WHO WILL BE THE NEXT TOM DELAY?

I'm rooting for Boehner to take over the GOP House Majority Leader post. It's not just the cool name, which he mispronounces BAY-NER, but also the fact that he's the only Republican congressman in Ohio to have taken more graft from Abramoff than Bob Ney. (Boner got $32,500 in bribes and Ney got $31,500.) The CINCINNAT POST put Boehner's corruption in perspective for his constituents. "Only 12 other members of Congress raked in more money than Boehner."

Unlike most of his colleagues, Boner was too smart to accept any money from Abramoff directly. The POST points out, however, that "his political-action committee did get money from four tribes represented by the lobbyist. The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana gave $15,000 to Boehner's leadership PAC, the Freedom Project. The other contributions came from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which gave $9,500; the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which donated $7,000; and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, which gave $1,000." Boehner, like Blunt, is very much part of the K-Street/Capitol Hill axis which the Republicans use to run the government and finance themselves, the root of their entire culture of corruption.

Everyone assumes that Blunt is DeLay, Jr-- and they're right-- but Boehner is every bit as corrupt, avaricious and extreme in his far right politics. Between Jan 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005 Boehner voted with DeLay exactly 95% of the time (beaten in the Ohio delegation only by far right maniac Pat Tiberi, who supported DeLay 96% of the time)-- and 100% of the time when it came to weakening ethics rules. And his name is way less... dull than Blunt.


THURSDAY UPDATE ON THE BLUNT/BONER RACE TO REPLACE DELAY

Outside of the blogosphere, I don't think anyone is watching the race for Republican House Majority Leader, even though it's one of the most important offices in the country. I don't even care about it myself... beyond hoping someone whose name is pronounced "boner" might win. I mean they're all extreme right-wing loons drowning in a sea of corruption and the arrogance of power that has made their vile regime in Washington something that will always be remembered as a "Cultural of Corruption." But having all the broadcasters-- not just Howard Stern-- talking about someone named "Boehner" in the final 10-11 months of this nightmare might lessen the pain for some of us. So keep your fingers crossed that Boehner beats Blunt and that the new challenge from Shadrack, a right-winger from Arizona who claims both of them are too corrupt and unfit, doesn't catch on.