January 6th, 2011: The third in line for the presidency, Speaker Of The House, John Boehner.
This is a list of the current presidential line of succession , as specified by the United States Constitution, the Presidential Succession Act of 1947: (3 U.S.C. § 19):
1 Vice President
2 Speaker of the House
3 President pro tempore of the Senate
4 Secretary of State
So in one election cycle, Congressman John Boehner jumped over 16 other people (including Hillary Rodham Clinton) to become third in line to become the leader of the free world. As a matter of fact it was Pres. Harry Truman, a Democrat, who wanted the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to be included in the line of succession, so that a president in the future would not be able to pick his own successor.
The tree he planted has borne strange orange fruit.
I am a patriotic American respectful of the transition of power as laid out in the Constitution as established by the Founding Framers in 1787, and as codified in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19 ).
I believe that the new speaker of the house is deserving of a peaceful and solemn transition into his new position. A brief time, if you will, for him to not have to suffer the slings and arrows of the media and those of us in the loyal opposition of the Democratic Party who are regularly critical of Republican leaders in Congress. A time for him to become accustomed to the office, set his agenda as the new leader and focus on the important job of governing without having to worry about his harshest critics seizing the moment and not allowing him to breathe for a second.
Let that time begin now.
Okay. Time’s up. Let’s see exactly who the Tea Party put into office to be Speaker Of The House:
Boehner is the U.S. Representative from Ohio’s 8th congressional district, serving since 1991. Boehner enlisted in the United States Navy but was discharged honorably after eight weeks because of a “bad back”, and never went to Vietnam.
His mentors in Congress were Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey and Tom DeLay.
In June 1995, Boehner distributed campaign contributions from tobacco industry lobbyists on the House floor as House members were weighing how to vote on tobacco subsidies
A September 2010 New York Times story said Boehner was “Tightly Bound to Lobbyists” and “He maintains especially tight ties with a circle of lobbyists and former aides representing some of the nation’s biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, R.J. Reynolds, MillerCoors and UPS.”
He opposes the reproductive freedom of women. He wishes to see a roll back in Social Security benefits.
Boehner does not believe in human contribution to global warming and once remarked: “The idea that carbon dioxide is a carcinogen that is harmful to our environment is almost comical. Every time we exhale, we exhale carbon dioxide. Every cow in the world, you know when they do what they do you’ve got more carbon dioxide.”
Boehner receives campaign donations from what is essentially the set-up to a joke about Republican stereotypes: pharmaceutical and cigarette manufacturers, health insurance companies, oil companies, and military contractors.
There’s an old joke from comedian Larry Miller: “Re-marrying the same person is like taking milk out of the fridge and smelling it, then saying ‘Oooo, sour…..’then putting it back and saying ‘Maybe tomorrow it will be good’ “.
This is what we have done with re-electing the Republicans again in charge of the People’s house.
