The fickle face of government grandstanding has turned on a NY Democrat Congressman (and avowed socialist) who previously seemed to love getting camera-time.
World-wide-webdom caught virtual fire Saturday, as both word and images spread to reveal that freshman House member Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) had pulled a fire alarm in one of the US Capitol corridors, evidently to prevent a vote to (again) temporarily fund the bloated tick of the federal government with more deficit-expanding cash that wasn't enough for Bowman's big-government agenda.
The Intelligencer’s Ben Jacobs wrote:
“The U.S. Capitol Police confirmed in a late-afternoon statement that 'a fire alarm was activated on the 2nd floor of the Cannon Office Building' at 12:05 p.m., and the building was evacuated while officers made sure there was no threat. The USCP also said it was still investigating what happened.”
Of course, the tax-fed USCP didn’t have to investigate too hard, because Bowman and his team have issued confirmatory statements, and dug the proverbial “lame excuse” hole deeper with each release.
First, one of the Democrat Congressman’s spokespeople stated:
“Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion.”
Which appears to have been tailored to be short and sweet – an attempt to cauterize the wound and “move on,” as ne’er-do-wells often want others to do when we notice their malicious activities.
But, for numerous reasons, many of us taxpayers and even many in Congress were not satisfied with the statement, and we don’t think it’s appropriate to “move on.” In fact, some of us noted at the time Bowman’s subordinates released the initial statement that the Congressman’s actions did not just trigger “confusion.” They triggered ALARM – literally – as the siren rang and as the House membership stopped their proceedings on the budget.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) offered some choice words and sentiment that, perhaps, many in and out of the chamber shared:
“’When we found that an individual elected to Congress would pull a fire alarm that’s a new low,’ McCarthy said. ‘We watched how people have been treated if they have done something wrong in this Capitol. It will be interesting to see how he is treated on what he was trying to obstruct when it came to the American public.’”
Congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to her phone to record as she and others evacuated to the dulcet sound of the alarm, and recorded as she stood outside her Cannon Building office, noting her thoughts on Bowman’s transgressive stunt.
“This is where I work. And this is exactly what happened: So, we’re inside, in our office, watching the floor debate. Catherine Clarke, the Democrat Whip, calls the motion to adjourn, and then the fire alarm goes off in our building, and they evacuate the entire building. This is while an official proceeding is happening on the House floor…”
MTG also brought some documents with her to look at Bowman’s possible legal violations – troubles that, evidently, Mr. Bowman didn’t consider when he pulled the alarm and that he and his team might want Americans to overlook.
And in their subsequent attempt to gloss over the problems he created, Bowman and his PR lackeys made things more absurd, offering the fantastical excuse that, well, he just couldn’t tell the difference between a RED FIRE ALARM that was marked as such, and a door exit plate, and adding the minimizing “sorry for the confusion” rhetoric, to boot.
“My hope is that no one will make more of this than it was. I am working very hard every day, including today, to do my job, to do it well, and to deliver for my constituents,” he concluded.
It’s easy to see that what Bowman claims is “doing his job” comes at OUR expense, and includes votes that stand in complete contradistinction from the Constitution that actually created his office. If that is “doing his job,” perhaps he might feel more comfortable working for NY mobsters closer to his home – folks who also seem not to care for the law.
Related: MSNBC Dutifully Repeats Fire Alarm-Pulling Dem's Excuses | MRCTV
The insulting manner in which Bowman has tried to turn this around -- as if those who would hold him accountable are the ones engaging in wrongdoing – is rivaled only by his complete dismissal of the legal issues noted by MTG. But she is not the only person who cites statute to reveal Bowman’s potential trouble.
As Kate Anderson writes for The Daily Caller, Bowman’s work-stoppage of the Congress isn’t the only legal problem he has created:
“It is illegal for an individual to ‘wilfully (sic) or knowingly give a false alarm of fire within the District of Columbia,’ according to a district law. Bowman could be charged with a misdemeanor and face a sentence of up to six months in prison with a fine of no more than $100.”
If only those government surveillance cameras weren’t around, Jamaal might be in a better position.
Yes, cameras, the kinds of things for which Mr. Bowman in March posed as he yelled and pointed fingers at liberty-minded men like Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie (R).
When cameras catch raw footage of Bowman, we get a pretty good idea of his personality and ethics. But, because they seem more focused on leftist political agendas than real ethics, some pop media figures already are trying to give Bowman a pass. As Newsbusters’ Alex Christy notes, MSNBC is unquestioningly presenting Bowman’s lame excuse as truth, in order to “clarify” the situation.
And, of course, CNN gave plenty of time to Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to pooh-pooh the wrongdoing and try to claim it was Republicans who were wrong in showing the temerity to bring it up.
There’s no information available as to whether she might have thought her own life was in danger, as she has claimed she felt at other times in a Congressional office.
Regardless, we can rise above. Many of us who’ve had to suffer the tirades and tax-hungry bromides of this leftist politician know that the media cams and media shills can’t hide the truth.
And Mr. Bowman can’t smooth it over with pointless rhetoric and fantastical claims.