As part of a possibly successful effort to encourage reluctant fellow Republicans to line up behind Speaker John Boehner’s debt-reduction plan (which has no chance of ultimate approval, but never mind), House of Representatives Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy showed this clip from the movie “The Town” to a GOP caucus.
Character A: “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later and we’re gonna hurt some people.”
Character B: “Whose car we gonna take?”
The Washington Post reports:
After showing the clip, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), one of the most outspoken critics of leadership among the 87 freshmen, stood up to speak, according to GOP aides.
“I’m ready to drive the car,” West replied, surprising many Republicans by giving his full -throated support for the plan.
Washington Post blogger Alexandra Petri comments:
In the next scene, Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner go to the home of some dubious characters, break in, and beat them up.
Allow me to translate this into all-capital letters, for impact: TO CONVINCE PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR THE BOEHNER BILL, THEY WATCHED A CLIP ABOUT NOT ASKING QUESTIONS BEFORE BREAKING INTO A HOUSE AND BEATING PEOPLE UP?
Great. With inspirational tactics like this, who needs detractors?
Can anyone suggest other movie clips they might have used? (Perhaps the “Win one for the Gipper” speech from “Knute Rockne: All American” just doesn’t cut it any more.)
In other news from the GOP side of the aisle, Politico reports:
House Republicans 0n Wednesday morning were calling for the firing of Republican Study Committee staffers after they were caught sending e-mails to conservative groups urging them to pressure GOP lawmakers to vote against a debt proposal from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Infuriated by the e-mails from Paul Teller, the executive director of the RSC, and other staffers, members started chanting “Fire him, fire him!” while Teller stood silently at a closed-door meetings of House Republicans.
“It was an unbelievable moment,” said one GOP insider. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
