Timeline of Hillary Benghazi / Concussion / Brain clot Saga

An interesting chain of events, if nothing else.

Is House Leadership ready to Cave on Gun Control too?

Thanks to an email produced by a radio talk show host, Republican leaders may be ready to cave in on the gun control issue (in addition to the fiscal cliff issue):

Via Doc Thompson:

A friend has a connection in the office of a Member of Congress (in a leadership position.)
He forwarded this email exchange that seems to indicate the Republicans will agree to SOME new laws that limit your 2nd Amendment rights. Could it be that, behind closed doors, they have ALREADY caved in?

Click here to see the email.

In 2006, Congressional Republicans paid dearly at the polls for imitating Democrats when it came to spending. In 2008, the relevant purge was all but completed and power was handed over to the Democrats, who took back the House, enjoyed a super majority in the Senate, and saw the most progressive president in the history of the country take the White House.

From 2009 - 2010, the Tea Party performed a tremendous amount of grunt work and ultimately put Republicans back in power while insisting on one caveat - don't go back to your old ways.

On New Years Eve, 2013, Senate Republicans fell off the wagon. On New Years Day, House Republicans did the same.

It is quite telling that Speaker John Boehner relied on Democrats to help him pass a bill that raises taxes and dramatically increases spending. In fact, more of his caucus voted against him than with him (by a margin of almost 2-1) on the Senate bill crafted by Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. It's the quintessential allegory for why Boehner is a failed leader.

Before Rep. John Boehner was handed the gavel in 2011, he provided Americans with a foreshadowing of his leadership; he cried, and he cried, and he cried, and he.... In hindsight, it should be fairly obvious that his tears were not solely the result of emotion; they revealed his fight or flight response when faced with tremendous challenges.

Throughout his term as Speaker in the 112th Congress, Boehner played it safe, avoiding legitimate fights. With the largest bully pulpit on his side of the aisle, in either House of Congress, Boehner refused to use it. He was a man who seemed to be riding out the clock until Obama could be defeated at the polls in 2012.

That didn't happen and in large part it didn't happen because Boehner played it safe for two years. Ironically, playing it safe turned out to be a very dangerous strategy.

For example, in the same month that Boehner broke down in front of CBS's Leslie Stahl before being sworn in, Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was gunned down in Arizona. Thanks to a courageous whistleblower, it was learned that weapons at the scene were part of a corrupt and wicked government operation - led by the ATF and DOJ - that involved placing AK-47's, .50 Calibers, and other high powered weapons into the hands of drug cartels.

House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Senate Judiciary ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) led a thorough, high profile investigation into Operation Fast and Furious that lasted the majority of Boehner's term as Speaker in the 112th.

While Senators generally wield more power than Congressmen, Issa had more power than Grassley in the investigation because he was in the majority party. The same would go for Boehner. As Speaker, he held a large gavel and carried much more sway than Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), for example. In fact, Boehner is second in line for the presidency and currently holds the most powerful position in the Republican Party, though he doesn't act like it in the slightest.

If there was one glaring problem with the Fast and Furious investigation, it was that Issa was out-gunned. He needed backup and reinforcements; he needed the bully pulpit of Boehner to help drag the media kicking and screaming to this murderous scandal that went all the way to the top of several departments and agencies, to include DHS, State, DOJ, ATF, FBI, etc.

Instead, it was obvious that Boehner didn't want the fight; he wanted Fast and Furious to go away. In fact, when it came to the contempt vote for Eric Holder that would be the crescendo for the investigation in many ways, the Speaker communicated loudly through his actions that it was he who desired cover. He scheduled the contempt vote on the same day that the Supreme Court would rule on Obamacare.

While Boehner occasionally made statements that expressed support for the investigation, he seemed to do so begrudgingly and without much substance. As a result, he allowed an administration to skate on a scandal that made Watergate look like Romper Room.

Now, if the aforementioned email portends what it appears to, Boehner is more willing to hold a citizenry accountable for the actions of one insane individual while going out of his way to avoid holding accountable multiple government officials with blood on their hands.

If the fiscal cliff deal doesn't ensure House Republicans will lose the majority in 2014, giving in on the second amendment most assuredly will.