Israeli colonies expand, Palestinians face home demolitions

Boehner's blunder? House Speaker picks cocktail party over Tucson memorial
House Speaker John Boehner is taking heat from some Democrats after skipping out on Wednesday's memorial service for the Shooting Victims in Arizona and instead hosting a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee.   The Ohio Republican turned down President Obama's invitation to travel on Air Force One to Tucson, Politico reported.   "It is disrespectful for Speaker Boehner to skip joining the President's and Bipartisan congressional delegation to the Tucson Memorial so he could h...

Boehner skips memorial for Ariz. shooting victims
House Speaker John Boehner did not attend last night's Tucson memorial service for Victims of the Arizona shooting rampage. Politico reports Boehner was at a Washington reception for Maria Cino, who is running for chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. An unnamed Democratic aide, speaking to Politico, said it was "disrespectful" for Boehner to skip the memorial. A Democrat identified as a senior congressional aide criticized Boehner in story by The Daily Caller for declining President ...

Speaker Boehner skips Tucson memorial for RNC cocktail party
Stumble This! The new speaker of the House skipped a nationally televised memorial in Arizona honoring Victims of Saturday's shootings, opting instead to host a cocktail party Wednesday night. Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) declined an offer to ride to Tucson on Air Force One with President Barack Obama and other lawmakers, Politico reported. A Democratic leadership aide told the newspaper it was "disrespectful" of the speaker to miss the memorial service in order to attend a partisan political ev...

John Boehner Refused To Go To Arizona On Air Force One So He Could Go Party
As we noted at the time, John Boehner’s plan for yesterday looked like this: cry about Gabrielle Giffords on the House floor for a couple of hours, then head over to get sloshed at an RNC cocktail party he was hosting that evening. Sure, it seemed a little silly at the time. But then there’s this: Boehner, like Nancy Pelosi and some off-putting Arizona officials, were invited on Air Force One to visit Giffords in the Hospital and show solidarity or whatever at the memorial yesterday....

Report: John Boehner Refused Air Force Ride To Tuscon, Hosts RNC Party Instead
Politico reports that newly elected Speaker of the House John Boehner declined an invitation to join President Obama on Air Force One to attend last night’s memorial in Tuscon, Arizona. Instead, Boehner was reportedly hosting a reception for RNC chair Candidate Maria Cino while other Washington dignitaries paid their respect for the heroes and Victims from the Arizona Shooting Tragedy of the last weekend. Writing for Politico, John Bresnahan reported yesterday: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio...

Boehner Slips
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) turned down an offer by President Obama "to travel on Air Force One to Arizona for a memorial service on behalf of the Victims of Saturday's shooting, a decision that has upset some Democrats," Politico reports. Boehner instead attended a reception last night on behalf of Maria Cino, "a former top House GOP aide who is seeking the Republican National Committee chairmanship." "Senior Democrats -- who to date had been impressed with Boehner's response to the Ariz...

Boehner Didnt Really Snub Obama, Giffords Rally
House Speaker John Boehner is catching a lot of flack for missing last night’s memorial service in Tucson, reportedly declining an Air Force One invitation from President Obama in order to slap backs and clink glasses at an RNC event. But a look at the timeline of events paints Boehner in a better light. Yesterday, House members attended a vigil for Victims of the Arizona Shooting Spree in an auditorium underneath the Capitol Visitor’s Center. As they trickled in, a House aide provid...

Speaker Boehner turned down trip to Tucson to attend RNC fundraiser
Last night as President Obama was delivering his "We can be better" Speech in Arizona Speaker John Boehner was attending a cocktail party Fundraiser in Washington D.C.  Multiple Republicans joined President Obama on Air Force One for the trip to the Tucson memorial, including Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Ben Quayle (R-AZ).  Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Representative Debbie Wasserman-Shultiz (D-FL) were also on the trip.  Speaker Boehner was invited to join all ...

Boehner's role
Seems like he's still figuring it out a bit: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) turned down an offer by President Barack Obama to travel on Air Force One to Arizona for a memorial service on behalf of the Victims of Saturday’s shooting, a decision that has upset some Democrats. Boehner is instead scheduled to attend a reception on Wednesday night on behalf of Maria Cino, a former top House GOP aide who is seeking the Republican National Committee chairmanship. Boehner is backing Cino’s ...

House Republicans Staging Annual Retreat: This Time, It's Members Only
It's politics as usual starting Thursday for U.S. House Republicans -- not that there is anything wrong with that. The new majority under Speaker John Boehner heads north to Baltimore for a three-day, closed-door, members-only retreat at a hotel near the Inner Harbor, an entertainment mecca on the waterfront. House leaders will entertain guests, such as former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour -- but not President Obama, who made a splash at their retreat last year ...

Boehner Turns Down Air Force One Ride To Tucson For RNC Cocktail Party
This just seems odd to me: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) turned down an offer by President Barack Obama to travel on Air Force One to Arizona for a memorial...

Premeditated Spin?
I understand that the spin coming out of the Right this morning is that the Tucson memorial was too much like a pep rally or even a campaign rally. Some are comparing it to Paul Wellstone’s Funeral, which righties ripped for being a political rally. Like someone made them the funeral police. I only watched a bit of the memorial, and did find the cheering a bit jarring. But, y’know, I wasn’t there. Experiences are much more intense for people who are really experiencing them a...

