup on January 4, 2013 at 2:05 PM
Lol. When I commented that going against Plan B was a bad idea, I was shouted down by the so-called TrueCons. Even at that stage, I predicted this would happen, and I was ridiculed. Lol. Now we have a crap sammich that we all have to swallow, combined with the reelection of the Speaker. Bwahahaha, where are the ‘Conservative Principles’ that you preached about? Couldn’t even find 20 CINOs? Next time, pubs, don’t preach bout ‘Conservative Principles’. I’ll laugh in your face. Lol.
tommy71 on January 4, 2013 at 2:09 PM
How many elections have you won?
alwaysfiredup on January 4, 2013 at 2:09 PM
Hahahaha! There seemed to be a popular thread last night about backstabbing women. LOL’d at the photo above the article of Moe, Larry, and Curly!
Ladysmith CulchaVulcha on January 4, 2013 at 2:11 PM
They have built quite a fail pile.
From not voting in the POTUS election, and some even voting Obama, to West and Love. All kinds of other hype.
Delusions of grandeur persists. They have been watching too much MSNBC and reading too much NY Times and Wash Post about how all-powerful they are.
Moesart on January 4, 2013 at 2:11 PM
@alwaysfiredup I’ve never been a candidate. Have you? How many how YOU won? Lol
tommy71 on January 4, 2013 at 2:13 PM
I wouldn’t consider Love to be a failure. She was a really good candidate. The reason why she lost is because noted conservative Republican Jon Huntsman (That is meant sarcastically) endorsed the Democrat.
Illinidiva on January 4, 2013 at 2:17 PM
Obviously. We should all take advice from anonymous internet commenters who’ve never worked a race in their lives.
alwaysfiredup on January 4, 2013 at 2:22 PM
The picture the article refers to is just a list of names. No title, no plan, just a list of names. They invented the context.
alwaysfiredup on January 4, 2013 at 2:23 PM
Considering how bad at politics Amash and co. are, perhaps they should find a new career. And yes when talking about an inside the Beltway plot to fire the Speaker, it makes sense to use palace intrigue terms. I’m not sure what they thought was going to come of this little plot.. All they did was piss off leadership even more and make it even harder to advocate their ideas. Of course, Amash got kicked off the Budget Committee because he annoyed Paul Ryan. Yep, ticking off a high profile member of your caucus and potential President is totally a great way to advance your ideas.
Illinidiva on January 4, 2013 at 2:27 PM
@alwaysfiredup Worked in a race? Lol, thats not what you asked me. Try and be a bit more specific. If you’re capable, go back and read what you actually asked me. Lol.
tommy71 on January 4, 2013 at 2:33 PM
Well, it was a Republican plot: what sort of Republican plot would it be if it wasn’t incompetent?
PersonFromPorlock on January 4, 2013 at 3:20 PM