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Go Home Mendacious, Duplicitous, Gross, And Comically Refutable

THE PLANK MAY 13, 2008

Mendacious, Duplicitous, Gross, And Comically Refutable

BY AUTHOR INFO NEEDED

Jeffrey Goldberg conducts an interview about Israel with Barack Obama. House Minority Leader John Boehner willfully misrepresents it. Goldberg responds:

Mr. Boehner, I'm sure, is a terribly busy man, with many burdensome
responsibilities, so I have to assume that he simply didn't have time
to read the entire Obama interview, or even the entire paragraph, or
even a single clause. If he had, of course, he would have seen that
Obama was clearly calling the Middle East conflict, and not Israel, a
sore. Why, there's no one who would disagree that the Middle East
conflict is a "sore," is there?

I have no doubt that Mr. Boehner will issue a correction to his
press release in which he states the obvious, which is that Obama
expressed -- in twelve different ways -- his support for Israel to me.

If he doesn't, however, I would, sadly, have to agree with my
colleague, the less-forgiving Andrew Sullivan, who called Boehner's
statement a "flat-out lie."
In fact, I would add to Andrew's post, by calling Boehner's statement
mendacious, duplicitous, gross, and comically refutable.

 --Christopher Orr

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16 comments

I am excited to see more journalists stand up and cry "Foul"; it is unfortunate that there are people in America who will, forever more, use Boehner to claim that Obama is an anti-semite.

- GSpinks

May 13, 2008 at 2:56pm

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I think that all mistakes which are "mendacious, duplicitous, gross, and comically refutable" should hereafter be called "Boehners."

- KeenSally

May 13, 2008 at 2:56pm

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Ding Ding ding!  KeenSally wins!

- boneill

May 13, 2008 at 3:13pm

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Yeah, I was sorely tempted to boehner one of my colleagues today.  He was talking about soaring through the air on a hot air balloon, which I was going to interpret to mean he had a hot sore on his balloon.  Instead, I just pushed him down the stairs.

I have to say, I was shocked, SHOCKED, to find out that the Republican House Leader is capable of lying, twisting words, going on the attack on the basis of nothing whatever.  This is not the kind of tactic I expect from the man who sits in the place of such exalted predecessors as Newt "Fidelity" Gingrich and Tom "explitive" DeLay.

Meanwhile, expect PCC to write, "this proves, yet again, that Obama is a disaster, and the more people find out about him through such impartial analysts as Boehner, the more they will revile him."  Sleepy will, after uttering a few unmentionable swear words and comparing Obama to Hitler, Caligula and Empress Ho, will ask for his head.  Tep, for his part, will bemoan the inexperience of a man who, knowing full well how his words will be twisted, mentions the words "sore" and "Israel", in the same sentence, paragraph, speech, century ... and the fun and games continue.

- icarusr

May 13, 2008 at 3:18pm

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Could be an honest mistake. It's hard to read by the light of a tanning bed.

- WoodyBombay

May 13, 2008 at 3:22pm

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I like "comically refutable" myself.  Is this the sort of genius that brough us the line that McCain fathered a black child?  Hey, it worked.

Time for us to find a way to rub Boner's [sic on purpose] and Cantor's nose in this.

- rlgordonma

May 13, 2008 at 3:45pm

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WoodyBombay: Hilarious comment. Icarusr: I feel left out. Except I have no use for John Boehner and no use for someone's word being mutated into pretzels.

- liberal reformer

May 13, 2008 at 3:50pm

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Was Boehner bitter when he said it?

- tnmats

May 13, 2008 at 3:58pm

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Keen!  Ya killin me.

- Wandreycer1

May 13, 2008 at 4:06pm

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Rep Boehner's office, in a press release, rebutted, "I know you are but what am I?"

- adaglas

May 13, 2008 at 4:18pm

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It's stuff like this from Boehner that makes me realize just how quickly the Democratic party will come together after the primary is over.  And that's before Obama actually starts doing anything to heal the rift.

- anonevent

May 13, 2008 at 4:28pm

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Now that we've learned that Republican House Minority Leaders don't support Obama, I fully expect an article from John Judis questioning whether Obama can win that key demographic.

- ejbenjamin

May 13, 2008 at 4:50pm

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ejbenjamin giving KeenSally a run for her money...

Yep.  That's my contribution today.  Meaningless arbiter of quips.

Democrats '08: This Boehner Has Lasted For More Than Four Months.  

- boneill

May 13, 2008 at 5:02pm

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boneill, shouldn't the country call a doctor after three or four hours?  That's what I learned from TV.

- bigfish

May 13, 2008 at 5:19pm

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Jeffrey Goldberg is a rock star too, love him.  Macho reporter guy, proud Israeli to the bone - hanging out with Hamas guys to get his stories, his "cousins."  His NPR Terry Gross interview about his Atlantic article was stupendous.  It's on podcast, listen to it.

He and Barack had to be an awesome conversation -

- Wandreycer1

May 13, 2008 at 5:29pm

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anonevent sees the future with clarity. Pundits have been correct to claim that the upcoming election will be a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, but they've erred in saying the Democrats will be the ones doing the snatching. A black-behind-the-ears wet man, let alone a wet-behind-the-ears black man, can defeat a party that, amazingly, will go broke underestimating the intelligence of the electorate. I like Obama and think he'll do just fine before, during, and after November, but by all rights he should be trounced by any party that's been paying attention to anything besides its own egos for the last 14 years.

But unfortunately for the GOP, ever since the Contract for America those dudes think their shit don't stink. In terms of campaign skills the GOP is resting on its laurels, which have long since turned to compost. (Hillary tried to take a page from the Republican playbook, which was written back when wide receivers were called "split ends.")

Abject, total dereliction of duty for a decade and a half will get you second place behind an earnest and articulate man too young and different to have had much of the stupidity of officialdom rub off on him, as of yet. Distancing themselves from George W. Bush, who everyone and their grandmother knows the GOP selected, elevated, worshipped, and marched in lock-step behind, won't fool the aforementioned everyone or their aforementioned grandmother.

Hope Obama don't wander down into the same rut the 'Pubs dug for themselves. I'm gettin' tired of this shit.

- williamyard

May 13, 2008 at 7:03pm

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