As you might guess, I hold politicians in the same esteem as I hold most used car salespeople, but it’s a rare individual that makes me do a double take, and not just to look at their two faces.
One such individual is Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. She has garnered a lot of attention from both sides of the political aisle for her blunt talk and seemingly intelligent questions/retorts when asked questions or speaking at a committee meeting. Many on the Left consider her to be the de facto leader of the Democrats, and many on the Right are perfectly willing to let her be that. Regardless of the reasoning behind it, I figured I’d do some homework on the good Congresswoman and give my honest appraisal of her.
One of the first things that caught my attention was not where she stands on issues, but how she articulates them. (Sue me, I have an ear for that kind of thing.) I noticed there are times when she can be eloquent, even if her points are dumber than a bag of hammers. She reminds me of the old time fire and brimstone preachers when she speaks sometimes, full of passion and direct rhetoric designed to get us motivated to do better.
Then, there are times she takes on a different tone for different audiences. Behind her bravado there is also a woman who can speak softly or more down-to-earth. When she does this, she becomes more relatable and is actually charming.
Which makes for an interesting question: who is the real Jasmine Crockett?
That…is a complicated story.
Judging from her past, she has an educational pedigree that would rival many of her peers. She also has a legal background, where performance can mean the difference between a guilty and a not guilty.
At the same time, she’s kept in touch with “her” community. I put “her” in quotation marks because her pedigree clashes with the experience of the people she represents. She looks like them, but that doesn’t make the Venn diagram of her ability to relate to her constituents into a circle.
Not that it stopped her constituents from voting for her, mind you. For a lot of voters and politicians, there’s a notion that if someone looks like you, they’re better able to represent you because the voters feel a kinship. It’s not racially, politically, or socially driven; it’s hard-wired into our societal DNA. Sociologists note we feel most comfortable when we’re amongst people who look like us. And to be fair, whites have done some pretty shitty things to blacks in history, and vice versa, so it’s not hard to understand why we have racial division in this country stoked in part by the political leadership.
That brings us to the wonderful world of identity politics. Instead of being seen as the sum of one’s parts, identity politics seeks to strip a person down to his or her (still two genders, kids) basic attributes. And I’m not talking about anything more complex than surface attributes here. Then, consider intersectionality (which is pretty much trying to figure out who is most oppressed by looking solely at the aforementioned superficial aspects and checking off boxes because that’s totally how you determine how oppressed someone is in America, amirite?), and you’ve created Franken-Candidate. Or Franken-Candidate’s Monster if you’re pedantic. Or if you’re trying to excuse a former Minnesota Senator’s joking behavior caught on film.
Anyway, the point is Crockett is the right mix of racial and gender factors, well-heeled connections and urban appeal, and above all else Orange Man Bad levels that are over 9000. Yet, even with all of that, we still don’t really know who she is because there are so many conflicting pieces to this puzzle. For example, she gives two different stories about how she got promoted to a position early in her career. In one story, she busted her butt to earn the position, and in another she simply demanded it because she was black. Vastly different story depending on what version you hear at what time.
More recently, she’s gone on to the Social Media Network Formerly Known as Twitter to attack MAGA supporters who troll her. And this is after the multiple times she’s gone after MAGA supporters in Congress and in real life. When she gets on a roll, she sounds like a badass, but after this most recent social media meltdown, that may be the extent of her badassedness. She’s a Tweeting contradiction.
And that’s what makes Jasmine Crockett such a mystery to me. You don’t know what she’s going to say at what time, but she’s built up a fan club based on it (not unlike a certain President I know). As long as there are conflicting stories out there, there will always be some doubt as to what she truly stands for, at least to anyone paying close attention. To the Left, she’s a hero, taking the fight to the Republicans. To the Right, she’s a loud-mouthed joke not to be taken seriously.
And somewhere in between is…well, I can’t say for sure, but I’m not sure it’s where Jasmine Crockett is at any given time. All I know for sure is she’s going to be in our faces for a while longer.
Or until her district gets redrawn and she’s out of a job.
Tag: us congress
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
With the illegal immigration situation heating up under President Donald Trump, the Left has taken it upon itself to try to keep him in check. So far, that’s been limited to supporting vi0lent criminals connected to existing gangs, crying “due process” at the drop of a hat, helping illegal immigrants avoid ICE agents, and the like. And they’ve been successful…in looking like dumbfucks.
But recently some Leftists decided to push the issue at a New Jersey ICE facility under the auspices of oversight. Now, as a Congresswoman has been charged with assault against an ICE agent and other Congresscritters starting a hand-wringing letter writing campaign, I can officially say they’ve succeeded in out-dumbfucking themselves.
