Lauren Boebert is a prime example of what's wrong with the U.S.

During the State of the Union Address earlier this week, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert heckled President Biden when he talked about not wanting to see more flag-draped coffins of U.S. service members. More particularly, Biden was talking about U.S. personnel being exposed to carcinogens from open burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan (noting that his own son had died of brain cancer). She shouted out that the President was responsible for the thirteen American soldiers who had died in Afghanistan - that he was responsible for thirteen of those flag-draped coffins.

Whatever one thinks about the President's culpability in those deaths, we should all be willing to acknowledge that Boebert's remarks were inappropriate in this setting. While we might expect hecklers at concerts and sporting events, a joint session of Congress requires a little more decorum! Moreover, one would think that the standards of common human decency and empathy would dictate the inappropriateness of heckling a parent who was discussing the death of his son!

Nevertheless, when she was later challenged about her behavior, she expressed no regret and said that she would gladly do it again if given the same opportunity! For those of us who were astonished by her behavior, we are left to wonder: What would cause someone to act in such a way, and NOT feel any shame about having done so?

First, we should state that Mrs. Boebert is an avid supporter of the bully-in-chief and principal architect of the destruction of all forms of civility in the public square in America, Donald Trump. In addition to this, it should be pointed out that Boebert never completed high school because of a teen pregnancy, and she married a man who did time in jail for exposing himself at a bowling alley. Hence, while some folks would characterize the Boeberts as a certain kind of waste material, it should be noted that they are not poor! Can we all see that it's just not nice, when we are not nice to each other? 

Forget trying to persuade people to vote for you or your policies!

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the spectacular failure of the Democrats to push voting rights legislation through the United States Senate. On the other side of the aisle, Republican state legislatures have been more successful in passing legislation to curtail the access of people of color to the ballot box.

From my perspective, it seems that both parties have given up on trying to persuade folks to support their candidates and policies and have instead focused their energies on enhancing/protecting the access of their voters to the ballot box! In fact, it seems that ALL of the political energy in the United States is now focused on making sure that the folks who support you and your party have a leg up on the folks who support the other guys and their party.

Apparently, folks in both parties have decided that there just aren't enough persuadable folks left to bother with traditional notions of campaigning. It's all about stoking the anger/hatred of their supporters for the other side. This has become even more important than trying to gin up enthusiasm for one's own candidates or policies. In fact, Republicans appear to have given up on even putting forward a positive agenda of their own. For them, opposition and obstruction to/of the other guy's agenda seems to be enough!

If you're wondering if all of that sounds very negative, defeatist and dangerous to the health of a democratic republic, I believe your anxiety is justified. In fact, I believe it's always a bad sign when people retreat into defensive postures. When that happens, incessant fighting and stalemate ensues (and isn't that exactly what we're all currently witnessing?).