Bone-chilling prescience from Matt Taibbi

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Bone-chilling prescience from Matt Taibbi

by thereisnospoon

Just under a week ago on January 5th, Matt Taibbi's expose of John Boehner hit the Rolling Stone website.

It's typical Taibbi: poignant, brilliant writing exposing the hypocrisy and underbelly of Washington and one of its most detestable politicians. And after a brief flurry of attention, it was largely forgotten as just another political hit piece among dozens of similar, if less researched and artful, efforts on the new Republican congress.

But in light of the Giffords shooting, one part of Taibbi's article in particular stands out with bone-chilling prescience:

Another Ohio Democrat, Steve Driehaus, clashed repeatedly with Boehner before losing his seat in the midterm elections. After Boehner suggested that by voting for Obamacare, Driehaus "may be a dead man" and "can't go home to the west side of Cincinnati" because "the Catholics will run him out of town," Driehaus began receiving death threats, and a right-wing website published directions to his house. Driehaus says he approached Boehner on the floor and confronted him.

"I didn't think it was funny at all," Driehaus says. "I've got three little kids and a wife. I said to him, 'John, this is bullshit, and way out of bounds. For you to say something like that is wildly irresponsible.'"

Driehaus is quick to point out that he doesn't think Boehner meant to urge anyone to violence. "But it's not about what he intended — it's about how the least rational person in my district takes it. We run into some crazy people in this line of work." (emphasis mine)

Driehaus says Boehner was "taken aback" when confronted on the floor, but never actually said he was sorry: "He said something along the lines of, 'You know that's not what I meant.' But he didn't apologize."

That bears repeating: "It's not about what he intended -- it's about how the least rational person in my district takes it." And confronted with the obviousness of that appeal, the John Boehners of the world don't apologize. They just keep the steamroller of hate running right along through Crazytown until somebody inevitably gets hurt.

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It took murder to bring forward this point in a January 5 article.