A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Bill Straub: Just one joke after another defines Rep. Jamie Comer as he relishes his time in the limelight


Okay. . .this is a joke, right?

The good people of the First Congressional District in West Kentucky, which now stretches all the way to Frankfort in what can only be described as the most absurd instance of gerrymandering in the Commonwealth’s long history, sure are pulling a fast one on the rest of the nation. They must be getting a huge belly laugh from the shenanigans of their boy, Rep. Jamie Comer, R-Whereverhehangshishatishishome, who continues his world-without-end, one-man assault on such well-worn American ideals as logic and wisdom, content in his own delusions of grandeur.

Every day, it seems, folks from Maine to California can pick up the morning paper or crank up the Internet with a single focus – what ridiculous thing is this nitwit into now?

And he’s the chair of the House Oversight and Accountability, the lower chamber’s primary investigative arm. If Jamie’s viewed by fellow GOP lawmakers as competent, what’s that say about them?

Let’s take a peek at some of his most riotous recent antics. And don’t forget to carry a handkerchief to wipe away the tear – either from giggling hysterically or crying in despair. Take your pick.

The NKyTribune’s Washington columnist Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com

The Silicon Valley Bank collapsed last week, the victim of poor financial decisions. Our boy Jamie went on Fox News – a sordid collection of lying liars who lie that he has essentially made his home base – to provide the real reason for the institution’s downfall.

Wokeness.

“We see now coming out they were one of the most woke banks in their quest for the ESG-type policy and investing,” Comer said. “This could be a trend and there are consequences for bad Democrat policy.”

This silly comment opens up a whole can of worms, including whether Jamie boy can speak with any degree of intelligence on any and all subjects. The bank collapse had nothing to do with wokeness – whatever the hell that might be.

SVB grew rapidly during the sadly gone days of low-interest rates, grabbing deposits and then investing heavily in government bonds. At the same time the bank failed to take necessary steps to hedge against the exit of those high-cotton days. Inflation arrived, bonds hit the skids and depositors were, understandably, displeased with the bank’s performance, resulting in a panic that wrecked the institution.

That’s it. Good ol’ mismanagement. It’s possible that changes in banking regulations during the Trump administration – embraced by Comer – had something to do with the predicament. That’s for others to determine. What’s obvious is that Comer, looking to advance his skewed view of the world, seized an opportunity to advance some phony-baloney rationale for the whole schlemiel, pointing a finger at congressional Democrats and that old devil, President Biden.

Comer saw an opportunity to unload on the Republican Party’s newest boogeyman – ESG, which stands for Environmental, Social and Governance investing. Basically, according to Investopedia.com, ESG exists as “a set of standards. . .used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments.”

Last fall, the Department of Labor promulgated a regulation that, according to the White House, clarified that “retirement plan fiduciaries may consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors in selecting retirement investments and exercising shareholder rights, when those factors are relevant to the risk and return analysis.”

The rule states fiduciaries “may consider,” meaning it’s not a requirement. But Republicans are bug-eyed over the concept and managed to pass legislation nullifying the rule, which Biden is likely to veto. The usual gang of Senate Republicans authored the attempt to kill the rule and were joined by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV, and Sen. John Tester, D-MT, who hail from coal-producing states that aren’t too keen on the concept of environmental investing at the expense of their own dirty energy producers.

Regardless, SVB collapsed, it supported ESG and Comer therefore asserted that the demise certainly had something to do with being woke, a favorite right-wing invocation they have trouble defining but use as a catch-all to get them out of debating ideas. It’s usually delivered with a smirk, establishing the right-wing’s real view of environmentalism, social justice and workers’ rights.

Now don’t leave with the false impression that the woke bank collapse is the stupidest thing Jamie said this week.

Apparently, he wants to invade Mexico, a sovereign state.

Yes, you read that right.

Appearing on Fox News (the same lying liars who lie mentioned above), Comer cited a report that Trump in 2020 told then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper that the U.S. should launch Patriot missiles across the southern border into Mexico to wipe out labs that manufacture the illicit drugs sold on the streets of America.

