Congressional Republicans finally got their wish — the president’s son, Hunter Biden, showed up on The Hill this week for a hearing in the House. But conservative heavyweight Ben Shapiro was far from pleased with the outcome.
Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee was set to vote on whether to hold Hunter in contempt of Congress (after he previously ignored a congressional subpoena) when the younger Biden himself showed up, sending the meeting into unexpected chaos.
And when I say “chaos,” that’s exactly what I mean. It was the kind of grandstanding spectacle prime to make its rounds, in short, 30-second clips, on X… and accomplish nothing.
Ultimately, the debacle ended when Hunter rushed out of the room prematurely to the insults of Representative Marjorie Taylor Green who deemed him a “coward,” “terrified of strong conservative Republican women.”
The whole thing felt scripted for a sitcom. Only it was seriously unfunny. In fact, for anyone who cares about the Republic, it was, frankly, tragic.
“Congress is a waste of space and time,” wrote commentator Ben Shapiro. “Congress should be clawing back its own authority from the executive branch and actually doing things from time to time.” But alas, “they’re not focused on what matters. Instead, they are focused on camera spots.”
“So,” he added, “what did we get … from both sides of the aisle? Grandstanding, instead of actually doing the work of legislating.”
To his point:
Nancy Mace (you know, the woman who wore a massive red “A” on her shirt) kicked the show off by calling for the president’s son to be “arrested right here and right now and go straight to jail.” Alexandria Ocasio Cortez responded, waxing eloquent (and illogically) about “the structural erosion of the rights and representation of people that are marginalized: women, people of color, people that just need to see their due process and civil liberties protected in this country” (?? — if anyone understands what that’s supposed to do with Hunter, please let me know!).
And while MTG was hounding the president’s ~cowardly~ son, Jared Moskowitz seized the opportunity to brandish a giant picture of Donald Trump with Jefferey Epstein.
We had to pause committee because Marjorie Taylor Greene is being unhinged. While we wait, @JaredEMoskowitz is holding this up: pic.twitter.com/5QOp1qBqXK
— Maxwell Alejandro Frost (@MaxwellFrostFL) January 10, 2024
Well done, Congress.
Meanwhile, if Hunter himself actually said anything, no one seemed to notice. His presence — the real story — was overshadowed by the antics of our oh-so-very mature congressmen and women, who somehow managed to make a committee hearing about Hunter Biden not about Hunter Biden.
“This is all great for our Republic, by the way,” Ben Shapiro replied mockingly. “This is all just wonderful, and I’m so glad that we can do all this on camera and everybody can get their minute of face time. It’s great.”
But in reality, “Congress is full of clowns in the circus.”
“This all demonstrates we have an irresponsible political party, a deeply irresponsible political class, and a broken congressional system,” he continued. “Something needs to be done about the political system of the legislature because it is full-scale, full-stop, a disaster area.”
Of course, he is right. But, as I wrote last week in my 2024 wishlist to Congress, “we all know better than to expect Congress to mend its ways. Indeed, it seems the only way we’re ever going to see these much-needed reforms is through a force outside of Washington, namely, Convention of States.”
As a Convention of States endorser, Ben Shapiro knows better than to expect Congress to fix itself from the inside. He’s right — our national legislature is “full-scale, full-stop, a disaster area,” but thanks to Article V of the Constitution, we know exactly what to do about it.
"We have to hem in the power of Congress and, in many cases, the power of the Executive, before it is too late,” said Shapiro. “Can you imagine the looks on the faces of politicians when they realize they are now legally barred from controlling your life and they can’t just live in those offices forever? Calling a Convention of States is the only way to get the job done. Sign the petition and get involved. It’s an important cause."
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