This Week: Boehner thinks Americans Want Change From Republican Policies, By Trusting The Republican Party
By Nicole Belle Saturday May 17, 2008 1:30pm 
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t Heather)
George Stephanopoulos asked House Minority Leader John Boehner about their hilariously apt choice to embrace as a party slogan a trademarked slogan for an anti-depressant. Boehner seems to think that claiming that the GOP is the party of change will somehow resonate with voters and make them forget that the change they are seeking (if those special elections are any indication, and I think they are) is from the gridlock, corruption, collusion and overall incompetence of a decade-long Republican majoritym, a fact that George Stephanopoulos never sees fit to point out. (h/t Rico in the comments)
Boehner holds up the rather sickly carrot of a Republican energy policy that he claims will lower gas prices. A neat trick that will be, considering that Republican coddling of oil companies has resulted in the gas prices we see today with the threat of double that by the end of the summer. But Boehner thinks we should rely on the Republicans.
Riiiiiiiggggghhhhht.
Transcripts below the fold:
STEPHANOPOULOS: The Democrats are having some fun at your expense this week, because they look at your slogan, "Change You Deserve," and say that's a slogan for Effexor, an antidepressant.
Here was Congressman Steny Hoyer, your counterpart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STENY H. HOYER, D-MD.: "Change you deserve," of course, is a trademark for an antidepressant. (LAUGHTER) It does have side effects. It can make you sick. Eighty-two percent of Americans have indicated they're sick and tired of the policies that have been pursued by the Bush-Boehner administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Shouldn't you have seen that coming?
BOEHNER: Listen, I could have used an antidepressant last week, I can tell you. But that's got nothing to do with the job that we have to do to show the American people that we can deliver a real change here in Washington. And I think our members and our candidates are going to be prepared, this fall, to do just that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But how do you do it, then? You've got Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate. President Bush -- you've been opposed to him on the farm bill. It doesn't seem like the issues that you're talking about, right now, that he's going to have the kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
BOEHNER: George, he's not on the ballot.
BOEHNER: You want to keep looking in the past. We need to look ahead. John McCain...
STEPHANOPOULOS: So President Bush is the past.
BOEHNER: ... appeals to almost all Republicans, a broad swath of independents and conservative Democrats. John McCain at the top of the ticket will help us. But we also have to show as Republicans in Congress that we can really deliver for the American people.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But how do you do that?
BOEHNER: We've got to work hard. And when my members want to moan and groan, I understand it. The things haven't been real happy for them, losing three special elections. But we all have to look in the mirror. We all have to decide, what are we going to do today, in order to show the American people that we're serious about doing the
kinds of things that...
STEPHANOPOULOS: And what's the number one thing you'll do coming out of that meeting on Tuesday, to show that the Republican caucus in the House has changed?
BOEHNER: I think what we've got to do Tuesday and Wednesday is to deliver our energy policy. Here's what we would do if the American people would honor us with the majority. We're going to deliver a real energy policy that will reduce gas prices.
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Ahhh... Finally... The main course!
"Don't worry 'bout tha people... worry 'bout tha brand"
I saw it about an hour ago...I was like WTF? And the line about American's honoring them with a majority....wow wee, talk about groveling....
Bar none, the best comedy on the radio these days is Sean Hannity's AM show.
It's a regular laugh riot.
Caller, after caller, after caller sings the same, sad, sad, sad refrain.
The jig is up.
It's over.
Show's done.
We're toast.
And Hannity has to sit there, 15 hours a week, and take it from his loyal listeners.
Check it.
:)
Tons of Republicans have jumped off the sinking ship. When Republicans proved themselves to be more concerned about a President who lied under oath (no one in the Bush administration will even testify under oath) about a blowjob than getting to the bottom of the Bush administrations intelligence snowjob that has resulted in millions of Iraqi deaths, 4000 American deaths, tens of thousands of injuries and mlllions of Iraqi people displaced. Even those who have a strand of morality left in their beings see the light.
This year should be a slam dunk for the Democrats. Most of us are doing everything we can to make that happen. Let's just hope they do not blow it.
Look at it this way. If Boehner is the most interesting guest Stephanopoulos can find for his program, nobody will watch...sort of like a tree falling in a remote forest.
I can only assume that Marvin Fitzwater and Ken Mehlman were unavailable.
I laughed through the entire interview - a welcome relief from the years when all these people did was scare me to death with their "permanent majority" talk. I lost track of the number of times Boehner told George, "Elections aren't about the past, they're about the future." Really? Only about the future? I thought they were also about voters passing judgment on officeholders' past records. Ah, how quickly the Repubs. want us to forget their past years of failure...Hee, hee, hee!
