These guys simply never pass down an opportunity to be a jackass:
West Virginia’s two Democratic senators blamed House Speaker John Boehner on Thursday after their hopes of having the remains of World War I veteran Frank Buckles honored in the Capitol Rotunda were dashed, at least for now.
Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin III both released statements saying the Ohio Republican had blocked the Capitol honor. Asked if that were true, Boehner spokesman Mike Steel said the speaker and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., would seek Defense Department permission for a ceremony for Buckles at Arlington National Cemetery.
Buckles died Sunday on his farm in Charles Town, W.Va., at the age of 110. He had been the last surviving American veteran of World War I.
The episode turned what West Virginia lawmakers had hoped would be easy approval for the rare honor for Buckles into a finger-pointing dispute with partisan overtones.
It just never fails- Cleek is right.
Spaghetti Lee
Wait, why does someone in the House get to tell the Senate what to do? Am I missing something?
Mike Kay (True Grit)
Nancy Pelosi banned Styrofoam containers in the House cafeteria in favor of biodegradable paper containers.
Boehner brought back the Styrofoam and they even sent out a press release to gloat about it.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
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This rule has President Obama’s general support as well.
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The Dangerman
The Capitol Rotunda was likely reserved for a Republican Cocktail Fundraiser.
Seanly
What a complete douche bag. I’m just flabbergasted.
Speaking of the styrofoam being reinstalled at the house cafeteria, it’s extra special that it will actually cost more. Same with the defunding of the poison response centers.
SiubhanDuinne
Well, Buckles lied about his age in order to join up. We can’t have Republicans honoring someone who LIED now, can we?
Superluminar
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SiubhanDuinne
@Seanly:
Well yeah, that’s true — but when you consider that it takes milennia to degrade in the landfills and emits toxic fumes when you burn it, you can understand why it would have to cost more. These features don’t come cheap.
Cermet
Sorry, but having anyone’s remains honored in the Capitol is a rather high reach for a comman soldier. Why not everyone who ever served? Most soldiers that have servered lately just as honorably are luckly not to die on the streets when they loose it from all the tours or the IED’s to the head now-a-days. Now, that issue really gets my blood boiling and were is the outrage Dems for that?
BGinCHI
GOP: Love the War, Hate the Soldier.
Assholes.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
I once clouted Clarence Thomas around the ear. This is well before he became a Supreme Court Justice and Protector of Freedom, of course.
It was when we were living in Savannah, and he used to be our paper boy. One day it was very very hot, and the poor boy was sweating like a turkey at Thanksgiving, so I asked him in for a drink.
I poured him a glass of my homemade lemonade (which was legendary in Savannah – Mayor Maclean once told me it was the best he ever had) and one for myself.
I turned back to the sink to get the plate of biscuits, and there on the rim of my glass was a tiny frizzy black hair, and Clarence was grinning like a split watermelon.
I hope his ear still hurts.
BGinCHI
Heard McCain say today that if Obama really wants Qaddafy out of Libya he should create a no-fly zone.
Can he really be that fucking stupid? Did he hear nothing about the testimony of Gates and the Generals the other day?
If he was an infantry commander all his soldiers would be dead and he’d be waiting impatiently for a promotion.
Comrade Misfit
Cermet, Frank Buckles was the last man standing from the Great War. He would have been honored, not only for his service, but as the representative of the millions of men and women who served during that conflict.
He should have received a state funeral.
Boehner is a disgusting lump of steaming human offal to have injected partisan politics into this matter.
BGinCHI
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Well, that explains why he never asks any questions during hearings.
Maude
@BGinCHI:
I heard an audio clip of McCain talking and he was doing these speech pauses with heh, heh, like George Bush. Creepy.
Anything to put down Obama.
Querlvox
@Cermet The fact that he’s the *last* surviving veteran of WWI means that by honoring his passing, we really would be honoring all the others that preceded him.
And ‘end of an era’ kind of thing.
Mike in NC
Clearly Speaker Boner had access to information the rest of us pond scum are unaware of. Was Buckles a greedy union boss at some time in his life, or even merely a lazy card-carrying thug? How many abortions might the guy have performed in the space of 110 years? At a minimum, he probably voted for FDR! Maybe more than once!
BGinCHI
@Maude: From war hero to know-nothing dickwad.
The GOP is like a disease that eats your brain.
Amy
And why aren’t the Democrats shouting this from the rooftop,in a coordinated way, over and over again, asking why Speaker Boehner doesn’t respect American soldiers?
This is easy politics. Attack and make the Republicans defend it.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Amy:
Because… hold on, Charlie Sheen said something stupid again, and…. hold on, we’re waiting on an update to see if the NFL is on two-week life support, and… hold on again, we need to bring on David Broder and John McCain debating the virtues of Scott Walker, and… OK. We’re clear. What was it you wanted again?
piratedan
hey why be magnanimous when you can be petty?
