Wow, according to the Speaker‘s office, John Boehner will step down as Speaker and he will leave congress by the end of October.

I am shocked by this announcement…. Even though Boehner has had issues controlling his majority in the House, I just never thought he would walk away. Could it be that meeting the Pope yesterday really got to Boehner and put things into perspective for him?

It’s a nice thought that Pope Francis could have that effect, but as Ezra Klein explained in Vox; Boehner was facing a House that’s thirsty for another government shutdown and a possible coup attempt on his leadership.

I can only imagine Boehner, a veteran of Congress had to be sitting and said to himself, “Who needs this shit!”

The Speaker’s office released the following statement

Speaker Boehner believes that the first job of any Speaker is to protect this institution and, as we saw yesterday with the Holy Father, it is the one thing that unites and inspires us all.

The Speaker’s plan was to serve only through the end of last year. Leader Cantor’s loss in his primary changed that calculation.

The Speaker believes putting members through prolonged leadership turmoil would do irreparable damage to the institution.

He is proud of what this majority has accomplished, and his Speakership, but for the good of the Republican Conference and the institution, he will resign the Speakership and his seat in Congress, effective October 30.

While I have not been a fan of John Boehner, the idea of one of these new age Republicans taking his place as Speaker scares the SHIT out of me! They are willing to burn the whole thing down instead of trying to work out a solution that helps both sides.

It should be an interesting next couple of months, stay tuned…

As always….

If there is something to be said, “It’s On Broadway” to step up and say it!!