John Boehner and the Tragedy of Attention Defecit Disorder

I've always been skeptical when it comes to the myriad designer diseases that seem to appear magically from the marketing departments of Big Pharma directly to my TV screen. But since hearing that incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner is working in the shadows to keep Ron Paul from becoming Chairman of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee, I'm reconsidering the case of ADD as an actual medical malady. It was only a few weeks ago that a tearful Boehner said that he got the message sent by the electorate. He said he understood, in so many words, that it was Tea Party sentiment that handed him a victory that he didn't really earn. Republicans were swept into power because the game has been fixed for so long that angry voters were left with no viable alternative in the short term. But understand, unless the Republican Party absorbs a healthy dose of Tea Party philosophy into it's core platform it will create the perfect conditions for the virulent spread of Tea Party-itis going into 2012. (Oddly, this philosophical shift would bring them more in line with classical, Reagan/Goldwater Republicans). I read recently that a plurality of voters in this country now consider themselves independents. That tells me that thinking people from both sides of the ideological spectrum mistrust Republicans and Democrats alike. No wonder. They're like two magicians that have conspired to distract the audience with different illusions. One tinged with gay marriage and green energy and the other with prayer in school and patriotism. Meanwhile they're picking the pockets of the poor sods and sharing the spoils with their lobbyist/banker/CEO cronies. Finally enough voters have come to this realization that they must be taken seriously. While I know Boehner will never be a convert, it would be a gesture of good faith to give Paul his Chairmanship. Sarah Palin may be the court jester of the Tea Party but Ron Paul is it's patron saint. Giving Dr. Paul his due would be appreciated by people who really don't have any other reason to view Republicans favorably. And in the end Mr. Boehner, is your house of cards so flimsy that it can't withstand one voice crying in the wilderness that The Fed just might be full of shit?