But Wait, I Thought the GOP Respected The Will Of The People

Remember when the GOP went apeshit because Congress and the President were ignoring the polls and pushing for the passage of health care reform? We heard a lot about how Democrats were "jamming" their legislation "down the throats" of the American people. That phrase, in fact, became a major conservative talking point and they repeated it ad nauseam whenever they saw a warm body with a notebook or a camera. See, never mind that when George Bush ignored the polls he was a "leader"; somehow, what Obama was doing was different. He's ignoring the will of the people, they wailed, and he's doing so at his peril! One of the loudest proponents of this nonsense was, of course, orange-hued House Minority Leader John Boehner who was practically apoplectic that the White House and the Democratic majority would legislatively accelerate when the citizenry supposedly wanted them to slam on the brakes.

Well it should come as no surprise to you, dear reader, that ideological consistency is not exactly the hallmark of Republican party groupthink.

Because what did John Boehner and all but five House Republicans do today? They voted against the repeal of the deeply discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. Their stance is not at all surprising, of course, but there's one thorny little fact they can't escape: a whopping 78% of Americans recently polled support the repeal effort. 78%. More than 3/4 of the country want this thing gone and yet Boehner and his caucus voted en masse to keep it in place.

Gee, could it be that during the health care debate, the GOP's outrage at Democrats ignoring polls was... fake? Manufactured? Cynical? Could it be that when it suits them, conservatives in Congress are more than happy to turn a blind eye to what the vast majority of the country wants?

We should all call or email leader Boehner's office and ask him: "In light of all the polls, sir, why are you insistent on ignoring the will of the people and jamming this despicable policy down our throats?"

Ah, maybe it's not even worth it. Because luckily for all of us, Boehner and his hypocritical and irrelevant (at least for now) caucus will once again be on the losing end of a major legislative battle... not to mention the wrong side of history.