Speaker John Boehner Should Resign For His Unprecedented Insult To The President

[wndycty]

Speaker John Boehner Should Resign For His Unprecedented Insult To The President
OPINION
by Tommy Christopher | 2:49 pm, September 1st, 2011

The mainstream media, and even some in the liberal opinion media, have completely missed the point of President Obama‘s dust-up with Speaker John Boehner over the date for Obama’s address before a joint session of Congress. MSM yakkers have advanced the “pox on both their houses” meme, while liberals like Ed Schultz accuse the President of “caving,” all ignoring the fact that Boehner has insulted and disrespected the office of the President of the United States, and should resign.

There are competing narratives in this story, but also a common set of facts. From the Republicans’ point of view, President Obama made a “rude,” presumptuous, politically calculated request to address Congress on the night of the Republican debate, and Speaker Boehner was absolutely justified in putting him in his place.
-snip-

As for people like Ed Schultz, who accuse the President of “caving” to Boehner, this is like accusing Newton’s apple of “caving in” to gravity. The President can’t address a joint session of Congress without a concurrent resolution, which Boehner well knew. Rather than handle this the way Speakers always have, like a man, face to face, he made a conscious decision to put Barack Obama in his place by making a public refusal.

This isn’t the first unprecedented Republican insult to the presidency under Barack Obama (but it is, by far, the worst), and it isn’t even the first time John Boehner has tried to make the President “heel” with his datebook. It ought to be the last. Every American who has an appropriate respect for the office of the presidency should demand that John Boehner resign, and every legislator should amplify that demand. The problems facing this country are too great to be left in the hands of someone with such contempt for its highest office.

The media, meanwhile, ought to abandon its fetish for false objectivity, and recognize the facts. All parties agree the President gave the Speaker sufficient notice, and I cannot think of another president in history whom the media would suggest should have been preempted by a routine political debate, certainly not in a time of national crisis. The media is complicit in the insult through its failure to recognize this.
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http://www.mediaite.com/online/speaker-john-boehner-should-resign-for-his-unprecedented-insult-to-the-president/

[Owlet]

1. The power here was off for a week..

..and I am admittedly out of touch, so apologies if this has already been addressed. Listening to my little emergency radio, I understood that the President's Chief of Staff had requested a joint session on Wednesday, the night of the first Republican candidate's debate. So my question is this: Did Mr. Daly not know that the debate was scheduled? If not, why not? And if he did, why in the world would he request a joint session for that night? This whole episode has me baffled.

[jefferson_dem]

2. Waiting for our resident Obama-bashers to step in here to defend Boehner.

[wndycty]

4. Well there have been a few unrecs

:kick:

[hack89]

16. The President made a mistake and Boehner took advantage of it.

it is what happens to weak presidents.

[Whisp]

19. and weak minds believe the media swill.

[hack89]

20. Don't be so hard on yourself. nt

[Number23]

21. Did you even READ the damn article?

[hack89]

25. I have read a bunch of articles on this particular screw up

politics is a hard nosed, dirty game. Obama learned a tough lesson - maybe he will be smarter next time.

The idea that Boehner would even consider resigning is ludicrous beyond belief.

[Number23]

27. I'm referring to your "Obama was weak and got played by Boehner" angle

That is specifically referenced and dismissed in the OP. He SPECIFICALLY states that people saying "Obama caved" are missing the entire point and have no understanding of how Congress works.

[hack89]

28. That is one man's opinion - one opinion among many

I happen to disagree with it.

[Number23]

35. The only difference is that his "opinion" is bolstered by a knowledge of government

and the Constitution. Which makes it a bit less of an opinion and much closer to a fact.

Boehner's actions here are the ones that are reprehensible. The fact that you're putting the emphasis on Obama is very interesting.

[hack89]

36. A no name reporter on an obscure internet site.

I am not impressed.

[whistler162]

24. You have that backasswards... Boehner made the

mistake and the President took advantage of it.

[hack89]

26. And how exactly has Boehner been hurt by this? nt

[awoke_in_2003]

33. not one little bit. nt

[Logical]

32. Please explain to us Obama bashers why in the world Obama picked a.....

Night he knew the GOP would push back in and then caved immediately? Why pick the fight if you are not going to fight? Boehner did not whine or complain to the press, he just requested politely that Obama move to Thursday and Obama did!

[GoCubsGo]

3. He should resign for ignoring the people he is supposed to represent...

...so that he and his party can achieve political gain at our expense. Then, he should be tried for treason, and punished appropriately.

Where are the jobs you promised, Boehner?

[Cool Logic]

5. If every politician who insulted someone were forced to resign, there wouldn't be any politicians.

[Ineeda]

6. He didn't insult "someone."

He insulted HIS PRESIDENT, and ours, publicly. He'll never resign, but there will be payback, I'm sure.

