Saruman wins this round

For those following the Hobbits tale currently unfolding in Washington, last night's political theater was nothing surprising.  Boehner ran around all day yesterday trying to find the way back to his (precious) the supposed power that the speaker of the house holds to lord over the kingdom of the Hobbits. (Also known as the lower life forms in congress and all else beneath his own lofty perch.)

In the end, there were only twenty two who held fast and would not be swayed by the promises of campaign slush funds or committee assignments or anything else in Boehaner's bag of tricks to buy them off.

Personally, I believe they were immediately vindicated by Harry Reid (playing the part of Saruman in this drama) in this parody of the Lord of The Rings. Reid immediately tabled Boehner's bill and thumbed his nose at it as he promised he would. He had already declared anything sent over by the house as dead on arrival in the senate.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama (Mordor the all seeing eye) remains in the background, pleasantly amused by the actions of his minions Saruman Reid and the Ring Wraith's like Chucky Shumer and the rest who parade about in front of the media spouting off about how the republicans are just being unreasonable etc. etc.

Any takers on the odds that Obama's minions purposely crash the mechanism this coming week? Watch and see. It's happening before your eyes. The Hobbits (the Tea Party) have for the moment been thwarted by their own in congress and ultimately by their enemies in the senate.

What's different? What has changed?

The Boehner bill originally called for 917 billion in debt ceiling increases and 900 billion in cuts over ten years. What a deal! To that he had to add the whiff of a balanced budget amendment to the bill to sway some of the easily duped Hobbits to get his 218 votes yesterday. But knowing all the while that the single addition of that rider to the bill would be all the reason Harry Reid needed to justify killing it in the senate regardless.

So in the end, what was it that was accomplished in Washington yesterday?

Mean while. Obama wants at least 1.6 trillion in increased debt ceiling limit, which equals more spending and very little substantive cutting anywhere in the federal budget.  I believe we have already seen that version back in February, when John Boehner signed on to the smoke and mirrors version of a budget then, after this administration had spent two years ignoring passing a budget period.

The Tea Party Hobbits got burned by that deal and at least twenty two of them held their ground in the face of the Ring Wraiths and Gollum dancing around threatening them yesterday, while Boehner told them that he would gladly take them to the precious.  But first they would have to trust him.

A deal between the two houses and this president to cut spending and balance a budget? A deal to pay down the deficit and stop the bleeding?  That's not going to happen people. Obama is hell bent to destroy this nation and he is working his plan as we speak. Make no mistake, they will pass something next week. Everyone will smile and they will all pat each other on the ass and shake hands and stand in line to have their photos made with Obama as he signs it, but nothing will be solved or resolved in the end. Aside from the fact that those like you and I remain on the hook for the entire tab.

We are all simply hanging there like the sides of beef that we actually are. Just something to be used and abused at the mercy of those who know best how we should serve the greater purposes of their belief systems.

And there remain those who actually still believe that we live in a free country. What a pipe dream and what a load of crapola.

And the band plays on.