Camille Paglia once said, "I want to fall on the floor laughing – imagining Hillary Clinton working well in the Senate with everybody else! Oh, give me a break. I've already joked in print that they would need to build her a private cloakroom on the Mall. This is not a woman who has any ability to deal with the mass of humanity. She is the most arrogant, the most moralistic, the most sermonizing and annoying person on earth."
I doubt if anyone reading this would deny the truth of Paglia’s observation, but there are quite a few Democrats who are giving Ms. Clinton a run for her money in the all-important category of rudeness.
On February 8, 2019 the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), held what was supposed to be an oversight hearing with acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. An oversight hearing is, by definition, is to investigate and oversee federal programs, specifically in this case, the Justice Department. The hearing was not about oversight. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) described it accurately when he called it “a character assassination.”
Melissa Quinn, in a February 8, 2019 Washington Examiner piece cited Collins arguing Democrats had hauled Whitaker before the committee to press him on things like his conversations with Trump and his past work before becoming acting attorney general.
Though the premise was dishonest, even more despicable was the behavior of the Democrats. Late into the night last week, I endured watching six plus hours of the recorded hearing. I have never seen more arrogance and hatred than what the Democrats displayed that day.
Here are a few of the lowlights.
In his opening statement, Whitaker made it clear that there would be no change in the handling of the Mueller probe. The Democrats flatly ignored that statement. Chairman Nadler began the disingenuous line of questioning wondering why President Trump even chose Whitaker, insinuating something nefarious about his appointment. He continued to press that, somehow, Whitaker, by not recusing himself from the Mueller probe, had sinned grievously.
Perhaps the most arrogant and rude was Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX). Her combative demeanor exuded hate for the acting Attorney General. She began her line of questioning accusing him of behaving in an unacceptable manner during the confrontational House Judiciary Committee hearing. She rudely demanded “Yes” or “No” answers only and put her best foot forward for the honor of Most Rude Representative.
Though Rep. Lee excelled in awful, she wasn’t alone. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) started his five-minute questioning by stating, "I'm confused. I really am. We're all trying to figure out who are you? Where did you come from? And how the heck did you become the head of the Department of Justice? Hopefully you can help me work through this confusion.”
When Whitaker began to respond, Jeffries rudely cut him off and chided: "That was a statement, not a question."
He then, brazenly and without reason, declared, " In your final week, keep your hands off the Mueller investigation.” Without a scintilla of evidence, he pompously proclaimed, “The investigation into Russia's attack on our democracy is not a witch hunt. It's not a fishing expedition. It's not a hoax. It's not a lynch mob. It's a national security the fact that people suggest otherwise comes dangerously close to providing aid and comfort to the enemy."
The magnitude of the lie Jeffries tried to pass off as a threat is mind-boggling. This is someone the Democrats are said to be grooming for the Speaker of the House. I can’t say I’m surprised. He’s got the arrogance, hate and rudeness down well.
Throughout the hearing, revealing his dishonest intentions, Chairman Nadler allowed questions that were beyond the scope of when Whitaker was working for Attorney General Sessions or the acting Attorney General.
After handling the ridiculous questioning of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Whitaker, when asked if he wished to say more, simply replied, “I don’t have anything further to add, I think I’ve answered the congressman’s question.”
In a profoundly unprofessional moment, Nadler quipped, “That’s a question for observers.”
So, what’s so important about a meaningless and ridiculous House judiciary hearing with an acting Attorney General that, in a matter of days, will no longer be in government?
It demonstrates the character of the Democrats. They are consumed with hate for anything
connected to or with the president and they are hell-bent on bringing him down. Not many people saw the oversight hearing last week. If you didn’t, you missed very little. It did, though, pull back the thin veneer of Democrat civility. They are a party driven by hate, arrogance, lies and dirty tricks. They will do all they can to destroy our president and the country as we know it. 2020 isn’t far away. We ought to see clearly what we’re up against.
