60 Minutes aired a bio piece on John Boehner last night. The soon-to-be Speaker of the House has a hell of a story. He grew up in a Democratic household, one of 12 kids in a 2 bedroom house. From the age of 10, he worked in his grandpa's bar sweeping and cleaning. He worked his way through college, then took a sales job with a plastics company. Eventually he rose to become president of that company. Truly admirable.
As a neo-millionaire business executive, he decided his business and personal income taxes were unfair, and so converted to the Republican Party. He took up golf and joined Cincinnati's Hyde Park Country Club, which to this day denies membership to blacks, hispanics and Jews. (Infamously, they once turned down UC god and NBA Hall Of Famer Oscar Robertson.) He moved his family to the exclusive (and lilly-white) suburb of West Chester. The community bylaws do not literally ban residence by Democrats, but they might as well. He was first elected as a State representative, then a U.S. representative, and is often reelected without opposition.
On TV last night Boehner demonstrated what a dramatically leaky faucet he can be. Whenever he feels the need to soften up his usual mean old horse's ass persona, he turns on the tears. It's remarkable, and it's bullshit. He said he can't visit elementary schools because the mere sight of little kids chokes him up. While sniffling and snotting all over Leslie Stahl, Boehner blubbered, "Making sure these kids have a shot at the American Dream like I did is important." (As if someone is holding kids back. Probably Obama.)
Oh, boo-fuckin'-hoo, John! Boehner's version of the American Dream does not include Social Security, unemployment insurance, health insurance, Medicare, safety regulations, or labor unions. I guess he believes those things interfere with the American Dream.
Reality is that today's kids have the same shot he did, maybe even better in some ways. But taking the shot and making the shot can be two different things. We can't all grow up to be wealthy business owners.
Boehner seems to have forgotten this. For the sake of money and political power, he has forgotten and forsaken his own roots. Of his 11 siblings, 2 are unemployed and the rest work in blue-collar jobs. Interesting, isn't it? How much were they helped by tax cuts for millionaires?
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