United States Republican representative from Ohio John Boehner is feeling pretty full of himself nowadays. Little wonder. With the Republicans winning back in control of the House of Representatives in the November 2 elections, Boehner looks set to be the next Speaker.
And like any pompous career politician who fancies himself cock-of-the-walk, he seldom lets facts get in the way.
Lately, Boehner has taken to using the name of Johnny Cash, the greatest rebel in the history of country music, in the same breath as former Republican president Ronald Reagan: 鈥淩emember when Ronald Reagan was president? We had Bob Hope. We had Johnny Cash. Think about where we are today. We have got President Obama. But we have no hope and we have no cash.鈥
I care not a shred for Bob Hope鈥檚 legacy; he was certainly a conservative and a mediocre comedian at best. Lameness of Boehner鈥檚 joke aside, this latest in a long-running attempt to appropriate the Man in Black as a Republican icon is stomach-turning.
It flies in the face of everything Cash stood for. SocialistWorker.org鈥檚 鈥淐ouldn鈥檛 Make It Up鈥 blog pointed out on November 2: 鈥淩epublicans like to forget that Johnny Cash was a defender of social programs like welfare, and an opponent of the prison system, the death penalty and the war in Iraq.鈥
The blog pointed out that when, in 2004, the Republican Party National Convention held an event to 鈥渉onour鈥 Cash鈥檚 legacy, 鈥渉undreds of black-clad Cash fans showed up as part of a 鈥楳an and Woman in Black Bloc鈥 protest to tell the Republicans to keep their hands off the legacy of the man who famously sang that 鈥業 wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, / Livin鈥 in the hopeless, hungry side of town, / I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, / But is there because he鈥檚 a victim of the times鈥.鈥
But really, the best response to this blatant hypocrisy came from none other than Cash鈥檚 own daughter, country artist Rosanne Cash: 鈥淛ohn Boehner: Stop using my dad鈥檚 name as a punchline, you asshat.鈥
[Reprinted from .]