OPINION:
William Blake once said, “[Politicians] appear to me to be fools; they seem to me to be something else besides human life.”
Oscar Wilde later added, “Only people who look dull ever get into [politics], and only people who are dull ever succeed there.”
If anything proves the truth of these words, if anything shines a light on the fact that our nation is currently governed by a gaggle of dullards, liars and just really dumb people, it’s this past week in Washington.
Consider the following: While demonstrating a stunning inability to read her own notes and with zero evidence to justify her line of inquiry, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono asked Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth: “Would you use the [United States] military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark?”
Aside from the fact that Greenland is not an “ally” of Denmark but rather a territory of the Danish realm and has been since the early 18th century, one can’t help but be astounded by Ms. Hirono’s question’s incoherence.
Does she not understand even the basic principles of logic? Has she never heard of Socratic fallacies? Is she so oblivious to the elementary rules of rational thinking that she’s clueless to the fact that she just became the poster child for what is known as the “complex or loaded question?”
Watching her fumbling and bumbling her way through her attempted interrogation of Mr. Hegseth, one fully expected Ms. Hirono’s next accusation to be the absurdity, “Have you stopped beating your wife yet?”
Anyone who got a D or above in their freshman-level philosophy class knows the senator’s question was the quintessential example of using a false premise to intentionally perpetuate a lie. The “loaded question” is not intended to discover the truth but, rather, to corner your opponent to either admit to something they haven’t done (“Yes, I’ve stopped beating my wife) or to come across as if they’re defending bad behavior by denying it (No, I haven’t stopped beating my wife”). No matter how you answer, you’re trapped in accepting the dishonest premise of your interrogator. In other words, you’re never given the chance to simply say, “I wasn’t beating my wife in the first place!”
The idea that President-elect Donald Trump intends to start a war with Denmark and invade Greenland is absurd. It’s a lie. It’s just plain dumb. Kudos to Mr. Hegseth for restraining himself in the face of such an asinine question.
Next in the parade of congressional clowns was Connecticut’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal. Despite his proven track record of lying about his own military service by claiming he was deployed “in Vietnam” when, in fact, he never was, this dishonored shell of a man had the gall to tell Mr. Hegseth, an actual veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan on multiple tours and earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman Badge, “I do not believe … you are qualified to lead [or be] a spokesperson for the Pentagon.” Either Mr. Blumenthal is so intellectually dull that he doesn’t realize his audience considers him a duplicitous hypocrite or he’s so devoid of character that he doesn’t care. Perhaps it’s both.
Then we come to the notorious Sen. Elizabeth Warren from the great state of Massachusetts. This woman, who has repeatedly lied about being Native American, presumed the moral high ground by scolding Mr. Hegseth for not taking a pledge to join all military generals to not go directly into the defense industry upon retirement. When Mr. Hegseth graciously responded. “Senator, I’m not a general,” this Hiawatha from Harvard appeared to be intellectually stymied by the obvious retort. You can’t make this stuff up. Fools, dullards and liars, indeed.
And that brings us to Virginia’s illustrious Sen. Tim Kaine. During his questioning (or should I say accusations), Mr. Kaine tried to argue that since Mr. Hegseth has been divorced twice, he can’t be trusted to uphold his oath of office. Yes, this is the same Tim Kaine who proudly campaigned for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris, both of whom have boorish husbands notorious for their breaches of marital vows and about whom Mr. Kaine has never uttered one condemnation. Perhaps we should all send letters to Mr. Kaine’s office asking him if he can define “duplicitous.”
Do these people not think before they open their mouths? Do they not understand how ridiculous they look when they do? Does it not cross their minds that, to quote William Blake once more, they “appear to us to be fools” and that “they seem to us to be something else besides human?”
Yes, if last week proved anything, it again showed us that, at least when it comes to Democrats, “only people who look dull ever get into politics, and only those who are dull ever stay there.”
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.
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