Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, made an announcement that shook not only members of his party, but the Democrats as well. He announced his resignation as Speaker. It has been reported that after the announcement, he sang a few bars of "zip-a-dee-doo-dah."
This announcement is significant for a number of reasons - Boehner is the most powerful Republican in America. He is only the fifth speaker to resign and the first to not be either moving to another government position or under investigation. The speaker is also the next person after the Vice President in the line of succession to the presidency.
It has been reported that he had "had enough" of the ideological combat in the Republican Party. What is almost as surprising was - the "odds-on" favorite to succeed him, Kevin McCarthy, subsequently announced he would not seek the Speaker position.
For me, this speaks volumes about America at this moment. Working "across the aisle" occurs no more in Congress. In fact, it looks they can't work across the invisible aisle within their own party. We have hard line members of Congress willing to shut down the government, as occurred in 2013, again this year and the year is not over and could still happen.
It is funny that you mention this post because it really brings to light just how stressful/frustrating/and all around draining it is to be in a position of power, no matter what the hierarchy may be. When you said he sang lines of that happy song, it just gives people a heads up that he's definitely feeling a weight off his shoulders and doesn't see the pros outweighing the cons when it comes to holding his position. Honestly, I don't blame him one bit either. Republican, Democrat, or whatever. We don't give enough credit to those who are holding down the fort under pressure, so to speak, because we're all too busy bashing them for things they do that we don't agree with. He may be doing whats best for him and his family and that is something to respect even though some may see him as a coward for stepping down.
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