When I watched the SOTU live the other night, I couldn't help wondering what was John Boehner doing behind the President. He looked either bored or contemptuous, or both. When he clapped, he gave every impression of doing it only because he felt he had to; the look of "unpleasant duty" would have almost comical if it weren't plastered to the face of the Speaker of the House.
Well, now we know one thing he wasn't doing: listening.
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. Politico (from transcript of a CNN Parker/Spitzer show)
Except that the President did exactly that.
This is an expansion on a ThinkProgress article.)
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. That’s why centuries of pioneers and immigrants have risked everything to come here. It’s why our students don’t just memorize equations, but answer questions like "What do you think of that idea? What would you change about the world? What do you want to be when you grow up?" White House transcript
There's the "idea" in so many words. As for "ordinary people" electing our own leaders:
We may have differences in policy, but we all believe in the rights enshrined in our Constitution. We may have different opinions, but we believe in the same promise that says this is a place where you can make it if you try. We may have different backgrounds, but we believe in the same dream that says this is a country where anything is possible. No matter who you are. No matter where you come from.
That dream is why I can stand here before you tonight. That dream is why a working-class kid from Scranton can sit behind me. (Laughter and applause.) That dream is why someone who began by sweeping the floors of his father’s Cincinnati bar can preside as Speaker of the House in the greatest nation on Earth.
At which point, the President turned to the Speaker and shook his hand. Boehner looked like he was about to cry (well, he always looks like that). Maybe he was so embarrassed by that he immediately forgot what Obama had said about and to him.
We're different from the rest of the world, Boehner says, grousing that the President didn't say that. Except, of course, he did:
It’s whether we sustain the leadership that has made America not just a place on a map, but the light to the world. ...
Remember -– for all the hits we’ve taken these last few years, for all the naysayers predicting our decline, America still has the largest, most prosperous economy in the world. (Applause.) 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.
This is a short diary, I admit. But really, what else is there to say?