Never mind the Fiscal Cliff kerfuffle- what really chaps my ass is Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner's decision to abandon a vote on a Superstorm Sandy aid package.
I have made no bones about having an enormous amount of contempt for NJ Governor Chris Christie, and I have absolutely no use for odious GOP Representative for New York's Long Island Peter King. To summarize my assesment of these jerks- Christie is a loudmouth faux tough guy who doesn't give a damn for Johnny and Janie Paycheck, and King is a rabble-rousing anti-Muslim bigot who ignores the needs of the 9/11 first responders he invokes in his prejudiced tirades. Today, I view these clowns as the proverbial stopped clock- both Republicans have had choice words about House Speaker John Boehner.
Peter King first lambasted Boehner on the floor of the House of Representatives. King was even more pointed in his criticism of Boehner afterwards, going so far as to urge New York and New Jersey Republicans to stop donating money to the Republican Campaign Committee:
Christ Christie also came down on the Boehner like a two ton heavy thing:
Of course, Christie mendaciously throws in a criticism of New Jersy Senate Democrats, in order to play the "both sides do it" card.
Not content to passively ignore the impassioned pleas of New York and New Jersey representatives to bring this vote to the floor, Boehner apparently lashed out at NJ Republican Frank LoBiondo. The latest development in the case is that Boehner, cowed by the vehemence of his fellow Republicans has promised to bring Sandy aid up for a vote after the new Congress is sworn in. Too callous to bring up the vote on Tuesday, too cowardly to stand by his prior position.
John Boehner's a godawful fool-
He's cowardly, callous and cruel.
Boehner's got about the hardest job you can imagine. He's trying to manage a split caucus in a divided bicameral legislature under an opposition executive. To do that successfully requires, judgement, brains, courage, strength, wisdom and creativity.
ReplyDeleteThe problem, as you point out, is that Boehner is a congenital idiot, a handsome gladhander who should be running the local Elks Club in Reading, Ohio and selling cars at the Reading Ford dealership.
He's in so far over his head he can't even figure out which way is up, and every time he tries to do something tactical it blows up in his face, and pretty much all the advice he gets is from people who hate him and want to see him fail.
I'd actually feel sorry for the helpless idiot if he wasn't such a grasping, greedy, helpless idiot...
The problem, as you point out, is that Boehner is a congenital idiot, a handsome gladhander who should be running the local Elks Club in Reading, Ohio and selling cars at the Reading Ford dealership.
ReplyDeleteHe's clearly reached his level of incompetence- I wonder when Eric Cantor is going to pull his "Iago" bit...
Cantor and Ryan are making a two-variable calculation. They want to be speaker, sure, but only when the situation is amenable to them accomplishing something beneficial to their career and standing.
ReplyDeleteI think they're both perfectly happy to let Boehner twist in the wind in an impossible situation, especially with the exposure of the debt ceiling fight coming up.
Boehner might be safe until the mid-terms. Nobody wants to find themselves wearing his clown shoes. In fact, his greatest leverage at this point might be threatening to step down as Speaker...
I think Ryan is playing for the 2016 pres nomination.
ReplyDeleteToday, I view these clowns as the proverbial stopped clock- both Republicans have had choice words about House Speaker John Boehner.
ReplyDeleteLie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
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Schumer said. “It’s a Boehner betrayal.”
ReplyDeleteWait, what?
I think Ryan is playing for the 2016 pres nomination
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right, but the overreach is bound to bite him.