Sen. Joni ‘Castrating’ Ernst (R-Iowa) stood in the Armed Services Committee room grinning from ear to ear. She gave the eight-minute GOP rebuttal to the President’s State Of The Union address. It was a clever positioning for what is the new face of the Republicans.
She not only serves on this committee, she has a military background. Ernst served in the Army Reserves for two decades. She holds the rank of lieutenant colonel?and served in Iraq. No small thing.
Ernst gave a folksy, narrative-heavy speech, smiling way too much and too inappropriately.
Whereas President Obama’s speech was hopeful, the Republicans? was downbeat. But, both were governing speeches.
Who Is Ernst?
Ernst self-identified as a “mother, a soldier, and a new senator.” And, the freshman senator spoke of her hard-scrabble life where she plowed fields, did construction with her dad, and worked the breakfast biscuit line at Hardee?s.
Her parents lived a simple waste-not, want-not life. Ernst had only one good pair of shoes. So her mother swathed them with plastic bread bags when it rained. But, it wasn’t so bad, because all the kids wore them, too.
Ernst said she understood families now. They are working harder and harder. She talked about understanding that this has been a difficult six years with stagnant wages. And, she feels our frustration with Washington.
A Republican Future
In the future the Republicans want to ?function again.? Apparently they couldn’t function before now. So here is what they will do for us:
- Make taxes easier to file
- Create jobs
- Eliminate government spending
- Cut wasteful spending
- Give veterans the benefits they were promised
That’s it? Oh come on, Senator. Surely you Republicans can come up with a few more gifts to us.
Ernst Got It Wrong
Ernst was wrong in several places. She said that the Keystone bill would produce ?thousands of jobs that will pump billions of dollars into the economy.? No. It will produce 35 permanent jobs, Senator, 35 jobs that won’t earn billions of anything.
She mentioned inaccurately that insurance costs were up due to the ?stale failed policies like Obamacare.?
Also, she claimed that the Republicans had little cooperation with the president. Ummm, Ernst, you got that backward.
The rookie senator inaccurately indicated that all the farmers of her parents? and grandparents? generation had was ?the sweat on their brow and dirt on their hands.?
That isn’t much of a reward. It’s a clever phrase, but wrong. My grandfather was a farmer and made a decent living suffused with community, music, humor, and the rewards of nature. He didn’t have that rich Iowa dirt either.
Then Ernst said her parents showed her she didn’t need to come from wealth. They showed her she had the freedom to dream big. ?But, the parents’ reward was just sweat and dirt? That doesn’t make sense, Ernst.
The Big Scare
Then, with a smile, the senator tried to put the fear of God in people. Ernst spoke of ?lots of serious work? on terrorism and the radicalized (translation: on our soil). And, in case people didn’t get it, the senator added terrorism’s reach. Terrorists are ?not only in France and Nigeria but also Canada and Australia.?
She topped off the scare with warnings of “cyber-attacks and Iran’s nuclear weapons.? But never fear, Republicans will protect the ?most vulnerable.?
There were no specifics, no memorable phrases. ?I know that Ernst is filled with rich, nutty quotes but, she didn’t even give us one. Not even half of one.
I am greatly disappointed, Joni Castrating Ernst.
