The main unbelievable aspect of this ongoing Ethics Dunce saga, sufficient to qualify it as an Ethics Alarms “Ripley,” is that someone this foolish, unethical and absurd can be elected to Congress in this country.
This is not a parody. This is not a Babylon Bee piece. I am not making what follows up.
When we last left the male “Squad” member and Democratic Representative from New York, he was lying what he risibly calls “his head” off after being caught on video deliberately setting off a fire alarm in the Cannon Office Building in order to delay the House vote on the desperate government funding fill, which was signed over the weekend. This, as many have pointed out, was a crime , so because crimes require intent, and this one is the same crime the January 6 rioters are being sent to prison for excessive periods for (among others), Bowman claimed, hilariously, that he didn’t know that what he pulled was a fire alarm, even though everyone knows what a fire alarm looks like, and that he set off the alarm “by mistake,” thinking that it would open a door that had signs on it explaining how the door opened. Everybody knows that nobody over the age of three could pull down a fire alarm lever “mistakenly.’
Now, since the King’s Pass Bowman expected didn’t materialize (“The Black Democrat’s Pass” is a sub-rationalization of the King’s Pass), Bowman has issued suggested talking points about the scandal, and I present them below, again emphasizing that these are real. Hold on to your skulls:
But wait, there’s more!
Following the negative reaction to his “messaging guidance,” the Congressman took to social media to claim the term “Nazi” was used without his “consent,” writing
Observations:
1. I know we all occasionally say, in hyperbole, that a particular elected official is an idiot. This document proves that Bowman really is an idiot. And an unethical, untrustworthy idiot as well.
2. I particularly like the “it isn’t what it is” (Rationalization #64) masterpiece of stating that his false alarm didn’t delay the voting. It did cause the Cannon Building to be evacuated. Essentially this is an “It didn’t work” excuse, or “No harm, no foul.”
3. Bowman, and only Bowman, set off the alarm. Yet six of the nine “messaging” points suggested involve blaming Republican, MAGA Republicans, Donald Trump and GOP “Nazis” for his actions. Of the remaining three, there is the afore-mentioned “Hey, no big deal!” excuse, a “The building where I work is so confusing!” lament, and finally, “The Saint’s Excuse,” Rationalization 13: “We’re the good guys so we should get away with things like this.”
4. This is also smoking gun evidence of the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Putting out this document shows that Bowman is a fool and that he expects, probably with good reason, his colleagues to back his lies. It also shows that he has no respect for the public. It is mind-meltingly stupid to release such a damning document, yet release it he did.
Ethics Alarms 
Frankly, I can imagine any Democrat elected official or party operative gladly mouthing any of the talking points, and I can imgine any standard issue lefty Democrat saying the same things. These people are nuts and shameless. Their MO is, “Just say something and it will sound true, particularly if you believe it.”
“Messaging guidance.” Isn’t that great. A euphemism for “Here’s how to lie.” Why are obscurantists so fond of turning nouns into verbs?
Gerunds is the correct term, I guess. They sound so sophisticated.
From what I’ve seen, some of the most partisan left wing outlets have taken up his spin and repeated it as if it were fact. Others, perhaps a bit embarrassed to be repeating such malarkey with their own voice, are dutifully (and uncritically) reporting how his fellow Democrats like AOC are pushing it. The rest have fallen back to their usual response when a Democrat is caught doing something indefensible: Republicans Pounce!
Yep. Ocasio-Cortez was making the talk show circuit defending this guy and blaming mean Republicans for placing the fire alarms by the locked exit doors where signs clearly state “if you want to delay a vote in Congress, you just might want to pull this red lever thingy right here. Not sure what it does, but hey, let’s see what happens . . .”
jvb
The claim that our public discourse has coarsened because of Trump has never set well with me, until now. Would Bowman(Democrats) claim that Republicans are racist if they categorized him as black? What if he claim he was white? Would they expect us all to believe that what he has is clearly not melanin, clear like men being able get pregnant.
It seems to me that what has happened inadvertently is not that anyone is following Trump by example, but that Trump proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that you can get away with a lot more than anyone in general was ever willing to risk. First, make sure that you have some unassailable privilege or resource, then behave or speak as stupidly as possible incrementally to show everyone that you can’t be stopped.
