From THINK PROGRESS:
Three weeks ago, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) — the second-highest ranking Republican in the House of Representatives — repeatedly refused to call theories that President Obama was not born in America “crazy.” He told Meet the Press’s David Gregory that “I don’t think it’s nice to call anyone crazy,” and refused to rebuke the wild conspiracy theories. Today on the same program, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) also refused to repudiate such theories under a similar line of questioning from Gregory, who showed Boehner a Fox News clip in which several Iowa Republicans in a focus group said they believed Obama was a Muslim.
Original movie posterThough Boehner was immediately willing to say he “believes” Obama is an American-born Christian, and that he takes the president “at his word,” Boehner would not repudiate those who think otherwise. Three separate times, Boehner told Gregory that “it’s not my job to tell the American people what to think”[…]
…snip…
Gregory directly accused Boehner of hedging because “it weakens the president politically, it seeks to de-legitimize him,” to which Boehner reacted with visible indignation. But it’s hard to imagine Gregory isn’t correct. Boehner and his fellow Republicans — like all politicians — always try to persuade Americans, and “tell them what to think” on a wide range of issues. Just minutes earlier, Boehner was warning against a deficit crisis he said is caused by Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and told Gregory: “I think it’s incumbent on the leaders in Washington, those of us to go out and help the American people understand how big the problem is.”
Gregory pointed out that Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) made a birth certificate crack at CPAC this week, and Boehner brushed it off as a joke. Gregory might have mentioned that birther theories are not a joke to many members of Boehner’s caucus: a tally kept at World Net Daily claims that the following members of Cantor’s caucus doubt the president’s citizenship: Reps. Bill Posey (R-FL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Ted Poe (R-TX), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Campbell (R-CA), John R. Carter (R-TX), John Culberson (R-TX), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and Kenny Marchant (R-TX). Still, Boehner and Cantor stubbornly refuse to repudiate fellow Republicans that believe a provably false theory.
(Video and transcript at THINK PROGRESS link)
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
bleh! I don’t even know what to say. Other than he is soooo full of it.
who knew that bulls poop orange?
Boohoo is right, it’s not his job to tell Americans what to think. Since we don’t worry about Obama’s religion and we believe in his birth certficate, we don’t really count as Americans so I doubt he’s talking about us anyway.
of course it’s not his job to tell americans what to think. that’s frank luntz’s job.
This is by far my favorite Boehner moment:
WE NEED TO CUT! WE MUST CUT! NOW! THE GOVERNMENT IS TOO BIG! but I don’t know what to cut.
Sweet Jesus. And they keep re-electing that asshat.
now, now, you’ll make him cry. 😥
Don’t encourage us. Shall we say things that make him drink and chase skirts, too?
i don’t think he has to chase skirts. the lobbyists pay, and they go to him.
Money for nothing and chicks for free.
he sounded like he was drinking. i bet he’s drunk for most interviews. he really is the slurrer of the house.
Good God, Brian Williams is so mean trying to play gotcha with the Speaker. I mean really, who could just think of a program they’d cut? That’s completely unfair, just like when Colbert asked that nutjob from Alabama to name one commandment because he was demanding that the 10 commandments be posted in public places.
Newt Gingrinch is a turd of epic proportions but at least he did his homework when he was the Speaker. Boner is just a completely useless bag o’ crap.
newtie is a mean hypocritical ambitious bastard, but at least he’s slick enough to sound like he knows what he’s talking about, even though what he says is pure bullshit that even he doesn’t believe. bronzo the clown sounds like an idiot. didn’t it occur to him that he might be asked that question? it seems that the rethuglican playbook says to avoid answering anything directly (or indirectly, for that matter) and then to blame to interviewer for asking gotcha questions.
p.s. that colbert interview with westmoreland will always be my favorite! i wish actual journalists would think of asking questions like that of idiot politicians who want to preach to everyone else.
jean phillipe! That video clip says it all!
Just like the republican health care plan & the budget they previously proposed…. they’ve got * nothing*.
All this clamor & gusto about complaining, but no solutions. None!
Well… yelling at Obama is a solution… kind of…
right out of the rethuglican playbook–whine a lot, protect the rich, spread hate and fear, but never any solutions.
Things like the speedboat tank sure come to mind. The F-22 should have gotten the ax past protoype service trials, like the F-90 did 50 years ago. Why didn’t he just go back to one of Ronnies favorites, to cancel eligibility of women who worked in the home all their lives from getting the minimum Social Security payment (at the time-1980- it was $150 a month). Boner is such a toad. And did anyone notice that Andrew Bitefart looked like he spent the weekend in the drunktank during his Cpac moment. Or how scary the Coulter woman (if indeed it is a woman) looked? Could be the national spokesthing for CroneCreem.
jerry, i thought not-too-breitbart (i like your name for him, because i bet he really does bite the bubbles when he takes a bath, which, from how he looked, isn’t very often) looked like he was on a bender. not sure if he looked drunk or stoned, but whichever it was, i can’t understand how anyone can find him appealing.
Hi Nonnie’!
Just when I thought my party’s “leadership” would stand poised and ready to address the very real issues affecting our fellow Americans, some of them would rather ratchet up more negative campaigning, gossip infested nonsense instead of tackling un-employment, improving education, addressing crime, etc…me and the rest of the moderates within the ranks had better rescue the party before it implodes from within.
Have a great week ahead, Nonnie’!
hi al! always a treat when you stop by. i wish more of the moderates like collins and snowe would get a little louder and stand up to the teabaggers and the hate-filled and delusional talking heads instead of fearing and kowtowing to them. they should be warning people that the party will cease to exist if the moderates don’t start showing up for primaries and stop allowing the teabaggers to pick the candidates. instead, they try to fly under the radar, not saying a word, and voting however they think will please the teabaggers instead of for what they think is correct. it will take some moderates with real courage to turn the party around, but i fear there aren’t very many of them around. at least, i haven’t heard any lately.
Why don’t they come full out and say that it’s nonsense and people should stop it? Because none of those buffoons are leaders in any sense of the word. And they know, full well, that leaving just shreds of the false impressions in the vacuous caverns of their supporters’ heads will work to their benefit. These politicians are bereft of sense and self-respect. It is the most obvious sign of the immature, short of calling names, to allow rumor to fester. And people in the U.S. are just fine with that. We DO need an IQ test for voting.
it’s very simple–it works for rethugs. however, i think it’s shortsighted. it may work in primaries, but i think most independent voters are smarter than the average teabagger, and they’ll see that bronzo the clown, little ewic and the rest aren’t doing a damned thing to improve life for the average citizen.