Boehner: "...Here’s what we would do if the American people would honor us with the majority..."
But the American people DID honor you with the majority! What did you do with it?
Why didn't Georgie Boy ask that as a follow-up?
.
Boner, oh please. That guy makes my blood boil.
The RNC is throwing the Boner out there for one last round before he's due to be replaced with a new model before mid-year.
You can rebrand all you want--a Repig is still a pig.
You'll find Boehner here as number 7 in the list of Chicken hawks who huff and puff about how THEY can protect the country better.
1# Representative Patrick McHenry, R-NC - did not serve. Saw fit to endanger American troops' lives after a visit to Iraq by violating operational security and helping militias target their mortar attacks on the Green Zone.
2# Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY - did not serve (1)
3# Senate Assistant Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-MI - avoided the draft, did not serve.
4# Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl, R-AZ - did not serve.
5# Senate Republican Conference Vice Chair John Cornyn, R-TX - did not serve.
6# National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign, R-NV - did not serve.
7# House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH - did not serve.
8# House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO - did not serve.
9# House Republican Conerence Chair Adam Putnam, R-FL - did not serve.
10# House Republican Policy Committee Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI - did not serve.
11# National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-OK - did not serve.
12# Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - did not serve.
13# Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney - did not serve in the military but did serve the Mormon Church on a 30-month mission to France.
14# Former Senator Fred Thompson - did not serve. avoided the draft, did not serve (1). "So many minority youths had volunteered ... that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself."
15# Former House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - did not serve
16# Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve. (An impressive medical resume, but not such a friend to cats in Boston.)
17# Rick Santorum, R-PA, formerly third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve.
18# George Felix Allen, former Republican Senator from Virginia - a supporter of Nixon and the Vietnam war, did not serve. (1)
19# GW Bush - decided that a six-year Nat'l Guard commitment really means four years. Still says that he's "been to war." Huh?
20# VP Cheney - several deferments (1, 2), the last by marriage (in his own words, "had other priorities than military service") (1)
21# Former Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - did not serve (1, 2); received seven deferment to teach business ed at SW Missouri State
22# Jeb Bush, Florida Governor - did not serve. (1)
23# Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve (1), too busy being a Republican.
24# Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve (1, 2)
25# "B-1" Bob Dornan - avoided Korean War combat duty by enrolling in college acting classes (Orange County Weekly article). Enlisted only after the fighting was over in Korea.
26# Phil Gramm - avoided the draft, did not serve, four (?) student deferments
Norwood Woman @ 7:
not to mention the eminent attack during an election cycle!!!
Now while you're thinking about THAT one; I've got this creampuff over here, low miles, driven only on the weekends..... by a kindly old la.........
Nicole, this man isnt dumb or silly or mistaken.
Dont ridicule him. He is a very very bad man. He is a zero sum social darwinist (ZSSD) and he is lying.
Call him on it. I guarantee that every 'policy change' he proposes has been proposed by republicans every year since Reagan - that isnt change, its a lie.
Two quick notes -
1) oil prices are high not because of supply and demand but because the price is being speculated UP - there is a move afoot in the senate to legislate that out of existence. Independent estimates are that absent interference by speculators (this administration is known for this) oil would be between 55 and 60 bucks.
2) Stephanopolus is a professional liar (for the clintons) , just like scotty and parino. Dont give him any more credit than he deserves.
Of course they are the party of change...if by change they mean backwards change. These republicans are so nervous and afraid of november that they can turn coal into diamond if shoved up their asses.
He has all the cedibility of Lucy telling Charlie Brown that this she'll really, really hold the football so he can kick it.
Maybe the Repuglic#nts should change their mascot from the elephant to the leopard.
That's it. Restock the shelves with recalled dog food.
'True, we've screwed up absolutely everything, George, but we'll do better than the other guys if we're re-elected.'
Pappa Boner @ 13:
I think ... they think the American public can't remember why the country under their
Leadershipineptitude got the country where it is today. We already saw THEIR change.I hope when he gets booted out in his next election that he cries once more for the cameras'
he's so good at that choked up crap.
John, you didn't serve your country in the service and you haven't served in the House.
Under Clinton gas was $1.30 back in 2000
for some strange reason its now three times that under the gentle leadership of GWB.
heckovajob Chimpy/Cheney/Oil shareholders
hood @ 15:
That's one way they can help to repay their great financial debt.
ferrofluid @ 20:
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 19:
Yes, and the cost of good Wheat Bread has risen penny for penney along with the rise in oil prices. A loaf of good country wheat bread was $1.25 now it's about $3.98
ferrofluid @ 20:
pssst... cheney had secret meeting wit big energy two munts afta elechun...
