You’ve probably heard the news about the latest scandal involving one of the GOP’s MAGA stars, a camera-hungry firebrand by the name of Lauren Boebert, a congresswoman from Colorado.
To recap: Boebert was recently with her boyfriend at a family-friendly Beetlejuice concert where she was vaping, yelling loudly, taking photos and, the topper, groping her boyfriend’s genitals. When a pregnant woman behind Boebert asked her to sit down and be quiet, Boebert called her a “sad and miserable person.” When she was asked to leave, Boebert resisted asking, “Do you know who I am?” She was ultimately forced to leave, but not before giving the finger to security guards. Incidentally, Boebert kept lying about what occurred at the concert, but she had to come clean after video cameras exposed her lies.
Boebert, mind you, is a mother of four boys who brands herself as a devout Christian, a proud American who fights to uphold conservative family values. And, no surprise, she’s fiercely loyal to her role model Donald Trump, a fellow firebrand who calls himself a “Christian” and has bragged that he can freely grab the genitals of a member of the opposite sex.
At a political gathering, Boebert once said, “If you’re a Republican with any kind of voice and not speaking up for President Trump tonight, don’t expect any of us to speak up for you when your time comes. You may not realize it but they’re coming after all of us.”
In fairness, Boebert did issue an apology in which she said, “My actions fell short of my values.” Hey, Lauren, your actions were merely an amplification of the “values” you have exhibited ever since you were elected to Congress and no doubt before when you were trumpeting the need for more guns and Bibles and fewer gays and trans in America. It should be noted that Boebert broke up with her boyfriend after the Beetlejuice concert when it became public that he was a Democrat who owns a bar in Aspen that has sponsored drag queen shows. You can’t make this stuff up.
Rational observers might assume that Boebert’s latest shenanigans doomed her political career. Not so fast. Just consider the case of Donald Trump. His constant lies, his many indictments, and his flouting of the Constitution and democratic principles have only endeared him to millions of Republicans across the land. Most of the Republican candidates for president continue to state that they’ll support Trump if he’s elected. They don’t want to alienate the MAGA base, the kind of people who support a person like Lauren Boebert.
Before taking issue with my analysis, consider the fate of people like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom were drummed out of the party for standing up to Trump. Consider the marginalization of Mitt Romney, who dared to vote to impeach Trump twice and refers to members of the Freedom Caucus as “noise makers.” People like Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan and Donald Trump, Jr, remain loyal to the 45th President, the man who still holds the party in his grip.
Lauren Boebert once said, “It’s time that the citizens rise up and do their part to serve the country.” She’s absolutely right. But the people that need to rise up are those who clearly see the dangers of the Boebertization and Trumpification of one of the nation’s two major political parties.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.
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