[Harry Monroe]

7. No politicians is not exactly a bad thing....

[tularetom]

8. Boner did that because Rush Limbaugh told him to

And that's precisely why Obama should have stood his ground on the date, if not the venue, of the speech. He could have said OK I won't address the congress but I am going to make this speech on the same night as this silly ass debate, even if I have to do it from the Oval Office, because what I have to say is a lot more important than listening to some morans argue over who loves Haysoos the most.

Instead Obama backed down and agreed to change the date of the debate. It isn't bad enough that it gives the impression he "Caved" to Boner, it also gives the unfortunate impression that Limbaugh is calling the shots for Boner and Boner is pushing Obama around in response.

In America today, reality is not important. The republicans and their toadies in the liberal media have created their own reality and even the Democratic president is willing to substitute it for the real reality.

[wndycty]

9. Tell me how Obama could have stood his ground?

Tell me why it was worth engaging in a long last battle over the date of a speech which would have overshadowed the speech itself?

Why?

[tularetom]

10. He could have delivered the speech on Wed. night from a different venue

The important thing was that the speech upstaged the dopey debate.

Now it looks like he conceded that the debate was more important than his jobs speech.

Remember this was in the same week where his administration decided it was not going to repeal the bush clean air deregulation efforts, and sent out all kinds of signals that it would approve the tar sands pipeline to ship Canadian oil to China.

Whether you and I like it or not, politics in this country is treated as a sporting event by the liberal media and many if not most Americans see it as a game. And what they see is that Obama is a patsy that is getting rolled on a regular basis by his tougher and more competitive opponents. They know how the game is played because they helped write the rules.

Why was it important? R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

[wndycty]

12. Once the President asks for a joint session, he looks weaker if he goes to a different venue

:kick:

[tularetom]

15. And he somehow doesn't look weaker for changing the date because Limbaugh complained?

It's a bad situation, I agree, and maybe he was going to lose the perception wars anyway.

But somehow I gotta believe sticking it in their face by preempting their dumbass debate would have boosted morale among his "base".

[Logical]

34. The blind defenders do not get this. I agree with you!

[MissDeeds]

22. Obama could have asserted himself

and said something along the lines of "Listen you little orange twit, I am president of the freaking United States and I will be addressing the American people on any damn day I choose. Now deal with it." Apparently, that didn't happen.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. He is disrespectful and a thug

[madamesilverspurs]

13. Even IF Boehner had the integrity to resign, which he doesn't,

the mainstream media would continue in its present practices. After all, MSM and GOP are owned by the same entities...


-

[wndycty]

14. Very true

:kick:

[Ruby the Liberal]

17. Bah. Boehner is just proving the point

If you don't stand up to bullies, they will keep pushing your buttons until they find the breaking point.

Every time Obama caves to them, he makes them stronger and Boehner is just proving that point over and over and over and over...

[Honeyporter735]

18. not unprecedented

Tip O'Neill denied Ronald Reagan in 1986.

[RandomKoolzip]

23. Boehner SHOULD resign, but not for...that reason.

He should resign because he's a dangerous alcoholic with mental problems.

[cali]

29. I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous.

[rasputin1952]

30. The circumstances surrounding this are a little difficult for the

average citizen to understand, and given the relative ignorance of Civics these days it is somewhat understandable that people are confused.

When a president requests a joint session there is a protocol to be followed. Since the House Chamber is the only one that can fir the number of individuals that will attend, the president requests said meeting. He can be denied such an event, but there are political implications involved, as Boehner and his Clown Car of R's is finding out. Thing is, Boehner looks like a spoiled child after this dust-up. PO did the right thing in requesting the meeting, Boehner blew it. Truth is, it's a tempest in teapot.

Even FDR had to request a joint session to ask for a Declaration of War on 8Dec41.

After the president requested the joint session, he could have just made a speech from the Oval Office at the time specified, really tossing a monkey wrench into the works, but he took the high ground and shifted the timing. In essence, he made Boehner look like the clown he is, and still gets to put his jobs package out, after he gains even more insight after the GOP "debate". I'd love to see the R's squirm after there is nothing viable about their job plans, but with new ammunition for PO to press on the inevitable gaffs that are going to come from the "debate" on the subject.

Bottom line, there are rules at how things are done in Congress. The WH did the right thing in requesting the date, everything after that has been a GOP screw-up...and that's fine by me.


The biggest problem I have w/this is that PO's jobs proposal will not be viable after we hear it. I can virtually guarantee the R proposal will be virtually nothing but "tax cuts" w/absolutely no job creation, in fact, we would lose jobs.

[Logical]

31. Bullshit, boehner asked the president to switch to Thursday. He did not whine.....

Or complain to the press. He asked and Obama caved and switched. Obama could have said NO and forced boehner to look like an ass but he did not. For whatever reason the white house picked the fight and then decided not to fight!

[Bake]

37. Resign? Hell, this spineless President might as wel put a "Kick Me" sign on his ass.

He bent over before he even sent the letter to Boner.

Bake