The junk politics of Eric Cantor

WHAT IS IT about Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, that prompts him to be so beastly toward civilized behavior? Although there has been plenty of earlier evidence of his fondness for junk politics, I now refer to his opposition to Federal aid for hurricane victims unless the money can be offset by further cuts in the budget. He can say such things with grave resolve or with his familiar Mona Lisa smile.

• Is he hoping that such loony talk will lead him to a spot on the national ticket next year when Tea Party Republicans may be expected to reach for the craziest candidate on the their ticket?
• Is he simply the bratty child simply demanding attention from Mommy?
• Does he impatiently have to go to the bathroom?
• Is he still trying to remove personal guilt for voting to accept federal aid when his own state of Virginia was stricken by the elements several years ago?
• Is he a narcissistic moron driven by junk politics?

Speaking about junk politicians, what can we say about House Speaker John Boehner, who is a rank above Cantor?

Do the folks in his congressional district in Southwest Ohio know that he was servilely obedient to Rush Limbaugh when the latter called for him to block President Obama's original date to address congress on j0bs? In setting a precedent for a rejection of a President's request, Boehner has paid an addition premium to the political right by seeking parity with the Oval Office.

In this skirmish Obama failed to recall something he said as a candidate when he was asked about President Bush. He said: "You can only have one president at a time.." It made sense at the time. Why doesn't he believe it makes sense today against this gang of junk politicians?

The GOP showed Obama who's running the plantation

WELL, REPUBLICANS really showed that socialist kid Barack Obama who was in charge of the the plantation. There were jeers and sarcastic laughter and Rep. Joe Wilson shocked his brethren by shouting that the president is a liar. He later recanted when he became a household word for incivility, but we all know what he was thinking, don't we? The GOP House minority leader John Boehner sat stoically through the speech with his dyspeptic fixed scowl as if to question why his valuable time was being wasted on someone accused of being born in Transylvania. And every time I saw his second in command, Rep. Eric Cantor, the minority whip from Virginia, he seemed distracted by something else. Cantor did hear enough, however, to complain later that Obama offered "nothing new," which should be taken seriously, I suppose, because if anybody knows something about "nothing newness" in policy it's the Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Finally, the Republicans chose a drab Louisiana congressman - Charles Boustany Jr, a retired physician by trade - to respond to the speech. (The immediate conversation turned on whether he was martyred simply as a sacrificial lamb who, unlike Bobby Jindal, could not destroy a promising career with the party's TV response.) Still, it should be noted that this guy was from Louisiana, too. He has also nailed more than $1.2 million from health insurance providers. What could the party's handlers possibly be thinking to send this poor guy to the gallows for his nothing-new deer-in-headlights speech that was DOA.

But in case you are scrapbooking TV responses, you should also know that Boustany was taken for a $50,000 investment back in the 90s by two British con men when he tried to access nobility by buying the title of "lord". Yep, Lord Boustany. The perps were found guilty of defrauding him, which means he is living out his remaining years simply as a commoner. He impressed me as a September rookie call-up from the low minors to fill out a team roster.

Back to the unruly Joe Wilson: His real name is Addison Graves Wilson Sr., but as a Good 'Ol Boy from South Carolina, he prefers to go by Joe. Ok, I'll go along with that. So, can we now say, Goodbye Joe?

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