The "Gotcha!" boomerang bites Boehner

By Lee Russ

Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 02:06 PM

When Republicans lost no time unleashing their well paid and tightly organized attack dogs on the story of John Kerry's recent gaffe, do you think House Majority Leader John Boehner expected that the poison boomerang would whip around and smack his butt?

I doubt it.  But, since the Republican talk army seems to enjoy parsing every caluse of every sentence spoken in public, the Dems, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, have jumped all over Boehner's statement to Wolf Blitzer of CNN that people should lay off criticizing Rumsfeld for the problems in Iraq, because it's the "Generals" who conduct the war.  The natural implication, which apparently escaped Boehner in his haste to protect Rummy, is that the Generals are doing one crappy job.

Here's the relevant exchange between Blitzer and Boehner, according to CNN:

Boehner: "Let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld."

Blitzer: "But he's in charge of the military."

Boehner: "The fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president."

After days of making mountains out of the Kerry mole hill, the Republicans, of course, see nothin objectionable in Boehner's statement.  The response of Boehner's spokesperson, Kevin Madden according to CNN:

Democrats are quickly squandering any and all credibility by even attempting to equate Mr. Boehner's comments with criticism of anyone in the military.  Mr. Boehner commends our military and our generals for doing a heroic job each and every day in their fight against terrorists in Iraq and around the globe.

And I for one commend the universal kharma boomerang for inflicting one small bite on the Boehner butt.