Laura Bush should talk to John Boehner

[BobcatJH]

Laura Bush, First Scold:

"The right to have these conversations is part of what makes our country great and our democracy strong. We must be mindful that people around the world are listening to these discussions," Laura Bush said at a suburban Columbus recreation center during a campaign appearance with Rep. Deborah Pryce.

"Responsible candidates understand that the men and women of our military are risking their lives for us, and that we must conduct our debate here at home in a way that does not jeopardize our troops in harm's way," she said, calling for "conversations conducted with civility and respect."

I wonder what she would think about her fellow Republican, Majority Leader John Boehner, blaming those "troops in harm's way" for the Iraqi quagmire:

BOEHNER: Wolf, I understand that, but let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld.

BLITZER: But he's in charge of the military.

BOEHNER: But the fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president. We've seen this run up in violence as we get closer to the election, as we get closer to Ramadan, same thing we've seen over the last couple of years.

Nothing but wall-to-wall coverage focusing on a misinterpretation of something John Kerry said and here we have a top Republican actually blaming the very troops his party claims to support. Like I said before, Republicans do support the troops ... with a knife in the back. Top Democrats, meanwhile, are rightfully calling bullshit on Boehner's shameful remarks. I say rightly because, you'll remember, it was the ever-so-civil Boehner who said, about Kerry's statements:

If he's not going to apologize, we're going to beat him to death until he does.

Civility and respect? Boehner's got your "civility and respect" right here, Laura.