Boehner: House Has Smart Folks, 'Some of the Dumbest,' Too

Peggy Noonan's column in the Wall Street Journal this week is an interview with John Boehner in which the speaker talks about issues great and small. Some samples:

• The House: "We got 435 members. It's just a slice of America, it really is. We got some of the smartest people in the country who serve here, and some of the dumbest. We got some of the best people you'd ever meet, and some of the raunchiest. We've got 'em all."
• President Obama: "He and I get along fine. But boy do we have big differences."
• Debt ceiling talks: The White House "spun this thing that I walked away from this." In reality, Obama "lost his courage. ... He just couldn't bring himself to do what he had to do." (Politico's Mike Allen says Boehner here is getting out in front of an upcoming New York Times magazine piece on the collapse of the talks.)
• Eric Cantor: "Eric and I have never disagreed on strategy, ever. From time to time there's been some disagreement on tactics, not usually between Eric and I, usually on the staff level."

Click to read the full interview.