Matt Taibbi: The Crying Shame of John Boehner

[babylonsister]

Matt Taibbi: The Crying Shame of John Boehner
The new speaker is a lazy, double-talking shill for corporate interests. So how's he going to fare with the Tea Party?

By Matt Taibbi
January 5, 2011 1:15 PM EDT


John Boehner is the ultimate Beltway hack, a man whose unmatched and self-serving skill at political survival has made him, after two decades in Washington, the hairy blue mold on the American congressional sandwich. The biographer who somewhere down the line tackles the question of Boehner's legacy will do well to simply throw out any references to party affiliation, because the thing that has made Boehner who he is — the thing that has finally lifted him to the apex of legislative power in America — has almost nothing to do with his being a Republican.

The Truth About the Tea Party

The Democrats have plenty of creatures like Boehner. But in the new Speaker of the House, the Republicans own the perfect archetype — the quintessential example of the kind of glad-handing, double-talking, K Street toady who has dominated the politics of both parties for decades. In sports, we talk about athletes who are the "total package," and that term comes close to describing Boehner's talent for perpetuating our corrupt and debt-addled status quo: He's a five-tool insider who can lie, cheat, steal, play golf, change his mind on command and do anything else his lobbyist buddies and campaign contributors require of him to get the job done.

more...

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/matt-taibbi-the-crying-shame-of-john-boehner-20110105

[gateley]

1. K&R - A must read! Good info on Boehner w/Taibbi's snark. ;-) nt

[toddwv]

2. Tagged for later reading.

I would like to add that it was telling to see the empty House seats as the Republican majority opted out of staying around for the entire 1 1/2 hours of Republican political theater. John Boehner himself skipped out in the middle to hold a news conference.

So much for sacred text...

[NV Whino]

3. As usual, Taibbi is spot on.

[Strawman]

4. He's right about Boehner, but he's giving the Tea Party way too much credit

To borrow a phrase from the article, I think the Republicans will be able to successfully "jack off the mob" with bullshit. But beyond that, the angry energy of these Tea Parties wont be sustainable. The center-left stopped Bush, voted for Obama and went away, the far-right showed up to stop Obama and Pelosi in 2010 and they will go away too when they become disillusioned.