I don’t know of anybody in the business community who takes the side of the Taliban minority

Dirk Van Dongen
(Pic : Richard A. Bloom)

said Dirk Van Dongen, longtime chief lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) who has known Boehner since the lawmaker’s first election, according to the Washington Post's story of today titled "Business groups stand by Boehner, plot against tea party." Dirk Van Dongen is President of NAW, which represents the $4.9 trillion dollar American wholesale distribution industry. He is regarded as a powerful fundraiser and a political advicer, too. His comment quite clearly compares the pressure tactics adopted by the  tea party members, during the entire shutdown episode, with the Taliban - a well-known terrorist organization.

The story, by Jia Lynn Yang and Tom Hamburger, says that John A. Boehner still has the support of the business community despite the fact that he yielded to the pressure of a bunch of tea party lawmakers and activist groups such as Heritage Action and the Club for Growth and in the process "nearly drove the country to a debt default." The shutdown and debt-ceiling fight have exposed a rift in the Republican Party and  Boehner and his circle of powerful business allies and influential organizations - such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - are now getting ready to take on tea party candidates in a few Republican primary races in at least three states - Michigan, Alabama, and possibly Idaho.

Commenting on the above story, a Washington Post reader with user name 'outsider6', wrote : "It's funny to read bloggers bash Boehner. It seems to me the guy has a brutal job managing a group that includes about 30% who are utterly devoid of common sense. I refer, of course, to the Tea Party RINOs. People clamor for a 3rd party in this country -- well, we have one. The TP-RINOs have wormed their way into the GOP. Th GOP is essentially a european-style governing coalition more than a party. Boehner had the unenviable task of unmasking the TP-RINOs as destructive and dangerous to his caucus and to the more moderate factions in the country who supported them. By letting this play out, he provided cover to his moderate faction while exposing the TP-RINO wing. If an actual budget emerges from the conference committee in January and passes both houses, I say Boehner is Man of the Year." 

The comment sounds to be quite logical, perhaps.