Maybe he'll be remembered for the size of his gavel.
Lurking behind House Speaker John Boehner's
fight to keep a handle on his caucus in the latest budget fight is what can only be described as Boehner's
delusions of grandeur.
WASHINGTON — John A. Boehner does not want to be remembered as the Shutdown Speaker. […]
His majority—likely to be 247 seats after a few undecided races are settled—will be the largest any Republican speaker has had since 1929, so large that it is approaching the size that Democrats had in the 1960s when they solidified control of the House that endured for decades.
But what he is able to do with that power will determine whether he is remembered as something more than the House leader during a stretch of frustrating gridlock and deep partisanship.
"He's never wanted to just be speaker," said Representative Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican and a close ally. "He's wanted to be a historically significant speaker."
Hell, he's already achieved that. He's presided over the least productive House of Representatives in history. That has a significance all its own. Chances are pretty damned good that's all he'll ever be remembered for.