“Desiline Victor, the 102-year-old black woman tried hard to stand but couldn’t. Boehner could, but didn’t.”

Boehner’s mama would be so proud…

Desiline Victor receives a standing ovation from Valerie Jarrett
and the entire State of the Union audience (except one)

At last night’s State of the Union address, one of the unquestionable stars of the evening was Desiline Victor, a 102-year old Haitian-born American who waited for hours to vote in November 2012 thanks to the voter-suppression efforts of Florida Republicans. As the President told her story, Ms. Victor tried briefly to stand but it just wasn’t happening. Everyone else, however, did stand and gave her a thunderous standing ovation.

Everyone else except one person, that is: Republican House Speaker John Boehner.

As Anne put it:

Desiline Victor, the 102-year-old black woman tried hard to stand but couldn't. Boehner could, but didn't. #SOTU

— Anne C. Savage (@Anne_Savage) February 13, 2013

Here’s the video:

All Speaker Boehner could manage was a pinched look and an insulting golf clap.

Here is President Obama’s tribute:

We should follow the example of a North Miami woman named Desiline Victor. When Desiline arrived at her polling place, she was told the wait to vote might be six hours. And as time ticked by, her concern was not with her tired body or aching feet, but whether folks like her would get to have their say. And hour after hour, a throng of people stayed in line to support her — because Desiline is 102 years old. And they erupted in cheers when she finally put on a sticker that read, “I voted.”

Here’s a bit more about Ms. Victor’s story:

Desiline Victor participated in early voting in Florida, and waited for three hours to cast her ballot on Oct. 28 at a public library in Miami-Dade county when other voters standing in line complained to election staffers. Others in her state waited as many as seven hours to vote, and according to analysis from an Ohio State University professor, about 200,000 voters gave up and left because of those waits.

Victor, a Haitian-born former farm worker, became a U.S. citizen in 2005, casting her first vote for president in 2008. Asked how she feels about attending the event, she said, “I’m very happy, very proud.”

It’s clear that John Boehner is shameless. He apparently has no capacity for feeling shame. I suppose it’s fitting that he is considered the Republican “leader” in the House of Representatives considering how shameless a group House Republicans are themselves.