That’s impressive. Maybe he’s determined to become the uber-democrat… combining the innate stupidity of Hank Johnson, the juvenile clownishness of brain-damaged Fetterman, and the ability of Joe Biden to lie repeatedly and unconvincingly. I wonder if he has a Chinese spy on his staff, too?
Wait, “a Chinese spy on his staff” like Diane Feinstein, or “a Chinese spy on his staff’ like Eric Swalwell?
I just made a note not to read any of your responses right after taking a big swig of water.
Now to find a towel…
DaveL,
Your quip qualifies as the shortest COTD candidate.
I see what you did there 😉
Individuals learn about fire alarms when they are in grade school while practicing fire safety for all. Principles and teachers most certainly had to know for the safety of all. My point is, wasn’t he a principal of a school before being a congress member? I do not believe him for one moment he did not know what he was doing.
Is the following too satirical?
Obviously the point about not knowing what a fire alarm looks like is very believable.
“The school I went to was dirt poor, just like white people wanted it to be. Can’t get those kids an education, not and have them get all uppity and think they can do anything. And there weren’t no fire alarms, because white people don’t care if black people all burn to death. Even the school I was principal at didn’t have fire alarms. It would have been nice, but couldn’t fit in the budget, not after making sure all the staff had Mercedes, and they all had salaries large enough to pay for daycare and the private schools they were sending their kids to, and then paying for all the iPad Pros the students need to do their lessons, and not after buying the football their gear, and building a new locker room, and setting some aside to build a new football stadium. All them rich white folk don’t understand how it comes down to making hard choices, like whether we spend our last dime installing fire alarms, or we get impossible burgers on the school menu so our kids can eat healthy and green.”
I couldn’t tell if it was satire or Bowman’s latest interview. I’m not kidding.
The worst part is not his obvious stupidity and/or his pathetic excuses (my 12 and 8 yr old are much more imaginative with their fibs, and oh by the way, they definitely know what a fire alarm is and what it does).
NO… the worst part is the MSM’s coverage is yet another depressing demonstration of complete partisanship and the complete loss of any professionalism and integrity among our vaunted Fourth Estate.
Our founding fathers are rolling in their graves; they appreciated the importance of free (and presumably professional) news media (press) that they granted it express protection by name in the Constitution. Yet another institution destroyed by the left in the name of vague and ever changing “social justice”. Truly sad and scary
Yes, and this is why I’m not tolerating comments any more that argue that there is no mainstream media bias serving as left-wing propaganda. It is gaslighting and proof of either outright dishonesty of abject idiocy.
I agree, Jack, BUT, you might want to reconsider that, because it could open you up to charges of “echo chamber.” However, if you want to wait for new evidence before you reconsider, then that’s certainly ok, I think you might be waiting a while before any worthwhile new evidence comes to light.
The political left continues to do things that support my statement…
P.S. I’m back from dealing with distant family emergencies. This last month has been absolutely crazy, thousands of miles on the road at all hours of the day and night, worked myself to the bone, eating out way too much, plus I haven’t been sleeping well because of the places I’ve had to sleep including the front seat of my SUV. The things we do for family. Let’s see how long it takes for me to get back in the swing of normal life again and how long I get to stay home before the next emergency pops up.
This is the worst set of suggested talking points I’ve ever read. Who wrote this?
A partisan hack. In other words, attack the other side to distract from what you did, hate on them, and call them Nazis. The fact is that no one on the “squad” is all that smart, and frankly they dishonor the term “squad.” In emergency services parlance a squad is a group of detectives assigned to a precinct, i.e. smart officers who are supposed to analyze evidence and solve crimes, or a company of elite firemen who as often as not extricate their compatriots who get in over their heads. These folks are not smart, not analytical, not interested in solving anything, and CERTAINLY not elite.
“You know. Morons.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman now identifies as a weasel.
In the last post, I wrote that Rep. Bowman has the mental acuity of the President. Clearly I overestimated it.
And Jack, you’re right to push back on comments denying media bias. It’s reached the point of “obscenely obvious”.