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Boehner argues voters are ‘gonna hang’ Speaker Pelosi

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House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) launched a lengthy tirade about coastal drilling and the Democratic House majority doing some of the exact same things the Republican House majority was doing less than two years ago, when he probably took his rhetoric one step too far.

Responding to questions over whether Pelosi could call a special session – which Democrats insist won’t happen – and vote on other issues that Republicans may not want to face, such as an expansion of childrens’ [sic] health insurance programs, which President Bush and GOP congressional leaders have opposed.

“She’s gonna bring us back and not deal with it? The American people are gonna hang her,” Boehner said. When pressed further, Boehner said it would “be fine, as long as we get a vote on our bill.”

I’m quite sure Boehner wasn’t speaking literally, and wasn’t actually calling on Americans to try to kill the woman third in line for the presidency. But there are certain expectations about how elected leaders are supposed to conduct themselves, and Boehner said something he shouldn’t have.

It didn’t take long for other House members to respond. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) said in a statement, “[N]o public official should use language implying bodily harm to anyone, whether they are referring to the Speaker of the House or any other American. That is completely outrageous.” Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) added, “Assertions of physical violence toward the Speaker of the House have no place in the halls of Congress. Period. After a week stuck in an echo-chamber of their own making, this group of Republicans has turned ugly. Democracy is about settling differences through debate, without violence. It is unfortunate that the Minority Leader allowed violence to creep into his overheated rhetoric.”

I bring this up in large part because Boehner has spent much of the few years perfecting the art of the hissy fit, and if there was a level playing field, and a Dem had said what Boehner had said, he’d be whining incessantly about the desperate need for a censure resolution.

Last October, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said something intemperate about the president’s motivations in Iraq. House Republicans, led by Boehner, threw a fit and introduced a resolution to condemn Stark.

A few weeks prior, MoveOn.org took ran the “Betray Us” ad in the NYT. House Republicans, led by Boehner, threw a fit and helped bring a censure resolution to the floor.

More recently, Republicans were apoplectic when Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) said he was “glad” al Qaeda and everyone else could see Cheney Chief of Staff David Addington on C-SPAN.

I’m reminded of a great column Michael Kinsley wrote in the wake of the “Betray Us” nonsense.

Goodness gracious. Oh, my paws and whiskers. Some of the meanest, most ornery hombres around are suddenly feeling faint. Notorious tough guys are swooning with the vapors. The biggest beasts in the barnyard are all aflutter over something they read in the New York Times. It’s that ad from MoveOn.org — the one that calls General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. forces in Iraq, general betray us. All across the radio spectrum, right-wing shock jocks are themselves shocked. How could anybody say such a thing? It’s horrifying. It’s outrageous. It’s disgraceful. It’s just beyond the pale … It’s … oh, my heavens … say, is it a bit stuffy in here? … I think I’m going to … Could I have a glass of … oh, dear [thud].

Look, occasionally political figures and officials are going to say intemperate things. They’ll generate criticism, which is often deserved. But since being relegated to minority status, Republicans, most notably Boehner himself, have been in high dudgeon at the drop of a hat, as if their delicate sensibilities and virgin ears can’t bear to hear a Democrat say a discouraging word.

Given this, Boehner can’t be too surprised if the umbrage wars start moving in his direction — he did, after all, talk publicly (albeit metaphorically) about violence towards the House Speaker.

IOKIYAR is a defense, but it’s not a compelling one given Boehner’s repeated hysterical fits every time he hears a Dem say something that sends him looking for a feinting couch.

Comments

  • The Answer is Orange

    says:

    Now, now. You don’t want to make Boneher cry.

    Speaking of Repukelicans running their mouths, some other dunce compared their talk-ins for more drilling to J.Q. Adams’ fight against slavery.

    Yeah. Because um … well you see … oil is black, like the slaves. And the Democrats are keeping it trapped. Under the ground. Like a railroad. And we want to free it.

  • Winkandanod

    says:

    Go f*ck yourself, Boner!

    Oh, I’m sorry. That’s rude and intemperate. Allow me to restate in a manner that is less offensive and more appropriate to this august forum.

    Go cheney yourself, Mr. Boehner!

  • Texas Aggie

    says:

    I think that the real error on Bonehead’s part was to agree to consider things that really needed considering, such as child health care, reregulating banks and other financial institutions, getting out of Iraq, controlling the rampant speculation that is in large part responsible for the explosive takeoff in oil and food prices. I wonder, now that the oil price bubble seems to be bursting, if the Bush administration will rush in to rescue those who lost their Bentleys.

  • Jim Kourlas

    says:

    I actually don’t see “hang her” as anything more than a figure of speech and don’t find it offensive. It’s sloppy and it’s depressing to see how language in the public sphere has devolved through the years, but it’s not surprising coming from Boehner and to me it’s just the kind of thing that you rise above and let go. Maybe cart it out the next time Boehner wants to waste the country’s time with a stupid resolution, but that ties into the fact that Democrats are actually doing work while the Republicans just perform meaningless stunt after meaningless stunt.