No, Boehner didnt snub memorial rally
This obnoxious meme began last night when word got out that House Speaker John Boehner didn’t travel with Barack Obama to Arizona for last night’s memorial in Tucson.  Boehner snubbed Obama!  He snubbed Giffords! As Brian Beutler points out at TPM, a look at the schedule makes it clear that Boehner had little choice but to stay in DC (via Radley Balko at Reason): House Speaker John Boehner is catching a lot of flack for missing last night’s memorial service in Tucson, repo

Early Addition
Photograph by bitchcakesny on Flickr Remember to follow Gothamist on Twitter and like us on Facebook. State Senator John Sampson complains about fellow Democrats stabbing him in the back. For over $13,000, you could have every single Penguin Classics book ever published. The first Ground Zero-toxin sickened Firefighter has died after the signing of the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The guy who hacked Sarah Palin's Yahoo Mail account reported to Prison this week. Greta Van Susteren throws...

Boehner Hosting RNC Cocktail Party During Tucson Shooting Memorial Service
Tonight, President Obama will deliver a “healing message,” in Tucson, AZ at a memorial service for those who died in the tragic shooting there this weekend. The somber service, which is expected to attract up to 14,000 people, will feature prayers, the playing of the National Anthem, as well as reverent remarks from various officials from both sides of the aisle. At around the same time, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OK) will be slinging back cocktails with members of the Republic...

Obama In Tucson, Far Right Goes "La-La-La"
By Steve Hynd Here's the text of President Obama's words at the Tucson memorial service. It's a moving Speech, full of personal detail about the lives of those who died. Digby calls it "the best speech he's given as president" and the NYT's Gail Collins writes "Maybe President Obama was saving the magic for a time when we really needed it." What Obama didn't do, however, was offer any concrete proposals for moving beyond the highly charged poli...

Boehner Skips AZ Memorial to do RNC Politicking
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi were in Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's Hospital room when she opened her eyes. The entire Arizona delegation, including President Obama's 2008 rival Sen. John McCain and his wife Cindy, were in the stadium watching the President console 14,000 mourners. Michelle Obama held tightly onto Gifford's husband Mark Kelly's hand. But where was Speaker John Boehner? Politico reported this morning that the newly ele...

Heal This
Speaker John Boehner will host a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee at the same time that President Barack Obama will be addressing the nation at the memorial service for Victims of the Tucson shooting. - Roll Call I honestly don’t know what to say, when in a moment of national mourning the Speaker of the House chooses a Washington, D.C. Fundraiser instead of attending the memorial in Tuscon, Arizona. After a pitch perfect address to the House, the quieting of the c...

John Boehner and "Public Crying"
The phenomenon of Republican men championing the "public crying" of other men, including and especially men in visible positions of authority and power like Boehner, while leftist Democratic women condemn and ridicule the same can be explained in one word: politics. House Majority Leader John Boehner is all the talk these days. Yet interestingly, although his is the face of what could very well have amounted to the largest victory over their opponents this past Election Day that Republ...

House to Consider Health Care Repeal Next Week
The House of Representatives will consider the bill to Repeal the President Obama's Health Care overhaul next week, the office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said today. The new Republican majority initially planned to consider the Repeal bill this week as one of its first orders of business. However, this week's regular plans were put on hold after the Mass Shooting in Tucson, Ariz. that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in critical condition. "As the White House noted, it ...

Facing Near-Term Shortfall, RNC Raises Its Own Debt Ceiling
Whoever wins the RNC chairmanship tomorrow will inherit a committee deeply in Debt. According to Reid Wilson of The Hotline, the party faces more than $21.8 million in outstanding debt as of the end of 2010. But in an ironic twist, the RNC basically raised its own debt ceiling. The committee was scheduled to make a $5 million payment on its debt by the end of February, but has been granted a significant reprieve. At its winter meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, a hurried RNC Treasurer Rand...

Boehner Gives Tea Party The Middle Finger With RNC Endorsement
Democrats are criticizing Boehner for skipping Tucson to host an Endorsement party for Maria Cino in the race for the RNC Chair. They have something of a point. He could have gone to Arizona to foster a bi-partisan spirit at the event. But he would have been on the undercard. It was Obama's event, so I'm not certain he had to be there. But what he is doing by backing Cino out of cronyism is even worse. Senior Democrats - who to date had been impressed with Boehner’s response to...

Doctors cite 'major milestone' in Rep. Giffords's recovery
Doctors for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) on Thursday cited "very encouraging" signs in her recovery process, including opening her eyes and lifting her arm unexpectedly Wednesday night. At a Press Conference at University Medical Center, Trauma and Critical Care Director Dr. Peter Rhee and Chief of Neurosurgery Dr. Michael Lemole said Giffords was beginning to become aware of her surroundings and was making spontaneous movements with her left arms and both legs. They said she had begun ag...

Giffords' progress described as 'miracle'
WASHINGTON - Wounded U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords astounded her husband, doctor and colleagues Wednesday when she opened her eyes for the first time since being shot in the head, lawmakers told reporters Thursday. “It felt like a miracle. It felt like we were watching a miracle,” Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz told reporters traveling with President Barack Obama on board Air Force One after a memorial service in Arizona Wednesday previous evening. “Other than...

Giffords Eye Opens As Pelosi, Dem Colleagues Look On (VIDEO)
ABOARD Air Force ONE — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' friends say it's nothing short of a miracle: Days after being shot in the head point-blank, the injured congresswoman opened an eye Wednesday for the first time. Two of her closest friends from Congress, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., were in Giffords' Tucson, Ariz., Hospital room at the time. Both had traveled to Arizona on Air Force One with President Barack Obama to attend a memorial service f...