Norwood Woman @ 7:
That sound you heard while you were watching the show was me laughing right along with you. He was indeed pitiful with his whining and trying to dispatch the past as though it never happened.
Sorry Mr. Boner, the party is over and the bartender just said, Last call.
I like the "It's not about the past. It's about the future."
Talk about an admission of guilt
Batocchio @ 18:
Abominable Voter: D'oh! What a cute little pink President.
[picks up Chimpy]
Abominable Voter: Just what I always wanted. My own little president! I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him.
Chimpy: I'm not sane, sober or competent !
Abominable Voter: And pat him, and pet him, and...
Chimpy: You're hurting me... put me down, please.
Abominable Voter: And rub him, and caress him, and...
Chimpy: I AIN'T NO PRESIDENT!
Abominable Voter: Not a president, George? Then how come you live in the WH, how come?
Chimpy: White House? Ooh!
[laughs]
Chimpy: Those aren't policys, those are Republican scam tactics! So, now put me down, please, huh?
Abominable Voter: Oh George... you were naughty to pretend you was a president. I will punish you good in 2004. Bad old George!
#14 anon Says: "...2) Stephanopolus is a professional liar (for the clintons) , just like scotty and parino. Dont give him any more credit than he deserves."
Not sure he actually lies, but his status of leading sycophant remains intact, with Wesley Clark not too far behind. You can't blame Stephanopolus really, because without the Clintons, George would be a little-known professor of divinity somehwere.
Hilarious: asking for the gift of misgoverning the American people all over again: that's the mantra for the futire; forget the past. I think George just went through the motions with "Beynor". He needs to go and take an extra dose of suntan. What a maroon!
Rico @ 27:
And Clark woundnt have had to supply the military hardware and personal for the Waco PR stunt.
Two things struck me as funny about this interview. The first was that I couldn't help but think of the anti-depressant commercial and all the jokes that have been made about it this past week.
The second is something my significant other has said for awhile. "People will want change when they have suffered enough and not one moment sooner." In 2000 they hadn't suffered at all, in 2004 they hadn't suffered enough, by 2006 they were getting plenty of suffering and by 2008 they may have had enough.
Anyone who still votes republican this time will get exactly what they deserve. Now that's funny.
The shit the Republicans, and of course the nation is in, is the direct result of deliberate actions taken by the lockstep solidarity the Republican congressment, those in the executive, and even the courts to some degree.
Looking back over this past 8 years, it looks pretty obvious that the actions of Repuclican governance has been that of a small minority propogandizing and mind controlling the majority of US citizens agains thier own best interests. Not to mention ripping us of blind by throwing us as a nation into massive debt
It appears we are waking up and if all goes well , there will be hell to pay for the radcial right. In my fondest fantasies, this administration, having avoided impeachment and dismissal from office will backfire on them. Simple removal from office would have been far more desireable of an outdome to them than trials and punishment [prison, amnyone? :) ] for war crimes , as well as crimes against the US Constitution and international laws and treaties.
tz @ 31:
Everybody expects Chimpy (in Jan 09) to go back to Crawford or Kennebunkport and await the indictment in the mail...
Sondra from WestPalm @ 30:
And the sad thing about it, is that they enjoy the pain and suffering as long as they think somebody else is worse off.
I love watching all these repukes on all the Sunday morning talk shows today. They are all saying the same stupid thing- Yeah, we fucked the place up real good ,but, we rekukes are the only party that can fix our own fuck ups and make everything all better! These fuck-wads are too damn funny, even as they say this fall down funny stuff, with a straight face!Hey boner, I can't wait to see you blubbering all over yourself when the democrats run your sorry ass out of town!See ya , cry baby!
My son moved his family to the outer East Bay because he couldn't afford to live in SF. His schedule doesn't fit in with the public transit system. On those days that he can BART it, he's tried riding his bike to the station, but he shares childcare duties with his wife and it really isn't practical trying to figure out how they can both drop off and pick up without the use of their cars.
He has such a great job. Will he be forced to quit and look for something closer to home because he can't afford an additional $200 a week to fill up the tank? I think the Republican philosophy is that he's stupid for living so far from work. He should just move somewhere he can afford. He should just uproot his family and separate them from their extended families and friends. Or, he should move back in to his mother's 2 bedroom rent-controlled apartment in The City, which he can't, because his sister and her two kids already did.
