Speaker "Boner"

Apparently, our classy former President "Dubya's" nickname for now-Speaker of the House John Boehner was the overly-clever "Boner." This is one of the great anecdotes contained in the latest slasher piece by the Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi. It's a lengthy piece that is well worth a read, including great little bits such as this:

The fact that Boehner supported TARP and No Child Left Behind and mega-handouts to the pharmaceutical industry and a range of other federal subsidies is hardly surprising, for this is what mainstream Washington politicians of both parties do — they take great buttloads of money from giant transnational companies, play golf with the CEOs of those same companies ("If someone I've gotten to know on the golf course comes into my office with a good argument," Boehner once said, "I tend to want to listen"), and deliver taxpayer money back to their buddies when the need arises, or sometimes even when the need doesn't arise. In this regard, Boehner has had a lot more in common with campaign-contribution-devouring Democrats like Chris Dodd and Harry Reid than he has with the Tea Party Republican voters he now ostensibly represents.

Taibbi sets out Boehner as the anti-Tea Party leader of the Tea Party folks in Congress, which as dobber has already suggested, should provide us with fantastic blogging fodder. One thing is for certain, you'll want to have your Kleenex handy. And you'll want to watch and see if the Tea Party changes "Boner" or if "Boner" changes them:

The new speaker represents an increasingly endangered class of Beltway jobholders who know how to raise money and get elected, but not much beyond that. He now finds himself the party's last line of defense against millions of angry voters who, for the first time in recent memory, are at least attempting to watch what Congress is up to. The tee times are over.

This scenario could have a lasting impact on the interaction between Congress and the people they represent, or the people could once again turn their eyes from the incestuous orgy that has been Washington for 40 plus years.

(Hat Tip: A.L. Burns)