Out Of the Gate

If the opening of the 116th Congress is any indication, the next two years are going to be as unbearable as the previous two.  Maybe more so.

Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York signaled the tone of the new Democratic House of Representatives by officially nominating Nancy Pelosi for Speaker by declaring that he was "down with NDP" - a reference to Pelosi's initials and a hip-hop record from the early nineties that I'm trying to forget.  He tried to cast the Democrats as the with-it, cool, hip-hop party in which classic-rock-lovin' middle-aged white people need not apply.  Let the record show that Pelosi is old enough to remember Elvis Presley.  Anyway, such a pop-culture attitude is why so many people still vote Republican.

Meanwhile, newly minted Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) didn't get the memo from Democratic leadership about waiting for the committees to investigate Trump's dastardly dealings thoroughly before calling for his impeachment, vowing at a rally to say that Democrats would "impeach the mother f--ker" while a smartphone camera caught her every word.  Including that one.  A female Muslim using a vulgarity to call for political jihad against an opponent . . . There's another reason why so many people still vote Republican.

However, there has been reason for not to get too much into despair. . . a video of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), fast becoming America's political sweetheart, dancing to techno music when she was in school has surfaced.  Released by a Republican on Twitter as an attempt to embarrass her, the video instead shows just how adorable and ebullient she really is, and now people love her even more than before.  She then recorded a new video of herself dancing . . . outside her office!  Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are the reason many people don't vote Republican! :-D

And my own congresswoman, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, has already shown what a great legislator she'll be going forward.  She is the sort of mature politician House Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi need of they're going to effectively battle Trump.  Ironically, Sherrill voted against Pelosi for Speaker (voting for Illinois congresswoman Cheri Bustos instead).  But then she promised to vote against Pelosi, so now we know she keeps her word.  And, she is now forgoing her pay as a U.S. Representative until the partial government shutdown ends. 

Now that's integrity.