Mike in NC
All snark aside, wouldn’t this decision be left to higher authority, i.e. the Commander in Chief?
This will go over well with the VFW, considering Buckles was both a veteran of WW1 and a POW of the Japanese during WW2. Boehner shoots himself in the foot yet again. What an imbecile. Even frickin’ Newt would have handled it with more finesse.
Mike Kay (True Grit)
@BGinCHI:
/fixed
kdaug
@Amy:
Pig-fuckers.
BGinCHI
@Mike Kay (True Grit): Agreed, he was probably safer in the Hanoi Hilton than with a platoon.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike in NC:
Not sure he has control over the Capitol rotunda. Co-equal branches and all that.
Not to deny that it’s a dick move on Boehner’s part, but he probably has that authority.
rikyrah
some things are no brainers.
this is one of them.
Orange Julius should go fuck himself for disrespecting this man like this. His orange ass never put on the uniform, but he thinks it’s ok to disrespect someone that did.
JGabriel
Cermet:
Apparently Buckles served his country courageously in many ways, through two wars, and his community upon his return.
Buckles is certainly not the only soldier who can claim that. However, Buckles is the last soldier to have served in WWI. As a result, he is the last chance for America to honor and memorialize the sacrifices and achievements of its WWI soldiers via a soldier’s memorial.
It seems a pettiness to deny the country that opportunity over partisanship.
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MikeJ
@Mike in NC:
no. Executive branch doesn’t get to say what happens in the building where the legislative branch meets.
Jay C
@BGinCHI:
The sad part is, that he would probably get it. Especially since Sen. McGrumpypants’ Navy career really wasn’t much different than your snark….
JPL
This is a case where I think the President could come out and honor him and talk about the “great” war. Boehner might be embarrassed but so what. I’ll defend the President for not speaking up during the congressional fights but this is different.
BTW..I normally don’t complain about trolls but please get rid of the tweens. Poor E.D is already stalked and Sarah is obviously setting her/his sights on someone.
Elizabelle
@JGabriel:
What a self-inflicted wound for Boehner.
Mr. Buckles deserves to lie in state in the Rotunda, and I would bet he will.
Pooh
I continue to baffled that someone with a patently racist sn is still allowed to post here.
FlipYrWhig
@BGinCHI: I think John McCain is the real-life Zapp Brannigan.
dmsilev
@BGinCHI:
I’d be tempted to respond “Hey, you’re the great war hero pilot, here’s the keys to an F/A-18, knock yourself out”.
But then I remembered that McCain made ace strictly on the number of his own planes which crashed, that we’d probably have to buy a replacement, and doncha know that the deficit is horrible right now…
dms
Keith G
Off-ish topic-
I just watched Brooks argue with Shields re: no fly zone. I sure hope that someone with some juice calls Bobo out on the utterly stupid shit he spewed.
bemused
Republicans just cannot pass up an opportunity to display their obnoxious 8 yr old personas. I bet they still love armpit farting.
Mike Kay (True Grit)
@JPL: The president knows about this.
He has a daily stack of briefings and classified material to digest.
He spends his lunch plowing through paper work.
And at night, he curls up to even more briefings in his study.
This type of news never reaches his desk(s).
Mike Kay (True Grit)
@JPL: The president doesn’t knows about this.
He has a daily stack of briefings and classified material to digest.
He spends his lunch plowing through paper work.
And at night, he curls up to even more briefings in his study.
This type of news never reaches his desk(s).
Comrade Jake
Along these same general lines of asshattery, have you folks caught this gem from George Will?
The best part? Here’s what George Will had to say about trains right after 9/11:
JPL
@Mike Kay (True Grit): Maybe it should. One statement from him and it would be done. Granted there are more pressing issues but sometimes the small issues would make a difference.
EDIT.. and John please get rid of the tweens.. Sarah will be stalking you soon.
soonergrunt
@Cermet: Speaking as one of those guys who is presumably so unstable that I’m going to lose it on the street at any moment, I’d like to point out that honoring the last veteran of WWI in the Capitol rotunda is honoring all the veterans and fallen of that war.
And while we’re on the subject, I’d also like to point out that against all odds (or so Hollywood would make it seem), the vast majority of us are just fine thank you very much, and while we could use a little help to get through the day every so often, and some of us do in fact have real issues, we’d rather do without the condescension and presumption of insanity that is every bit as annoying as the people who ask us what it’s like to kill ragheads.
Thanks.
Gin & Tonic
@bemused: You say that like there’s something wrong with armpit farting.
soonergrunt
BTW, comment editing seems to be broken in Firefox 3.6.14
Jim C
I’d say this is proof that Boehner is objectively pro-Hohenzollern.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@JPL:
I’d be insulted if I had any idea what you were talking about, dear.