  • mat1492

    says:

    This would be a great time for Pelosi to say great we will call congress back into session if the repubs agree to a straight up and down vote on everything they have blocked in the past year and a half!

  • SadOldVet

    says:

    I don’t think that the American people should want to hang Pelosi for not caving on a political stunt. I think the American people should want to hang Nancy ‘screw the Constitution for some perceived political advantage’ Pelosi for treason.

  • True American

    says:

    I am all for removing Pelosi from here post physically or what ever. She is the most disgusting person. A true bobble head with lots of plastic surgery. Being from California, what can I say. She is a disgrace to women. Hanging is too good for her. I can think of other tortures to remove her from her position….She is a disgrace.

  • Steve

    says:

    The American people are gonna hang her,” Boehner said.

    Maybe we could negotiate a “barter” on this one. They get to hang Pelosi if we get to hang Boehner. Or better still, they get to hang Pelosi if—and only if—they hang Boehner first. Or if we’re really, really shrewd about this, we could get a deal where they get to hang Pelosi if they first Hang Boehner, Gingrich, Limbaugh, Beck, two-thirds of the Bush administration, a few dozen televangelists, Ronald Reagan’s ghost, Richard Nixon’s rotting corpse, and a partridge in a pear tree….

  • daniel rotter

    says:

    “I am all for removing Pelosi from here post physically or what ever…Hanging is too good for her”.

    I am all for “True American” seeking help for his psychosis.

  • MsJoanne

    says:

    I fear that True American approaches life from the Republican perspective of war and torture are good.

    Yeah, Pelosi sucks. But saying you are for hanging or torture of her is, well, rather the point of this post.

    Sorry, darlin’, you’re not a true American in any sense of the word.

  • Dale

    says:

    I think this stunt would have been a big gut-wrenching deal a couple of years ago when the Republicans were in control. I guess that’s one thing to be glad about the 2006 DemCong, a little more peace of mind.

  • joey

    says:

    Drunk again??? Did he start bawling his eyes out again??? Talk about one screwed up individual…or is he just a hypocrite and phony…hmmm

    I still hope someone sends then replicas of tiny dental drills saying you might as well be drilling with these for as much as off shore drilling will lower the price a the pump. It’s another land grab by big oil which own these puppies.

    Boehner has a dipstick up his ass…marked off in $s…He needs to be in a alcohol treatment program with Blunt and Bond.

  • libra

    says:

    […] Boehner’s repeated hysterical fits every time he hears a Dem say something that sends him looking for a feinting couch. — CB

    *Feinting* couch? A Freudian slip, or a bit of cunning wordsmithing? Because, of course, all this hullabaloo is one gigantic feint, to avoid talking about things that matter…

  • Rabi

    says:

    I don’t think that this should be such a big deal. Granted, politicians are held to higher standards, but Boehner clearly was speaking metaphorically. The idea of “killing” as winning/defeating and “dying” as losing is common in the American lexicon, so I think it’s a bit of an overreaction.

    That said, Boehner’s still worthless so I can’t feel bad for him.

  • gorp

    says:

    I find it interesting (and a little repulsive) that the wingnuts like True American @ 9 see themselves as such. They are the only real patriots, the “True Americans”. The rest of us are traitors who selfishly and malciously suck at the teet of glorious motherland. We are traitors and Pelosi is evil because we are not like them; we do not see the world with the clarity they do. They are like racial purists and religious fundamentalists, both christian and islamic; that which is not of theirs is an abomination, an agony on their soul. They are tormented by our very existence. That they are a minority must be a real thorn in their butt.

  • Meah Bottoms

    says:

    I have often wondered what kind of people put Boehner into office, and if they have at all considered finding an alternative. He is an embarrassment and is a troubled individual. He actually is a good representation of a Repbublican gone Bush. Just sold his soul. And at what a price. His liver is vulnerable it would appear.

    I wonder if True American wants to hang Nanci Pelosi because she is a Democrat or because she is from California, or because she is a woman. Anyone who would maim or torture even for the sake of discussion is also a troubled individual. I think the Republican Party is a sick sick organization, and it’s center will ultimately not hold. There is no moral compass left amongst them.

  • Bruno

    says:

    I agree with Rich @ 19

    Let’s not get lost in construing a word the way Republicans would. There are far more important issues you can attack Boehner with , than implying he meant physical harm to Nancy Pelosi.

    Republicans do that all the time. If you want to dispel the notion that ALL politicians do that, then at least, as a Democrat don’t stoop to that level. It’s a little hard to claim you’re different and above board, when using the same juvenile tactics when the opportunity presents itself.

  • Wild08

    says:

    Please help spread the word and donate to the Accountable America. We have to fund and help with their efforts.

    Led by Tom Matzzie, a liberal political operative who has been involved with some prominent left-wing efforts in recent years, the newly formed nonprofit group, Accountable America, is planning to confront donors to conservative groups, hoping to create a chilling effect that will dry up contributions.

    “We want to stop the Swift Boating before it gets off the ground,” said Mr. Matzzie, who described his effort as “going for the jugular.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/us/politics/08donate.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1218351965-wMzfK5ijxuz6vmevOKsK8Q