Elizabeth Warren by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0/Original

Elizabeth Warren is in full campaign mode and when you are a Senator, that means ridiculous grand-standing in public hearings that accomplish absolutely nothing. The point isn’t to make sense though, it’s just to get on TV yelling at someone so people can say “see how tough she is?!”

Yesterday, Mark Espers was being questioned as the nominee for Secretary of Defense and Warren thought it’d be a good idea to tacitly attack his loyalty to his country. This was part of her demanding a silly commitment that he wouldn’t do contract work for at least four years after leaving government, as if that’d suddenly garner her vote to confirm. We all know she’s not voting for him.

Keep in mind, Espers is a graduate of West Point and a combat veteran. So yeah, that went about as well as you’d expect.

Elizabeth Warren tries to shame SecDef nominee and war veteran Mark Esper. It does NOT go well. "I went to war for this country, served overseas for this country; I've stepped down from jobs that paid me well more than anyone else" to serve, "So no."pic.twitter.com/sjBA8OvNrm — Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) July 16, 2019

Espers just lays into her and it’s pretty great. If you watch until the end, Warren has a meltdown at the fact that Espers refused to be boxed in by her. She even complains that he used up her time even though she’s the one who spent most of the video railing at him in nonsensical fashion instead of just asking him a question like she’s supposed to.

On substance, it is idiotic to demand a government official not work outside of government in their field for four years after leaving a government post. People have a right to make a living in whatever way they choose. Elizabeth Warren is not the arbiter of what’s right and just in that respect.

But this is a campaign issue for her, as if being a permanent government hanger-on is somehow morally superior to someone who serves their country and then goes into the private sector. It’s a garbage contention and unfairly maligns a man like Espers, who’s done nothing but serve his country with honor most of his adult life. Meanwhile, Warren’s service to the nation boils down to getting elected in a deeply blue state and having an annoying voice.

Imagine listening to that voice every day for four years. — [shrug emoji] (@jtLOL) July 16, 2019

And no, that’s not Jim or I being sexist. Kamala Harris doesn’t have this problem. Neither does Tulsi Gabbard. Warren just so happens to be Hillary Clinton but more shrill and tortured as a public speaker.

But I do have to give her credit. She’s managed to climb into 2nd place and may overtake Biden eventually. If she does, more power to her. We’ll see how all this stuff works out in a general election.

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