The coarsening of American “political discussion” continues:
A salty Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday told members of the Senate to “get off their ass” and pass a bill to replace $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, setting off an exchange with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
“We have moved a bill in the House twice. We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something,” Boehner told reporters in a press conference, repeating a message he had just delivered in a closed-door meeting of the House Republican conference.
“It’s time for the Senate to act,” Boehner said. “It’s not about the House. We’ve acted.”
Following Boehner’s comments, Reid accused House Republicans of “sitting on their posterior” and challenged Boehner to pass legislation.
“I think he should understand who is sitting on their posterior,” Reid said. “We’re doing our best here to pass something. The Speaker is doing nothing to try to pass anything over there.”
Reid should have turned the other cheek on Boehner’s comment.
But here are three photos that illustrate key perceptions in this “debate.”
John Boehner’s view of the Democratic Party controlled Senate:
Harry Reid’s view of the Republican Party controlled House:
American voters’ view of the Republican and Democratic parties’ Congressional members and leadership:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.