THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Most sane people, if they paid attention to what is going on, would wonder how John Boehner has put up with the shit from his lunatic fringe for so long. Maybe he really did think he could keep a lid on their volcanic insanity. Maybe he didn't really understand just how bug fuck crazy they were. Whatever his problem(s) may have been, he has given up and will resign his post and Speakership.

House Speaker John Boehner, under relentless fire from conservatives who complain he’s not confrontational enough with President Barack Obama, will resign from Congress at the end of October and end his turmoil-filled reign.

The stunning announcement Friday by Boehner, 65, came a day after one of the signature moments of his tenure. Boehner, a devout Catholic, hosted Pope Francis at the Capitol on Thursday. Boehner has been trying for years to get a pope to address Congress, and the visit moved the emotional Boehner to tears.

The departure will set off a scramble to move up in the party leadership in the House. The expected front runner to move to the Speaker’s job is Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., now the number two as House Majority Leader.

Boehner, an Ohio Republican, has fought off challenges from the conservative wing of his party for years, and appeared poised to do again.

The latest flashpoint is over federal dollars for Planned Parenthood. A handful of conservative Republicans is insisting that unless Planned Parenthood loses its federal dollars, they won’t vote to keep the government running.

Eager to keep the government open lest a shutdown hurt his party in the eyes of voters, Boehner was fashioning an alternative that would keep financing the government as is but allow conservatives a separate vote to cut off money for Planned Parenthood. That separate measure would almost certainly fail, either in the Senate or under Obama’s certain veto.

This is the latest in a long series of challenges to the affable son of a tavern owner, one of 12 children.

He was first elected to Congress in 1990, and quickly became an ally of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. Boehner rose in the House Republican caucus because of his ability to get along with all factions, though as more conservative-minded lawmakers attained leadership positions, he was edged out of a top post.

He rebounded in 2006, winning an upset victory to .become the House Majority Leader after Tom Delay, R-Texas, resigned in the midst of a corruption scandal. Boehner beat then-Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a DeLay ally, as lawmakers wanted a clean break.

Boehner immediately drew the suspicion of conservatives. But he got things done, pushing through controversial measures to avoid the 2013 “fiscal cliff” and other initiatives, often with Democratic help.

This is an existential threat to the Republican caucus because there is no potential leader behind him that does not display serious symptoms of Bugfuckery. And we still have more than a year before we can get rid of the crazies.