Gin & Tonic
@Comrade Jake:
I always feel so much more ruggedly individualistic being herded through the TSA line and squeezed into a 19″-wide seat for a 6-hour flight than I do walking onto the Acela and plugging in my laptop to read or work or relax on the way to New York or DC. The collectivism as I walk to the cafe car to get a beer and a sandwich is stifling.
bkny
look how it’s playing in the local paper:
MARTINSBURG – Family and friends of the late Frank Woodruff Buckles reacted with shock and disappointment Thursday to news that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is blocking plans to allow the last American World War I veteran to lie in honor inside the Capitol Rotunda.
boehner’s gonna be a one-term speaker.
Maude
@soonergrunt:
This.
The words common soldier bothered me. Common?
RIght click edit and open in new tab.
Mike Kay (True Grit)
@JPL:
Meh. His workload would choke mere mortals. The guy can’t even eat in peace without having to cram some shit into his head.
bemused
@Gin & Tonic:
I knew I would get shit for that.
AliceBlue
@Comrade Jake: Yeah, I read that little gem from Gasbag Will and I thought my head was going to explode. Now I find out that he was in favor of trains post-9/11. Of course, that was before the Black Democrat occupied the White House. It all makes perfect sense.
soonergrunt
@Maude: Perhaps we should disinterr the WWI Unknown Soldier. He was a common soldier after all. Let’s put a General in there instead. They’re not common.
JPL
@Mike Kay (True Grit): I know..some of my ranting is wishful thinking. Boehner is being an ass for some reason I can’t fathom and I’m venting.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike Kay (True Grit): Poor guy. That shit doesn’t even look like food.
Amy
Off topic, but my insight of the day is about what Wisconsin, Ohio, etc. does to the Republican party.
Pete Wilson lost California for the Republican party for decades.
Anti-immigrant types have lost Hispanics for the Republican party for an awfully long time.
And now workers in union households — who haven’t been terribly reliable voters for Democrats since Reagan — they’ve been lost to the Republican party, maybe especially in the battleground midwest states.
These union-busters thought it was going to be easy. They believed their own propaganda, from within their epistemic bubble, that Americans hated unions and thought public school teachers and other public sector workers were “leeches.” Turns out they’re all wrong. And the unions are not going to forget it.
markg
Boehner is probably thinking of the terrible precedent this would set. I mean, in 30 years or so they’d have to do it all over again for the last survivor of WWII. Can’t have the Capitol cluttered up like this all the time.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@markg:
Worse, Korea and Vietnam, and it’s not like they were real wars anyway.
MikeJ
@JPL:
Dream on. One statement from Obama and it’s “Obama thinks he’s the king and can tell us what to do.” Republicans always double down on stupid when called out. Always.
Litlebritdifrnt
I am fully on board with the POTUS coming out and speaking publicly against drinking a gallon of Clorox a day, I think he (and Michelle) should make public statements that drinking a gallon of Clorox a day is not good for you therefore you should not do it. That should rid us of the pesky 27% before voting in 2012.
numbskull
@soonergrunt: Soonerg, I think she meant that no one who serves should be considered “common”. Not everyone knows the lingo, that is, that “common” doesn’t mean “low and pedestrian” in this case.
dmsilev
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’ve argued that Michelle Obama’s next initiative should be to educate people on the danger of licking power outlets.
dms
soonergrunt
@Litlebritdifrnt: From your mouth to God’s ears, my friend.
MikeJ
I want to do whatever common people do, I want to sleep with common people
JPL
@MikeJ: I only said that because this is something MSM can get behind. It would be difficult for Fox to diss it.
MikeJ
@JPL:
Hahahahah!
You don’t even know what kind of kitchen counters he had.
Uloborus
@Mike Kay (True Grit):
I don’t know where you get these photos, but we have one photogenic president. I barely noticed what he looked like before, but he EXUDES class in these pictures, even when he’s not in them. Maybe it’s just that the White House is classy.
@bkny:
I hope not. A new speaker might be able to control his caucus. As things stand, it looks like the old fashioned GOP reps might bail on the Tea Party crazy.
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Sigh. This, unfortunately.
Jay C
So did Speaker Bonehead give any particular reason why Frank Buckles didn’t deserve to be honored in the Capitol, or was it just a case of “I don’t return calls from Democrats” or whatever?
One would really hope that it wasn’t the latter; but with today’s crop of GOP lame-asses, who knows?
MeDrewNotYou
@JPL: I disagree about Sarah P&T. I think he/she is a highly entertaining and talented spoof. Not like a certain other crazy person you might be thinking of. “That one” (hehehe) threadjacks and kills discussion. Sarah doesn’t have the creepy obsessions and isn’t posting a million comments saying the same thing.
