Boehner pretends he isn’t Speaker of the House

[ProSense]

Boehner pretends he isn’t Speaker of the House

By Steve Benen

Perhaps my favorite GOP response to the downgrade announcement came from the Speaker of the House.

Said House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio): “Democrats who run Washington remain unwilling to make the tough choices required to put America on solid ground.” He quoted the S&P report as saying that reforming entitlement programs is necessary, but he did not mention its discussion of the potential need for new tax revenue.

This is almost beautiful, in a comedic sort of way.

First, S&P blamed Boehner’s hostage strategy for the downgrade, so Boehner trying to shift the blame elsewhere is cheap and cowardly. Second, Dems were willing to make all kinds of “tough choices,” but found Boehner was too weak to persuade his own caucus to compromise.

But that’s just routine nonsense. What I especially enjoyed is the notion that, from Boehner’s perspective, Democrats “run Washington.”

I’ve noticed the Speaker has referenced that wording a few times recently, so I checked Boehner’s own website to see how many times the Speaker’s office has used the phrase. I found over 3,000 results. For a guy who’s only been Speaker for seven months, it suggests this is a phrase Boehner absolutely loves.

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[Tennessee Gal]

1. Boehner has nothing to do with the government. Move along. nt

[zbdent]

2. interesting ... since apparently, he was the Speaker for

damn near everything "news" in the past few weeks ...

[FSogol]

3. Diverting blame - Just another Republican value. K&R n/t

[boxman15]

4. Boehner is hopelessly inept at being Speaker.

It would be funny to watch if it wasn't for the whole "economy being on the brink of collapse" thing.

[MurrayDelph]

5. As was the case with Newt,

Boehner was successful at being the noisy opposition, but has no idea of how to lead once his side is in charge.