Not all is lost, however. Not only to we get the chance to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but we also get a chance to further examine what oversight is. (Okay, so the former may be better than the latter, but work with me, people!)
oversight
What the Left thinks it means – making sure the Executive Branch is doing what it should, no matter what it takes
What it really means – a concept that has escaped the federal government some time ago
The first question we should ask ourselves is “What does Thomas look like naked?” After throwing up the last 3 days of contents in our stomachs, we can move to a more relevant and less vomit-inducing question: who has the power of oversight and where does it come from? To answer the second question first, when a Mommy and a Daddy really love each other…
No, wait, that’s a different question. Never mind.
The power of oversight resides with Congress as an extension of Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the US Constitution. I say it’s an extension because it’s not really codified in the Constitution and came from where all good ideas start, the Supreme Court. In Anderson v. Dunn, a unanimous High Court ruled Congress had the authority to conduct oversight as a means to uphold its rules. Not a bad ruling overall, but it had the potential to be abused.
Like we’re seeing now.
These days oversight has been mostly a joke played on us by both major parties. Instead of keeping the Executive Branch in check, Congress has decided meaningless hearings and endless investigations that lead nowhere is the order of the day. Even when the evidence is so obvious even Stevie Wonder could see it, we’re treated to a lot of sound and fury, signifying…well, less than nothing.
How many times have we watched Congresscritters preen before the cameras with gotcha questions and more interruptions than Mel Tillis with the hiccups, only to have nothing get done as a result? Lois Lerner, Hillary Clinton, Peter Strzok, Anthony Fauci, and so many others (albeit most of them tend to swing to the Left) get grilled, found to make contradictory statements (also called lying) under oath, get exposed as frauds, and then…they get to walk out without so much as a wrinkle in their dress clothes. The aforementioned Mr. Wonder has better oversight.
This is due to one thing both major parties hold dear: not giving a fuck. When Republicans are in power, they don’t give a fuck about oversight because then they’ll be under the microscope when Democrats are in power, and vice versa. After all, if all the criminal behavior in the halls of power are exposed, the country as a whole could lose faith in our government.
Or as I call it, any given Tuesday.
Although I have to give props to the Congressional Democrats who decided to put oversight into hyperdrive, they made two key mistakes. First, Congressional oversight doesn’t extend to anyone who isn’t in Congress. That means Newark Mayor and potential gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka doesn’t get to use it to cover his trespassing. Oops. In an attempt to come up with a suitable punishment for Mayor Baraka, I have the following solution: have him remain Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
Second, and this is important, it doesn’t excuse you from any crimes committed while you’re doing this oversight. You know…like, oh I don’t know…physically assaulting people. Although potential fistfights in Congress is an entertaining prospect, we can’t let a legitimate (albeit underused) power devolve into violence. At least not until I can secure the Pay Per View rights and a cut of the concessions.
Now, before you Leftists continue to downplay the events and turn the Congresscritters involved into heroes, let me ask you a question. Why is it this same passion isn’t being tapped into when a Democrat is in the Oval Office? And the same goes for Republicans when there’s a Republican President. The very nature of politics is shady shit, so it behooves you to keep your house in order if for no other reason than to get a leg up on your competition.
Oh, and there’s the whole strengthening the tattered fabric of this country thing, too.
There’s a reason Congressional approval ratings are more underwater than the Titanic, and not even a Leonard DiCaprio/Kate Winslet vehicle with a Celine Dion song attached to it is going to fix it. For this situation to right itself, Congress has to take oversight a lot more seriously. Not to the extent of attacking ICE agents, mind you, but closer to holding bad actors accountable, regardless of which side of the political aisle they belong.
And that means no more endless investigations and multiple hearings without consequences. If you find out someone you’re investigating broke the law, charge his/her ass! It’s going to make the judicial system in the DC area work overtime and the prisons might be a bit overcrowded, but it’s worth it if only to keep the people we elect to high office in check, even if we can’t vote them out due to them having war chests the size of the combined GDP of third world countries.
Hey, if the Chicago Cubs can win a World Series in my lifetime, anything is possible!
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
It wasn’t that long ago that Harvard was seen as one of the upper echelons of intellectual pursuit. Only the smartest, most well-off students could even breathe the air on campus, and only the best of the best of the best could graduate. Then something happened.
Harvard got stupid.