As far as that working-class voters block is concerned, you'd have to be brain-dead to NOT vote, or to vote Republican. Even the most beaten down, work-around-the-clock, pessimistic fatalist can take the time to mail in an absentee ballot here in California. They better not fuck up, because it CAN get worse. Much, much worse. I hope they realize that.
Haliarious, btw, am i the only one who recognizes this guy's name is pronounced [boner], now that's funny
George = gorge
Just a hint Boner, nobody is paying attention to you anymore.
shantiquax @ 35:
some are morons and vote for whoever scares them the most,
I am sure a lot of the working class do not vote R, it literally is like turkeys voting for xmas.
But the theres a lot the various local R activists can do to twist local election results to suit their outcome.
What is their energy policy going to be? Dig for more oil or invade another country and take their oil?
If they come out and say another about alternatives to oil I would not be surprised, but I don't expect them to do anything about it. They have always defended the oil company and have said it will cost business too much to switch. I don't think they will actually do anything except to announce their policy, much like their Contract with America, which they did not implement.
"Our energy policy is better, because it has cheap gas..."
"How does it do that?"
"Because, like I said... it is better"
"Why is it better?"
"As I stated, it is better because the gas is cheaper"
"Well you cant argue with that folks.. cheaper gas with another victorious election for the Republican party"
He's pulling another boner.
rduke @ 41:
You say it well. I'm worried about how many idiots will buy this.
Rico @ 27:
The truth to a lawyer is a non-actionable statement. This defines statements by most press secretaries.
My truth is when I know you know what I know. From my perspective, the lawyers truth is a lie, a willful deception.
The Republican party these days is like a wife-beating husband. After he smacks you around he says, "Baby don't go, you know I love you".
Orwell's newspeak has nothing on these assholes. Jesus tap dancing on a pogo stick.
It is always these wasps who want their cake and eat it to.
The gave us the disease, 8 years of their disastrous policies unchecked, and they pretend that with a simple branding they can give us the cure: their solution to their own policies.
WHAT THE FUCK!
That is what they GOPers are all about: Gain power, fuck things up... blame it on the "government" and force people to use private solutions... which they themselves control and which are not accountable to the public.
Let me see, if I take a double dose of this amnesia medicine…
No, it is not enough, I still remember!
RepublicHUNS, agents of change!!!
That is freaking hilarious.
Hmmm, let's see. The American people are sick of being stuck in the hole we have dug for them with our Republican brand shovel so let's offer them another four more years of digging OR maybe we could use the Democratic brand ladder and start climbing back out.
Decisions decisions.
BooHoo Boner "If the American people will give us a chance to deliver..."
They did give you a chance. You had f**king decade where you controlled all 3 branches of government and all you did was run America into the ground for your own self-serving interests and that of your special interest corrupt constituency. America has woken up and is about to punish you again in 2008 for being a bunch of lying, corrupt, incompentent do nothings.
Emma Hussein Goldman @ 42:
I hope they hire extra (cute) bathroom cleaners for the RNC convention this fall in Minneapolis.
#49 said: "They did give you a chance. You had f**king decade where you controlled all 3 branches of government and all you did was run America into the ground for your own self-serving interests and that of your special interest corrupt constituency. America has woken up and is about to punish you again in 2008 for being a bunch of lying, corrupt, incompentent do nothings."
That would make a perfect commercial for the Democratic candidate this year, although he/she might want to leave out the f**king. I've always thought that the Democrats' biggest mistake in past elections is running against the Republican candidate (the person) and not the Republican party. If Democrats stick to attacking Republican policies and their dreadful outcomes, the election might be back to being a slam-dunk regardless of the nominee.
Honor them with another majority?
He is smoking crack, all these assholes would do is dishonor America with a few more rounds of no diplomacy foreign policy, and that energy policy this putz wants to deliver? Drooling wingnut talking points for drilling where a vast majority of Americans have rejected drilling and no reduction in fuel conservation of ANY kind. Code words for the desperate continuation of the Oil Age with no R&D for ANYTHING else. Honor, these jerks have no honor and never will.
Fuck Yoo Boehner!
♠Bangkok-Bob♠ @ 11:
Good reminder but they are all War Heros in their own little minds....
As far as medications go, Boner doesn't need an anti-depressant, he needs an anti-psychotic.....................
As Boner just said,
"THIS TIME, we're serious about blah, blah blah....."
So, these past eight years means that the joke's on us???
I read a post yesterday that a private prison are feeding Inmates on 1.75 a day, and still making a profit. So I see what they are doing private corp are socializing food allowances, and to think 100million people have died in Vietnam and covert wars for just suggesting socialism.
These guys are worst then the devil himself.
FBush - or as Dubya said, 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ah, er, that mean's ya cain't get fooled again.'
