Associated Press
In 2004, then-Vice President Cheney appeared on the Senate floor for an annual photo-op, and ran into Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), who tried to be friendly. Cheney replied, "Go f*** yourself."
Last week, the phrase popped up again, this time just outside the Oval Office.
House Speaker John Boehner couldn't hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday.
It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight, and Reid had just publicly accused Boehner of running a "dictatorship" in the House and caring more about holding onto his gavel than striking a deal.
"Go f*** yourself," Boehner sniped as he pointed his finger at Reid, according to multiple sources present.
Reid, a bit startled, replied: "What are you talking about?" Boehner repeated: "Go f*** yourself."
The Speaker was so pleased with himself, he boasted about the exchange to his House GOP colleagues -- who in turn boasted to Politico.
I guess the Starbucks cups didn't have much of an effect on Boehner?
All kidding aside, it's worth noting that Harry Reid appears to have had the last laugh. The suggestion that drew Boehner's ire was the Senate Majority Leader's demand that the House vote up or down on a tax compromise, ignoring the so-called "Hastert Rule," even if a majority of House Republicans opposed the deal.
The Speaker's vulgarities notwithstanding, it was GOP lawmakers who were muttering obscenities last night when Boehner ended up doing exactly what Reid wanted him to do.
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Harry Reid has way too much class to grovel down with the tan man. What Reid said was so spot-on that the tan man lost his cool...
What do you expect from the little punk who got chased home from school for snitching to the principal?
And if REID had said this to Boehner the media would have been in an UPROAR! As it is today all any pundit can talk about is the GOP members that voted AGAINST the 'fiscal cliff'. No more moaning about 'compromise or bipartisanship' TODAY it's all about who was AGAINST it. Honest to GOD does the media ever STOP the crap?
You seem to be assuming there was coffee in that Starbuck's cup. I'm guessing he had a big ol' cup of Dutch Courage Frappe in it if he decided to tell a Golden Gloves champ to go f**k himself.
Personally I think they should lift the prohibition on dueling...it would be so much more entertaining...
Piffle! Small beer; Why, I am (almost) old enough to remember when Senator Preston Brooks (D, SC) beat Senator Charles Sumner ( Free Soil, MA) almost to death with his cane. On the Senate floor.
At least we have not had a repeat of the Aaron Burr/ Alexander Hamilton "incident" in 1804. Yet.
How many of these people have "Concealed carry permits" again???
It was Representative Brooks (of South Carolina, surprise surprise) who came into the Senate and beat Sumner with his cane, badly enough that the man was in intensive care for a couple months. The attack came from slaveowner Brooks against abolitionist Sumner, after the southern scum had run out of arguments on the current controversy of the day.
We really should have turned South Carolina into an unpopulated desert when we had the chance.
Boehner was probably drunk.
I understand people saying things they regret when they are frustrated and tired, however, they do not go around bragging about it. Boehner behaved like a spoiled High School boy bragging about his latest sexual conquest in the locker room. The last four years the behaviour in Congress has been an embarrassment to our Country and a total lack of respect for Democracy.
He probably thought of himself as Ralphie beating up Farkas.
Boehner was sick of Reid calling him names and criticizing him in the media like a child would do. Reid is never very professional. He is the most do nothing Senate leader ever. He cannot or will not even pass a budget. He proved that by having to call in Biden to get anything done. He needs to go! He is the obstructionist!
@jes33 - I've got a few names I'd like to call Bonehead! Sen. Reid was pointing out "behavior" being exhibited and yes Bonehead was trying to act like a dictator, funny thing is you have to be able to "LEAD" and have followers before you can be a "dictator" and Bonehead has no one! Sen. Reid while not my favorite Senator has always shown himself to be very professional - and his inability to bring a budget has more to do with the fact that the GOTP Senate has not just filibustered but demanded 60 votes on everything, sorry darlin, that dog don't hunt!
Oh last point - it was Sen. McTurtle that called for VP Biden to come to negotiate - cause Reid was actually sticking with that $250k tax raise!
Remember folks that last year the House jammed the Senate on virtually every important issue, and actually did in this latest fiasco. If anyone should do such a contortionists dream, it should be Boner himself.
The funny thing is that by following Reid's advise the Tan Man strengthened his hand as Speaker.
Advice is what happens when you are told something you know is true but don't want to hear.
As I said elsewhere, maybe they'll start banging each other over the head with canes again soon. This is our government?
This is the difference between Dems and Repubs; Repubs have to trot out a tired old actor to talk to an empty chair and pretend the President told his opponent to go f**k himself. The Dems only need to point to actual quotes from actual Repubs.
"Go f#ck yourself" is every-day decorum when you're an alcoholic. Boehner IS an alcoholic..
I have to give Boner some credit (not). Acting like a schoolyard bully, when NO ONE (et tu, Cantor?) has your back IS pretty ballsy.
Well I lost $20 on that Hastert rule bet. But the sound of conservative heads exploding has made it worth every penny.
This is all nice and well, but what happened with the campaign promise of taxes over $ 250,000 incomes will go up? The liberties these people take with my vote makes me wanna barf. Also, my payroll taxes just went up by 2%, while Obama couldn't wait to get back to Hawaii. What's next? Medicare? Just making it possible for the government to negotiate drug prices will extend its life by decades without screwing the elderly. That would be the right thing to do for a progressive party, so, no, er... that won't happen. Who cares who says '@!$%# you' to whom? The government just told me, but nobody's reporting on that. Pffffffft.
Payroll taxes were scheduled to go up, and need to go up if Social Security is to survive a little longer. I too am frustrated about my vote. I voted for republicans to hold the line on spending. Not done.
Blame Big Pharma and their legion of lobby groups. They have much more influence on your elected representative than you do.
Well you'd think Boehner was raised in a bar or something, wait a minute!
If you drink too much Starbuck it may be impossible to achieve a Boehner
Well, Mr. Steve Benen,
At least Boehner has brought budgets to the House floor and actually voted on them. Reid has never had the *0#@% to bring a single budget vote to the Senate floor. Obama is the first president in the over 200-year history of the United States to never sign a budget into law. Shameful, isn't it? Why do we elect these Democrat buffoons to lead our country? What a huge waste of time and money! They continue to collect nice salaries, but refuse to work for the people. Honestly, more legislation is coming out of our middle schools, than the Senate and White House.
@ Mike in Georgia......Suggest you google how a law is made. Legislation is supposed to originate in the House of Representatives, then goes to the Senate, then is reconciled by both chambers after which a final vote is taken.If both chambers pass the bill, it goes to the president to either be signed or vetoed. The only reason the last minute so called fiscal cliff bill started in the Senate and then went to the House was because Boehner quit and turned it over to Reid and McConnell to resolve. The House of Representatives under John Boehner has been the least productive in history, in history Mike in Georgia, and the Senate and White House have bupkis to so with that failure!
Md
I think School House Rock's I'm Only a Bill is more like Mike's intellectual level than a Google search on how laws are made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyeJ55o3El0