Lot of stuff going on for a Friday morning. Not here in Columbia — here it’s just raining. But we have these things of national and global significance happening more or less as I type:
- Pope speaks to U.N. — OK, this just ended before I could finish the post. That’s OK, you might have had trouble following the feed; during the part I caught he was speaking Spanish (with an unusual accent to my ear; I guess I haven’t heard that many Argentines). He’s talked so far about saving the planet, has endorsed the Iran deal and has said nations need to remove barriers to the education of girls.
- John Boehner resigns — My first reaction was, “Was it something the Pope said?” After all, Boehner invited him, much to the chagrin of some of the crazies in his party. But I think it’s just the accumulated stress of trying to lead said crazies. Why would he want to quit? Well, just for instance, when his resignation was announced at the “Values Voters Summit,” the news got a standing ovation.
- Chinese leader visits Obama — Technically, this hasn’t happened yet, but the White House is poised to roll out “pomp-filled arrival ceremony,” then a state dinner tonight. These guys should have a lot to talk about. Mr. President, can you say, “Stop the hacking?” Not to mention the weight Xi has been throwing around in the East and South China Sea.
And… dang it, there was something else. What am I forgetting?
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Reaction from Lindsey Graham:
Interestingly, I haven’t seen anything yet from Joe Wilson or the other actual HOUSE Republicans. Maybe they’re still deciding how to play it…
To be fair, Joe is the only GOP member of the delegation I regularly get releases from (and still nothing from him on Boehner).
So I went out and looked at Twitter to see what I might be missing. I mean, surely our House members would have something to say on something as big as their Speaker resigning, right?
Mark Sanford — nothing, although I did learn that Ben Carson was his guest for the Pope’s speech yesterday.
Joe Wilson — still nothing.
Jeff Duncan — just reported the news, had nothing to add:
Trey Gowdy — nothing.
Mick Mulvaney — nothing.
Tom Rice — We have a winner! Rice had a Tweet linking to this statement:
Oh, and nothing from Clyburn yet, either.
Boehner’s taking that red stapler with him on the way out, too.
Things were so much better when he was first elected.
He used to be over by the window, and he could see the squirrels, and they were merry.
Then came the Tea Party, and they’ve moved his desk four times already this year…
Graham/Church and state
https://www.au.org/church-state/march-2011-church-state/people-events/evangelist-billy-graham-says-he-now-regrets
Here’s the president’s reaction to Boehner’s departure, as reported by WSJ:
Roll Call has now followed the example of Wonkette and posted pictures of Boehner weeping in public.
Yeah, that’s classy.
It does raise a question, though: Why has Boehner lasted this long, when crying just once destroyed Ed Muskie?
Times have changed, definitions of manhood, for the better in that regard. Now, imagine if we can get to a place where a female national political leader can shed tears publicly, then we REALLY will have made progress.
I think maybe I still have that primitive, atavistic aversion to that.
Like, “Me not want see chief of tribe look weak.”
I mean, I’ve never seen a POTUS cry. But I don’t think I want to.
I for one won’t miss the orange, crying, smoking Bone-head. Then again, we’ll probably get someone even worse.
He was a good minority leader, but he was a poor Speaker.
He wasn’t wartime consigliere.
To us, the Pope addressing the U.N., the visit of Xi Jinping to Washington and to a lesser extent the resignation of Boehner may all seem of global significance.
But if you’re the BBC, your lede story today is about that soccer guy:
Those Europeans are so obsessed with football.
Yeah. The sickos…
Also MIA, the Chinese decision to go cans and trade.
Cap and trade!