Probably the kindest thing anyone could say about John Boehner is that he is an idiot.
No, we haven't hit an iceberg. No, the ship is not at a right angle to the water. No, those are not thousands of dead bodies floating on the sea. Now can I sign you up for our next voyage?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAH RLMAO! What a Bōehner
Patriot Scholar @ 58:
and he doesnt look the type to be one of the closet Republicans, no matter that he associates with them, and is on 'the list'
Does Boehner actually own a company that leases tanning salons to the poor and laid-off factory workers in his home state?
Royal @ 62:
its an offer that cant refuse...
It 's true, lower gas price with Boehner. it turns out he has discovered oil in Ohio. He skims it off the surface of the Ohio river and lake Eire.
we the people of the United States of America know what we must do to relieve ourselves of this unsightly presence; this dead weight and this runaway train that we are chained to-the g.o.p.-the party that forced us to watch them loot, raid, snatch, grab, lie, lie and grin, wink and nod (to each other) pat each other's rumps, scratch each other's backs, sew golden parachutes and use them to land their little bums on a cushion of air without a scratch, eat thousand dollar burgers and partake in other 'indulgences', tell us torture is 'good' and 'necessary' while protest is a crime against the country...the thing we must do is...drop kick the g.o.p. to the far reaches of recorded history...so far back that if they inhale very deeply, they could actually smell the poo of Hannibal's elephants.
Shrinking Minority Leader Bonehead:
How unfair to link us to President Bush. His disastrous policies were what we enabled at all costs and at the expense of liberty, security, civility, the Constitution and Democracy in the past! The past is not the future, and it's the future that's on the ballot. Give that future to us!
He then unveiled the new and improved Republican slogan:
Vote us back in, for we have not yet reached out nadir.
bashment @ 36:
He pronounces his name "Byn-ner" but I think we can all him "Bye-bye-ner".
I also nominate the song "Cry" as his theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV4fDSRMkGo&feature=related
The Republicans simply have to say, all of these problems have been caused by the Democrats who hold a majority in Congress.
kerplunk @ 68:
That would at least have the facial appearance of a reasonable argument, but it won't fly either.
Boner is such an idiot.
The republican conservatives (the party of bait and switch) are more dangerous than ever for they have nothing to lose.
I expect a campaign of subversion, fear mongering, and dirty tactics like we've never seen.
I pray the electorate has wised up the to con's tactics.
These cons are a wounded beast that's been cornered. They will not go into the night quietly.
Advertising is designed to mainipulate "consumers" to buy "products" that they really don't need. No matter how you advertise a crap sandwich (conservative idiology) it remains a crap sandwich. Crap is crap, even gold plated crap at is core is still crap.
Dress the pig however you want, it's still a pig.
If the masses expected more from their leaders and held them to account for their actions while in office we wouldn't have this mess of a "consumer driven" democracy. Where the cash flows upward and corrupts the system that governs the masses and people think of their politics and it's idiology as a brand.
A country where corporations enjoys the full rights of a citizen and whose voice is heard loud and clear. Yet millions of countless millions of flesh and blood Americans have been marginalized and hung out to dry by this by this voice.
We, the consumers of the United States of America,
In order to form a more perfect marketplace....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political BRANDS which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Boner gets dumber every day
I guess Reslugs are just as stupid as we all thought.
Norwood Woman @ 7:
So McSame comes up with "2013". This is their new tack? A fantasy Utopia after another 4 years of the same old BS. They're really gonna lose big if this is the best they've got.
Rico @ 8:
Why didnt boy george ask boner exactly WHAT the rethugs were going to do to reduce gas prices? the boy just gave the rethug moron a free ride.
Where are the successors to Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite or Peter Jennings? Any one of those gentlemen would have had boner's ass on a stick well before that "interview" was over!!
Limp-Dick Blimpaugh @ 73:
So imagine how stupid the 50% +/-, who "voted" for them must be.
Saint Augustine @ 67:
I had an acquaintance whose name was "Koch" by she said it was "Cook". You decide. I did go to school with a girl whose name was "Cockhead" and another whose was "Woodcock" (and both spelt that way), the poor dears. People laughed at our graduation when they announced their names. OK, that's enough fun for me. Back to the thread!!!!!
This reminds me of when 'Supersize Me' came out and McD's changed the name to 'large' and started serving 'healthy' sh!tty food.
uh, boehner, NO. You are completely out of touch with reality.
WE DON'T WANT NEOCON REPUBLICANS in our government any longer!
The tanning lights have baked his brain.
...why does this video clip reek of 5 year old scotch and Old Spice?