Nothing drove this point home more than a recent Congressional hearing involving Harvard President Claudine Gay and her inability to articulate the simple concept that wishing death on anybody is bad. Oh, but it gets a lot worse, as we’ll explore later, but it’s worth reviewing the fall from grace and bringing a whole new meaning to the Harvard Crimson.
Harvard
What the Left thinks it means – an excellent university where free speech and activism are embraced
What it really means – a diploma mill for well-heeled Leftists
Although Harvard is in the spotlight for being absolute dipshits, it’s not lost on me the fact higher education in general has gone to hell, and I may not mean figuratively here. Not only has the Left set up camp on campuses (or would that be campusi?), but their influence on academia has created a self-perpetuating hug box/bubble where only the “right” opinions can be heard.
Since the start of the Israel/Gaza conflict, campuses/campusi like Harvard saw tensions rise, as well as the number of anti-Jewish incidents. On the one hand, you have Jewish students and their supporters, and on the other, Leftist freaks who see Israel as the aggressor and as an apartheid state. On a side note, “The Apartheid State: not a good state slogan.
Anyway, this created a razor thin line for school administrators to tread. If they showed even the slightest bit of support for Israel, the Leftists would cause as much chaos as possible at the bare minimum, and given the fiery but mostly peaceful Summer of Love 2020 edition that chaos could be (and probably would be) destructive. If they sided with Gaza, they would run the risk of losing donations from Jewish supporters.
Which means the administration did the stupidest fucking thing they could and caved to the Leftist mob.
If that wasn’t bad enough, President Gay’s response to questions about whether wishing death to Jews was against their policies caused Harvard to lose $1 billion and inspired calls for Gay to resign. More on this debacle later.
I’m not a Harvard graduate, but I think I could have crafted a better response than Gay gave. Let’s see…
Harvard University respects both the importance of free speech and the delicacy of the current situation in Gaza. As President, I cannot in good conscience allow calls for violence against any group on campus, as it is inconsistent with not only the spirit of the freedom of speech, but also the culture of intellectual vigor I strive to foster at Harvard. What happened on my campus is abhorrent and I denounce it fully.
Seriously, was that so fucking hard????
Granted, this would have pissed off campus Leftists, but it would have struck the right tone and avoided a lot of backtracking and “clarifications” from Gay. Besides, if you wanted to disperse a crowd of Leftist protesters, you could always carpet bomb the protest with job applications. Or carpets, if you’re so inclined.
After that shitshow of a Congressional hearing, Gay faced new scrutiny, namely that of her academic accomplishments. Seems she may have plagiarized parts of her 1997 dissertation and other papers she copied…I mean wrote. Of course, Harvard downplayed the severity of the matter, calling it “a few instances of inadequate citation…” which is fancy talk for “yeah, she fucked up, but we can’t really punish her for what she did because it would make Leftists fuck up the campus.” Even some of the people she copied tried to downplay it while acknowledging it was plagiarism.
Even so, the Left went into damage control mode by supporting Gay in her time of self-imposed need, but claiming…get this…rules against plagiarism are racist. And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact Gay is a black woman and, thus, would be covered by the Left’s new rules on plagiarism. It’s just a coincidence…
On the plus side, Gay is qualified to go from substandard President of Harvard to substandard President of the United States, thanks to the Puddin’ Head Joe standard.
So far, Gay still has her job, which speaks volumes to how far Harvard has fallen as an institution of higher learning. At this rate, they might be at best an institution of middling learning, but that reputation is going down faster than a hooker going for a world blow job record working straight commission. Is a diversity hire worth this much trouble? Not only is Gay inept, inconsistent, and a plagiarizer, but her continued presence as anything other than a former Harvard President negatively affects the Harvard brand.
Consider if you will the fact Harvard has a website that not only defines plagiarism and outlines a clear policy, but openly discusses why plagiarism is a bad thing. The fact the President of this university is allowed to violate these standards and gets Leftist support for it would be humorous if it weren’t so disgusting. Throw in Harvard’s tone-deaf response to the anti-Jewish sentiment on campus and we’re looking at the point of no return to turn things around. Harvard, if it weren’t already FUBAR, would be sending Change of Address cards announcing their new address in downtown FUBAR.
Although the financial hit Harvard has taken so far is a start, it’s going to take a lot more to remove the stench from the burning dungheap Claudine Gay and the Left created. To start the healing process, Gay should be fired and replaced with someone who would run the campus competently and apply the rules consistently across the board. I would volunteer for the job, but I don’t want it. Although it would be fun to make Leftist heads explode when I apply the rules to them, I have more important shit to do.
You know, like making a bag of microwave popcorn without it burning.