Boehner and the Republicans Lie Again

Unbelieveable, but hardly surprising.


Ben Smith at Politico flags this bit of Republican dissembling from John Boehner (R-OH) during an appearance on CNN last night, where he complained about what the President didn't say in his State of the Union address:

BOEHNER: Well, they -- they've refused to talk about America exceptionalism. We are different than the rest of the world. Why? Because Americans have -- the country was built on an idea that ordinary people could decide what their government looked like and ordinary people could elect their own leaders.

And 235 years ago that was a pretty novel idea. And so we are different. Why is our economy still 20 times the size of China's? Because Americans have had their freedom to succeed, the freedom to fail. We've got more innovators, more entrepreneurs, and that is exceptional but you can't get the left to talk about it. They don't -- they reject that notion.

Did I say "dissemble"? I meant lied.

Because during the President's State of the Union, besides talking about "what sets us apart as a nation," what "America does better than anyone else," that we're a country where "anything is possible," and that "there isn’t a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth," Obama said:

What’s more, we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea -– the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.

... and:

America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. No workers -- no workers are more productive than ours. No country has more successful companies, or grants more patents to inventors and entrepreneurs. We’re the home to the world’s best colleges and universities, where more students come to study than any place on Earth.

The American "exceptionalism" claim, which is pseudo-patriotic code for you're not cheering loud enough, has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity among Republicans since Obama was elected, because, hey, everyone knows that the commie, marxist, socialist Kenyan isn't a "real American."

But the lie, said by the Speaker of the House on national T.V., usually isn't this blatant.

The traditional media will be all over it ... just kidding.