Minority Leader John Boehner, the guy we all love around here. He supported pollution of the Earth, stood with the GOP House Caucus when Foley did bad, and supported sweatshop labor in his own country. What a lovable guy.
And today he supports immunity for illegal wiretapping.
But John Boehner didn't when he got wiretapped, and he believed in a right to sue. And did file lawsuit.
Lets flashback 10 years to 1998.
Here's where John Boehner stands on illegal wiretaps lawsuits:
[they] would leave patriotic third parties exposed to unfettered and costly lawsuits at the hands of trial lawyers...
Hmm, really? So it is wrong to create a costly lawsuit you say?
It would outsource critical national security decisions to unelected judges and trial lawyers
Okay he also thinks it preposterous to bring judges and lawyers into the fray?
Well a small known fact about John Boehner is that one time his conversation was taped. Back in 1998 he filed lawsuit against Congressman McDermott for his releasing a conversation Boehner held with Gingrich about evading ethics investigations. Note: McDermott only handed the tape over to the public, he did not tape the conversation.
Its only okay to wiretap when its not you, thinks Boehner. What happened to the people that
taped it:
The couple believed they would have immunity by turning it over to lawmakers.
My emphasis. So immunity, they thought they should have immunity because they turned it over to the authorities (government). I thought thats what Boehner thinks too. So why is it okay for Boehner to sue?
So there is a distinction to make, what Boehner does and what he says:
Members of Congress have a responsibility not only to obey the laws of our country and the rules of our institution, but also to defend the integrity of those laws and rules when they are violated."
Again, my emphasis. He thinks you should obey the rules. But when push comes to shove Boehner stands with Big Telecom.