Commentary
Regular readers may recall my criticism of unelected bureaucrats in decision-making regulatory positions, who are responsible for the overreaching in how we live our lives, from free speech to setting miles per gallon requirements.
Several examples of incompetence surfaced recently that I need to call to your attention just on the outside chance that you may not have heard about them.
On April 27, 2023, during an appearance before the Senate, unelected Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, revealed a plan to fully establish an all-electric fleet in the U.S. military by the 2030s, leading observers to wonder if the Biden administration has prioritized the green new deal over national security.
Can’t you just picture charging stations on the battlefield, where our forces put their assignment on pause while they wait for a charge?
The unelected man behind going electric, John Kerry, is running up an unbelievable taxpayer tab in support of Biden’s climate crisis agenda.
On April 26, 2023, Steve Dettelbach, the unelected director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, was unable to define the term “assault weapon” during his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.
When pressed by Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee, who asked, “My question to you is just simply yes or no … you know what an assault weapon is? … you seen one?”
Dettelbach deflected the question, saying the term is not something he’s qualified to rule on, adding it was a decision for Congress.,
If that’s the case, we’re in deep doodoo, because our elected officials can’t agree on the question either.
It was Representative Jackson Lee, who in September of 2019, related how heavy an AR-15 was in her hands. “It is as heavy as 10 boxes that you might be moving,” adding that the bullet that is utilized is a .50 caliber.
She was mocked on social media, as AR-15s are not particularly heavy, weighing from seven to nine pounds when loaded.
No pun intended … we dodged a bullet when Phillip A. Washington withdrew his name from nomination to become the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, another unelected position.
During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Washington unbelievably stated, ”My experience as CEO of the third busiest airport in the world, Denver International Airport with 35,000 workers, translates well to the FAA.” Really?
It was North Carolina’s Sen. Ted Budd that sunk Washington’s chances of confirmation when he asked Washington, “What are the six types of special use airspace that appear on FAA charts?” Washington responded, “Sorry, senator, I cannot answer that question.”
“Can you tell me what the minimum separation distance is for landing and departing airliners during the daytime? Budd continued. “I don’t want to guess on that, senator,” said Washington.
“The FAA cannot afford to be led by someone who needs on-the-job training,” Budd concluded, after Washington went 0 for 7 on his questions.
At a minimum, shouldn’t the FAA director be a pilot?
You may recall that our newest unelected member on the U.S. Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, was unable to define “woman” when asked by Tennessee’s Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
During the House Appropriations Committee hearing on the Department of Education’s budget, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona repeatedly (three times) refused to answer Georgia’s Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde’s request for Cardona to define what a woman is.
Finally, as a reminder, Alejandro Mayorkas, the unelected director of Homeland Security, still insists that our southern border is not open, and our unelected Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who believes our highway system was racially designed, promises to take racism out of the administration’s infrastructure planning.
While President Biden continues to use his identity checklist for nominating people to his administration, Republicans need to be sure they have merit.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
