The Angry Minority

This picture is of House Minority Leader John Boehner. He has one tone – resentful. That was even while he was House Majority Leader. “Hardball” host Chris Matthews likes to inquire about Boehner “why does that guy always look like he just missed a putt."

Speaking of missing a putt, it was Boehner who spoke (surely just out of obligation) at the ceremony awarding the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal where he pronounced Tuskegee with a soft “g” – repeatedly. In other words he serially mispronounced it. The audience sat there as if they were golf spectators watching Boehner miss a putt over and over again. The only person in the chamber who didn’t realize what was going on was Boehner who had probably drifted into autopilot just as he walked through the door with his three-by-five cards.

For the record, Nancy Pelosi only mispronounced it once while giving opening remarks at the event and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell not only pronounced it correctly but received a hand for doing so. He followed Boehner’s half-assed address and deliberately named the Tuskegee Airman in his greeting as if to either shame Boehner or as if to say “we’re not all like him.”

I know I’ve spelled Tuskegee wrong a few times. Based on its pronunciation, there are probably a thousand ways to spell it. I’ve probably put an unnecessary “h” in there before, but it’s easy to pronounce if you’ve heard it said a few times before. John Boehner had not. It begs the question, where the hell is this guy’s district, Neptune?

That Boehner boner flew under the radar, but what he will be remembered for is going down on the wrong side of History. After screaming and whining on the floor of the House about whatever he was screaming and whining about tonight, the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives just passed the biggest piece of healthcare legislation since Medicare. Boehner's obituary will laud him for defending discrimination against the sick and injured. Right now the Democratic House leaders are in their press conference surely to be followed by Boehner and his good ole boyz. I don’t know what he’ll say, but I know he’ll say it looking like he just missed a putt.