Last week, our Congressional Rep. Lauren Boebert once again showed her true colors, when she refused to wear a mask on the floor of the House. Along with some of her Republican colleagues, Boebert defied current House rules, which still require wearing masks. And all in the name of “freedom.”
We’ve been putting off saying much about Boebert because we felt it only fair to give her some time to settle into her job and find out what being a member of Congress is all about – “member” being the operative word.
Just as members of society must abide by laws and the rules of our workplaces and other institutions, so must members of Congress put aside their own opinions and abide by the House rules – whether they like the rules or not. This is how society works: We stop at the stoplight in order to ensure the safety of all – even when we can’t see anyone coming and we’re in a big hurry.
Boebert clearly doesn’t believe in sacrificing for the common good. And she doesn’t believe in following the rules, as her history of charges for driving violations and subsequent failures to appear in court indicate. So much for her posturing on behalf of “law and order.”
It’s unclear whether Boebert has been vaccinated against COVID-19, but she has said that it is not the role of government to “force injections of any kind in anyone.” You’ve got to wonder how that feels for the bereaved family members, friends and co-workers of the 590,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19.
Of course, the government hasn’t forced injections upon anyone (there’s a false flag for you), but some institutions are making decisions to continue to require masks as a precaution against ongoing spread of the disease.
Because COVID-19 isn’t over yet. And if we’ve learned anything, it’s that when it comes to this virus, an ounce of prevention certainly is worth a pound of cure.
But the facts about mask-wearing and vaccinations aren’t really the point. It’s about having a moral compass and following it. Making choices for the betterment of all. Admitting we can’t be experts in everything, and doing what the experts recommend. Instead, on Tuesday, Boebert tweeted, “Fauci sucks at his job.”
We’ve reviewed Boebert’s legislative accomplishments to date and find little of significance. Most of the 13 bills she’s introduced are Republican pushback bills intended to stop Biden in his tracks – anti-immigration, against the Paris Accord, against the moratorium on new oil and gas leasing, against conditioning leases on water rights, etc. Some of her bills are intended to revive Trump-era anti-immigration policies.
What Boebert, a first-term, minority-party member should be doing is examining what she can accomplish affirmatively for her constituents. But – at least in her bills – there is little to demonstrate a cogent conservative viewpoint or to recognize the very real needs of her constituents. Unless you count the bill to get Silver Cliff its own unique ZIP code.
Oh, wait – there is the “No-Mask Mandate” bill.
Perhaps our representative is working diligently behind the scenes with other Republicans to advance the nation’s agenda during this unstable period of recovery from the virus and rebuilding our economy. We’d like to think so.
But her behavior about masks is just grandstanding, currying favor with “the base,” playing the role of a rebel without a cause, disaffected, disgruntled, immature.
And it’s working, if money is a good measure. Boebert raised $846,000 in the first three months of the year. According to The Colorado Sun, about 60% of the money came from small donors giving $200 or less. But only 51% of her itemized donations came from Coloradans. Her second-quarter fundraising reached $700,000.
Clearly out-of-state Republicans are charmed by our pistol-packin’ representative.
Us? Not so much. We’re still waiting for the representative to focus on doing real work on behalf of her constituents.