“One of the things we learned post-Trump presidency is that he had ordered a bombing of a couple of fentanyl labs, crystal meth labs, in Mexico, just across the border, and for whatever reason the military didn’t do it,” Comer said. “I think that was a mistake.”

Now, it should be acknowledged that the distribution of illicit drugs in America is a major problem. But invading a foreign country, a close ally at that, would be an act of war, regardless of good intentions.

We’ve gone down that road before and it didn’t end well. In 1916, Gen. “Black Jack” Pershing, under orders from President Woodrow Wilson, invaded Mexico in pursuit of the revolutionary Poncho Villa, who, for some odd reason, had crossed over into the town of Columbus, NM, and killed 17 people.

Pershing’s invasion drew the ire of the Mexican government but, since that government was in the midst of a revolution, its attention was somewhat diverted and there was the feeling that little could be done about it. Even so, Mexican troops confronted Pershing in Carrizal. The Americans suffered 22 casualties. More than 30 Mexicans were killed. There were rumors of war. Pershing left after 11 months – without Villa.

Invading Mexico, it’s fair to say, would not be warmly embraced. It brings to mind Russia invading the smaller Ukraine, with the U.S. on Ukraine’s side, of course.

It doesn’t end there, folks. Oh no. By refusing to act responsibly last week, he provided offhand support for white supremacy, an issue that already required him to walk a fine line.

Last December on Fox & Friends (there we go again) Comer expressed confidence that Democrats are active participants in what has been termed the “great replacement theory,” which promotes the concept that non-white immigrants and other racial minorities are being deliberately brought into the United States to “replace” declining white populations.

“They want more people to roll into the United States,” he said. “They believe this is part of their social equality campaign to fundamentally change America.”

Okay. . .

Anyway, last month, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-MD, ranking member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, offered Comer an opportunity to walk back his remarks.

“All we need is a word renouncing or denouncing the Great Replacement theory and you will never hear from us again any implication that people on that side support it,” Raskin said. “But all we have to go on otherwise are prior statements that people have made.”

Comer’s response?

“I don’t even know how to comment on a lot of that.”

Well, you might start by denouncing white supremacy.

In one of his first official acts as chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, Comer put the kibosh on the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, without much in the way of explanation.
So, last week we arrived at a point where, because of some statements made during a committee hearing by the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, Raskin once again asked Comer to sing with the angels by signing a statement condemning “white nationalism and white supremacy in all its forms.”

Comer refused.

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. . .

And we didn’t even get around to mentioning HUNTER BIDEN!


Recent Posts

5 Comments

  1. REBogart says:

    Well written. Thank you for your insight.

  2. Jamie says:

    You cite Gen Pershing’s “invasion of Mexico” quite inaccurately. First and foremost, the General was not acting as a renegade nor was it an invasion, rather; upon the orders of a very progressive Democrat President Woodrow Wilson, General Pershing was attempting to locate a rebel leader who had executed 16 US citizens in Mexico and then invaded Southern United States and killed 17 more citizens.

    You conveniently don’t mention the entire political environment when making the false comparison of Pancho Villa or General Pershing to ANY elected U.S. or Kentucky official.

    Happy St. Patricks Day sir.

  3. Bill Straub says:

    Quickly, to set the record straight, the column specifically says Pershing entered Mexico under Wilson’s orders, nothing about him being a renegade. I also note Villa killed 17 Americans. I might add Pershing took 10,000 troops into Mexico with him. That would be an invasion in anyone’s book.

  4. Pitsov Darqeness says:

    Then there’s that whole insurrection thing that they (and Mitch) helped enable. And what does it say about the state’s voters when they chose to elect the criminals? But, when push comes to shove? You know the Grand Old Insurrection Party will line up behind the former guy once again, just as the state’s AG has (with little notice from the press).

  5. Linda Sparrow says:

    Good grief. I hate living in Ky.

Leave a Comment