Keith G
@MikeJ:
Lincoln’s body laid in state in the White House. Obama could easily extend the same honor to this brave and deserving American hero.
No one of Importance
@Pooh:
But he only ever talks about pie, so what’s the harm in that?
No one of Importance
@MeDrewNotYou:
Sarah’s a nut, and I have to hold it against her that she never posts about pie at all, unlike that other crazy critter.
But she does have the most interesting family and acquaintances, don’t you think? It’s almost like reading a good novel for entertainment. :)
JPL
@No one of Importance: OMG..what novels? It lost me with Opal.
MeDrewNotYou
@No one of Importance: I know! I would totally read her autobiography.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@No one of Importance:
I am very fond of pie. Before I moved into the Shady Pines Home for the Violently Senile, I used to cook a peach pie that would knock your socks off, and that’s even if I forgot to put the strychnine in.
I have lead a long life and feel beholden to share some of my experiences with you, even if some of you don’t like it. One day I may write all my stories down somewhere, and then that Jonathan Franzen had better watch his skinny white bottom.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@JPL:
I can’t imagine what you have against my Opal story. It was relevant to the thread and had a serious lesson for us all – don’t watch fish.
polyorchnid octopunch
I just came directly down. That is completely un-fucking-believable. Absolutely off the hook.
Jay in Oregon
@soonergrunt:
Firefox 3.6.15 came out today, you might give that a try.
Nellcote
@Keith G:
And use the occasion to subtely go after the cuts to vetran’s programs in the gooper budget.
soonergrunt
@Jay in Oregon: Lets’ see if that worked.
soonergrunt
@soonergrunt: nope. still no edit function.
Jebediah
@Keith G:
I think that is an excellent idea – and a good opportunity to highlight what an unbelievably petty prick Orange Weepy is.
Cacti
@Cermet:
Google the word “symbolic”
And after that, “obtuse”.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cacti: I would also point out that a few years ago the French awarded all surviving allied WWI veterans the Legion d’Honneur.
Jenn
Goddamn. My blood pressure just spiked. Who the hell does he think he is, the cowardly goddamn orange buffoon. I am, for the first time in a long time, utterly shocked by GOP shithole-iness. I expect them (sadly) to try to make my innards property of the state, punish the poor, and convert our country into a polluted cesspool. This, this was a shocker.
Don SinFalta
When you ARE a jackass, it takes real work not to act like a jackass in certain situations. So for Boner, as with his colleagues, this was just the default state, no effort required.
Ella in New Mexico
@Comrade Jake:
George will hates high speed rail NOW because he’s too fucking old and purposeless to have to get from point A to point B without a driver in this country anyway. So he can just phone in a column in which he “eruditely” tosses the whole idea on the pile with “communism”, pour himself a globe of 20 year-old Scotch and retire to the library to jack off to Nancy Reagan videos.
Thoughtful Black Co-Citizen
I didn’t realize he’d fought in both World Wars and been a POW during II.
A little about how other people are honoring his life:
Christ. Someone give Rusty Orange Boner a square peg and a board with a round hole. That way he’ll be too preoccupied to cause any trouble for the rest of his term.
@Mike in NC: And perhaps with the repeal of DADT he became one of THEM!
WaterGirl
@soonergrunt: It’s not just you or your browser, I think everyone is having the same problem. The “you can edit your comment in a new window or tab” solution works in most browsers, but not all of them.
Wile E. Quixote
@Comrade Jake:
WTF? Hasn’t Will ever read Atlas Shrugged? If he had he’d know that big, long trains are the apotheosis of rugged, hemanlian, johngaltian, aynrandian individualism. Obviously since Will is against trains he’s against Ayn Rand and John Galt and is a looter, a moocher and a wrecker.
AxelFoley
@Uncle Clarence Thomas:
You’re still a trolling douchebag, I see.
soonergrunt
@WaterGirl: let’s take a look…
Editing in a new tab or window is working. Cool! Thanks for the info.
Disraeli
I am piecing together the conditions that surround the GOP (and the right wing more generally) mantra of “Support the Troops”
Apparently Troops are to be Supported only when
1. They are actively engaged in a war of aggression
2. Healthy in both mind and body
3. Deployed overseas
4. Silent
They are not to be supported during peace time, when the war du jour is over, if they return missing limbs or other accoutrement, or simply shattered in mind.
They are also not be supported by being provisioned with appropriate equipment, given missions with clearly articulated objectives, provided with honorable executive level leadership or are caught executing out orders which when made public cause embarrassment to those who issued the orders.
As Mr. Buckles’ war is long past its best before date no Support the Troops applies.