Abby Zimet on Irony of Boehner's Swearing In of Married Gay Representatives

Not to miss commentary today: Abby Zimet at Common Dreams on House speaker Boehner's swearing in of New York representative Sean Maloney, as Maloney's husband Randy Florke and two of their three children stood beside Maloney. Earlier in the day Boehner had sworn in Wisconsin representative Mark Pocan, beside whom his spouse Philip Frank stood as Pocan was sworn in.

But as Zimet notes, "The day before, Boehner had reiterated his anti-gay marriage stance," and even as he was busy swearing in these new Congress members and meeting their families, he's hot after securing funding to fight to keep the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act in place--and to outlaw precisely the kind of families with whom he's interacting in these swearing-in ceremonies.

As I read these stories, I never let myself forget that Boehner is a Catholic and continues to be lionized by not a few powerful Catholic centrist journalists, though recent polling is showing him to be increasingly disliked by a large percentage of American citizens.

How do people of faith, I wonder, preside at a swearing-in ceremony in which they meet a spouse and children, smile for the camera, and only the day before, avow their total lack of respect for the families at whom they're smiling the next day?

The photo of Boehner swearing in Rep. Maloney is from Zimet's article.