The Republican leadership has to stop playing Lucy.
[edit:] Title, and below.
There's no sense in Pelosi or anyone else trying to save the Republicans from themselves just yet. The Republican leadership can't lead enough of their own members to get anything done, so Pelosi can't and shouldn't do their job for them.
Boehner's attempts at playing
Nancy Lucy (of Peanuts fame) with the football is biting him in the butt. His own members are taking the football away from him before Charlie Brown is even on the field.
If Boehner wants to get anything done, he should start by giving at least tacit approval to the Discharge Petition -
http://www.govexec.c...s-tax-cuts/59910/ If he wants to continue to strangle his Speakership via the teabaggers, that's his business. But he has ways out if he is willing to take them.
My take is that he's a prisoner of the reactionaries. He won't be able to please them, so the House will continue to be dysfunctional </sp>. Cantor is too smart to want to take the job, so Boehner is stuck with it. He won't resign as Speaker. I expect only incremental, Continuing-Resolution/Kick-the-Can-type actions from them for the next couple of years. We'll continue to muddle through because the insane House members will continue to throw tantrums and gum up the works, but they won't be able to get what they want.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.