Obama has just been voted “Scapegoat of the Year.”

Or at least he should be.

What would you do if you gave a speech at your company, and then people started calling for your termination?

• Reverse your statements? Too late; that would make you look like a liar.
• Blame someone else in the room? That would also remove possible supporters from your side as well, and if you’re about to lose your job, you need all the friends you can get.
• Take the heat and defend your position, enlightening your detractors with all the reason and forethought you put into your speech? Pretty risky, what if it didn’t work?
• Distract everyone by focusing on something bigger?

1.      The war on Terror, that always worked for Bush(s). Nope, Obama has that one under control; it’s always best not give your adversary cudos.
2.      Obamacare? Nope, the nation has had it with us complaining about that, not to mention it probably wouldn’t be prudent to bring up the reason we closed the government down and took a beating in our approval ratings.
3.      Abortion? No, that will just further anger women.
4.      Social Security? Ditto, for the elderly.
5.      Foodstamps? Nope, we just took some money away from that for our budget deal. Best to keep a low profile on that one.
6.      Taxes? Again, best not bring up the current resentment towards our wealthy constituents.
7.      Blame the immigrants? That usually works. . .
8.      Blame the competition? Even better! It insults no one in the room and reinforces allegiances against a common adversary.

Sound familiar?

That is the strategy Rep. Boehner used after he announced the GOP principles on immigration reform, and got a lot of flack. After their retreat in Maryland last week, many Republicans rejected the House leadership’s one-page “standards for immigration reform.” 

Others within the GOP said that, with trends going their way as midterm elections approach, it was a bad time to take on a number of contentious issues.

The conservative activist L. Brent Bozell called for the entire House Republican leadership to be replaced. His group, ForAmerica, blitzed the speaker’s office with thousands of phone calls to jam the lines and protest his stance on immigration this past wednesday.

Representative Raúl Labrador of Idaho, an early negotiator on the issue and now a fierce opponent, told the newspaper, The Hill, that an immigration push by Mr. Boehner this year “should cost him his speakership.”

So Boehner, thinking his goose is cooked, comes out a week after outlining the Republican principles for immigration reform and says:

“There’s widespread doubt about whether this administration can be trusted to enforce our laws,”

and he further stated,

“ it’s going to be difficult to move any immigration legislation until that changes.”

Good one!

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, commented further about the whole Republican organization:

“That caucus he has is really unusual,”

Mr. Reid said of House Republicans.

“They went down and did this salute to how good they were last week at their retreat. They outlined principles of immigration. I guess today they decided they have no principles as it relates to immigration.”

That’s what happens when the opposition doesn’t appreciate getting blamed for your B.S.