So I ask you, just how useless do YOU think our illustrious House Speaker, John Boehner is? Personally, at this particular point in time I’d have to say that he’s pretty damn useless. For one thing, I seem to recall, not all that long ago, that he was making it sound like any move on immigration reform was pretty far off in the distance, if it was to happen at all. Then, just today, he was said to have bristled at the mere mention that immigration reform might be dead for the coming year. "Is immigration reform dead? Absolutely not," he told reporters at his weekly press conference. Such a comment should cause a little unease.
Boehner said that he is "hopeful" that the House can make progress on the issue, even though one of his top deputies recently said there is not enough time to hold votes this year. He said that House Republicans are still having private conversations on how to move forward, but stressed that it will address the issue with smaller individual bills rather than one sweeping bill like the one passed by the Senate. But he would not say when the House would vote on immigration reform legislation. Let’s face it, we have many issues that are far more urgent in they’re need to be addressed than is immigration reform.
And in a rare occurrence, Boehner praised Barry "Almighty" for reiterating that he’s open to passing an immigration overhaul in pieces, as long as every element of reform is included. "I was encouraged that the president said he wouldn't stand in the way of a step by step immigration reform," he said. "The only way to make sure immigration reform works this time is to address these complicated issues one step at a time." Naturally, immigrant advocates and Democrats have, of late, been doing their best to make Boehner into a whipping boy on the issue. Frankly, I’m more than a little surprised that he hasn’t yet caved.
Boehner drew fire for saying recently that he would not negotiate on the Senate's broad immigration overhaul, which includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Demonstrators have picketed Boehner at his office and his home, demanding that he hold a vote on immigration legislation. The Speaker has also received internal pressure from some Republicans, who, rather naively, view immigration reform as being a key step in winning back Latino and Asian voters. That’s simply absurd. Let’s face it, If that were truly the case why would Democrats now be working so hard on getting legislation passed?
The bottom line here is that these days I trust very little of what I hear come out of Boehner’s mouth. Because anything that he says today stands a very good chance of being quite different from what he’s likely to say tomorrow. He’s like that guy you used see in one of the carnival’s side shows, ‘Rubber Man.’ I can only assume that he must think none of us are paying any attention. You know, there are any number of people who would be capable of doing a much better job than Boehner. I can only assume that they must not want the job. But I think it safe to say that if their country ever needed them, it needs them now.
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