1115.org

Either the voters of John Boehner’s Ohio district are really dumb, and will vote for him next time around no matter how openly and blatantly he spouts total garbage. Or Boehner is up for a rude shock in 2008.

He has taken the concept of presidential ass-licking to an all-time low, abandoning along the way any notion of integrity or dignity or even time-consistency.

Boehner on May 7, 2007:

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, said the troop buildup has shown some success and noted that it is not yet complete. But he embraced the idea of setting benchmarks for the Iraqi government and requiring Bush to assess the Iraqis’ progress on a monthly basis.

“Over the course of the next three months or four months, we’ll have some idea how well the plan is working,” Boehner told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.” “Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a number of fronts. But by the time we get to September, October, members are going to want to know how well this is working, and if it isn’t, what’s Plan B.”

Boehner on July 31, 2007 (on his “Republican Leader John Boehner” website):

Just five weeks after all of the reinforcements arrived on the ground in Iraq and General Petraeus commenced Operation Phantom Thunder, it’s beginning to look like the surge is working and Democratic leaders may be the ones looking for a “new way forward” in their partisan quest to retreat from the fight against al Qaeda.

Boehner on August 29, 2007 (on his “Republican Leader John Boehner” website):

… since the surge of U.S. forces was complete and Operation Phantom Thunder began in earnest several months ago, there has been no shortage of success or evidence of progress in the fight against al Qaeda in Iraq. According to reports from expert military analysts and our commanding generals on the ground, General Petraeus’ strategy is and has been working.

Indeed, the surge and its massive offensive operations have achieved tremendous successes, including: Tactical momentum and the upper-hand in the initiative against al Qaeda. (the poor formatting is his, not mine)
· Dozens of senior al Qaeda operatives and hundreds of fighters killed or captured since June.
· Unprecedented seizures of enemy weapons caches.
· Overwhelming grassroots collaboration with Iraqi citizens to defeat terrorists.
· Steady declines in sectarian violence and civilian casualties.
· Iraqi security forces are growing in strength.
· Increased security and economic activity in neighborhoods throughout the country.
· Landmark consensus achieved between Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish leaders on Iraqi political reconciliation.

And now here’s Boehner yesterday. He’s obviously had some kind of epiphany:

“The GAO report really amounts to asking someone to kick an 80-yard field goal and criticizing them when they came up 20 or 25 yards short,” said House Republican leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.)

So after months of declaring that the ball was in the air, sailing along on a perfect trajectory, and all set to clear the uprights, Boehner has suddenly decided that it was a clearly impossible 80-yard field goal all along?

Maybe one of these days Boehner will write a book and let all of us know at precisely what time — between August 31 and September 4 — this insight burst upon him.