Are You Now or Have You Ever?

 

Tom Cotton: "Have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?"

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: "Senator, I'm Singaporean. No!"

Cotton: "Have you ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party?"

Chew: "No, Senator. Again, I'm Singaporean!" pic.twitter.com/5Wa72aJIr9

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 31, 2024

Sen. Tom Cotton (R--1950s Red Scare) indulges in a little McCarthyism overlayed with anti-Asian bigotry. He so completely serves as an example of my theory that the Ivy League schools have a form of affirmative action for mediocre conservatives that I'm almost embarrassed to show him off.  Is he over-compensating for attending an egghead school by aggressively Bubba-ing like this?

(I think Sen Kennedy does the same thing, TBH.)

I think he's coming at it from the wrong direction: one doesn't have to be a member of the party to be influenced by leverage from the party. His performance is a sort of distraction; appeal to the audience watching, without getting to the heart of the matter. In other words, the need to represent (echoing McCarthy) has significance that effectiveness does not. 

This is a problem that is going around.