It's real, and it must be addressed

I'm all for closing ranks as we embark on this election cycle, but the fissure on the Right can't be ignored.

It's manifesting itself today in the chasm between the two right-of-center takes on what John Boehner has demonstrated about his character in this debt-ceiling-hike matter.

Jason Kissner at The American Thinker says Boehner is a fool:

Less than 24 hours after President Obama illegally rewrote the law he had previously jammed down Boehner's -- and the country's -- throat, Boehner handed the budding dictator a clean debt-ceiling hike.

Last October, Obama vindictively shut down the federal government upon his having refused to delay ObamaCare, which of course is exactly what he himself lawlessly did on February 10, 2014!

Of course, Boehner is hardly in a position to argue now, having foolishly (immensely so) accepted responsibility for the shutdown.

And a eunuch:

a country whose legislators allow the executive to usurp their power and defy the law of the people is, sooner or later, doomed -- because under such circumstances, monstrosities even greater than ObamaCare are all but certain to follow.Of course, Boehner does not have the constitution for any of this.  Whether it's to do with race, government shutdowns, the nature and scope of executive power, or anything else really--eunuchs like Boehner allow the Democrats to dictate the terms of the debate -- which means battles are lost before they are even "engaged."

Peter Wehner at Commentary thinks it is those with Kissner's viewpoint (and, of course, that of Ted Cruz, Jim DeMint et al)  who are the fools:

So some of the same people who recommended the GOP embrace the strategy that produced the government shutdown were insisting that House Republicans should have forced a showdown on raising the debt ceiling. One political disaster in a half year apparently isn’t enough. Why not two?

It is a curious thing, those who insist on fighting losing battles, on large stages, based on wholly unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. For some politicians seeking to curry favor with some part of the GOP base, the motivations may be ambition and self-interest. But there are others who seem to believe going down in flames is a high calling and a purifying ritual. Every tactical difference is framed as an apocalyptic struggle. The choice is liberty or tyranny. You’re a “constitutional conservative” or a statist. It’s the American Revolution all over again. You, too, can be Patrick Henry.

Now John Boehner is hardly an inspiring, let alone a perfect, political figure. He hardly sets conservative hearts aflutter. If there are those on the right who think another person should be speaker of the House, fine; they’re free to make their case and coalesce behind a challenger. But this should be said as well: Mr. Boehner’s job is more challenging than fulminating from deep in the bowels of a hidden bunker for three hours every weeknight. And whatever his limitations, Mr. Boehner has the virtue of being a serious adult who isn’t intemperate, who’s not in a constant state of agitation, and who hasn’t lost touch with political reality. Which is more than can be said about some of his critics.

So there you have it.  

Wehner likes his Republican leaders to have Reasonable Gentleman Syndrome in as advanced a stage as possible.  He speaks admiringly of the fact that Boehner is "not in a constant state of agitation."  You'd think being treated with contempt every time he tries for a deal with the MEC would at least agitate the Speaker occasionally.

Wehner trots our the old sawhorse "political reality."  Is it really beyond the scope of political reality to make use of the fact that the MEC has changed the ground rules?  All this executive decree business makes for a different moral atmosphere.  Boehner doesn't have to accord the MEC the respect he may have thought he had to even a few months ago.  We're dealing with an outlaw, a caudillo, in the MEC.  You point up the fact that he's delaying FHer-care and doing so by fiat.  At least our Tea Party heroes tried to round up legislative votes for it.

LITD sides with the viewpoint that Boehner woefully underutilized this moment.  At some point, somebody has to speak plainly about the extreme nature of our present circumstance.