What Was Speaker Boehner Thinking When He Released Video Calling Himself a Monkey?

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner…the titular leader of Republicans on Capitol Hill…the man who in negotiations must stare steely-eyed across the table at the reptilian-blooded House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and at the Commander in Chief, his chill-ness, President Barack Obama…this man…this force of nature has released a video likening himself unto a wind-up clanging toy monkey.

I have now watched the video — dubbed “The Monkey in the Room” —  several times, pondering after its perplexing purpose — searching for the deeper meaning that might escape my public-school-molded mind. It’s presented as an official video the Speaker of the House, with “Speaker.gov” prominently displayed. Therefore, “we, the People” picked up the tab for the staff time required to film, edit and post it.

Perhaps Rep. Boehner released “The Monkey in the Room” in order to bond emotionally with people who think the House Speaker should be an affable sot, frittering away his days as the remote-controlled automaton of his sophomoric staff.

The most humanizing take might be that John Boehner and his staff have inside jokes, just like the folks in the cubes at your office.

But just like those jokes, they rarely play elsewhere.

The title of the video provides an extra measure of absurdity, apparently combining the clichés “elephant in the room” with “get this monkey off of my back” to spawn “The Monkey in the Room.”

After enduring his video and his tenure as Speaker, I’d suggest a better title: “Get This Elephant Off Of My Back.”