Anyone who knows me, or who has read my articles to date, probably already knows my opinion of John Boehner. If you don’t, it’s pretty easy to infer. But what the heck, I’ll just state it plainly: John Boehner is one of the most useless Speakers of the House we’ve ever had.
Beyond the partisan chicanery; beyond the practice of passing out bribe checks on the floor of the House right before a vote on the related bill; beyond the lies about how many jobs bills his Republican-strangled House of Representatives has pushed through; beyond the refusal to listen to the public on background checks, he’s a completely ineffective leader. Even on bills he knows have to go through, and have to go through in a form that can pass the Senate, he regularly is unable to control his so-called caucus enough to have them pass it. Since Boehner’s speakership began, the House has had a serious issue just executing basic run-of-the-mill governing stuff, including bills getting pulled at the last minute and not making sure they had enough in-party votes before opening legislation to a House vote.
Whether or not you like what Nancy Pelosi stands for, as a Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was good at her job. John Boehner is not good at his job.
Well, Mr. Boehner seems to know this deep down. He recently posted to his YouTube channel a video about the wind-up cymbal-crashing monkey that he was given by his staff a while back. In the video, he can be heard to say, “That’s what I do all day!”
Refreshing honesty there, John. And yes, it is a PERFECT representation of you at your job.
Pointless repetitive actions, such as the fifty-four attempts to repeal Obamacare entirely or cripple it in some fashion? Check. Chattering and jabbering that could be construed as speech, but ultimately has no relation to facts-based reality? Big check. Movement that makes it seem like it’s doing something, going somewhere, accomplishing something, but really just staying stuck in one place? Mega check. Activated by the behest of outside forces, and not the interests of those he represents? Extra-large check with a side of fries and a shake. One could even make comparisons between the artificial pelt of the toy monkey and the spray-tan orange decorating the epidermis of Mr. Boehner.
As amusing as this apt comparison may be, this is also a problem. Being the Speaker of the House is a constitutionally important position. As speaker, the occupier of that position is third in line to the presidency, and additionally has constitutional responsibility to conduct the business of the House. A lot of very sober responsibilities depend on the person sitting in that seat and wielding that power. The cymbal-crashing monkey occupying that seat at the moment is not equal to the task. Mr. Boehner has proven it in failed vote after failed vote, in the refusal to even bring bills his caucus doesn’t like into consideration, in the government shutdown that gained him nothing, in the budgets he has let get through that he knows will not pass and serve to only underline his party’s contempt for regular Americans. He has failed to lead, and has the gall to sue the president when he steps in and picks up the slack. We need a functional leader in the speaker’s seat, not an ineffectual whiner whose only goal seems to be to whine about how the president doesn’t listen to Congress and to dodge the issue when the ball comes back into his court.
The toy is cute, in a way, and its antics are very entertaining to the small children in the video. The Speaker’s antics, on the other hand, entertain very few people, and his failures have wide-reaching consequences for our nation as a whole. The only way we will be rid of this chattering, cymbal-crashing obstruction is if we get out, vote in November, and push him and his party out of power in the House.
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