Nancy Pelosi and the hypocrisy of the elite: Gloria Romero
There are four quick lessons we little people can learn from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spa day in violation of local orders mandating the closure of such establishments due to COVID-19:
Lesson One: Laws are for thee, not for me
Lawmakers and government officials grant themselves privileges and exemptions from the rules they set for the rest of us.
Days after a maskless Pelosi was exposed for hypocritically enjoying services at a spa ordered shut down to its own owners, worker, and the rest of us, it was revealed that gyms in San Francisco government buildings have been open for months to government employees.
Meanwhile, ordinary people have literally been arrested and even thrown in jail for opening their businesses to just survive and feed their families. In May, Texas salon owner Shelley Luther was berated in court by a paycheck-collecting judge and jailed for the crime of refusing to flagellate herself as “selfish.” Meanwhile, Oceanside police arrested Louis Uridel, owner of Metroflex Gym, after he refused to close his business.
America’s ruling class feared not.
Early on in the pandemic, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ignored her city’s orders and went to get a haircut, claiming that as the “face” of Chicago, she needed to look good on television.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney forced a lockdown of restaurants in his City of Brotherly Love and then snuck across state lines to wine and dine.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti shut off people’s electricity for having too many people gather in a home’s backyard, but his power remained on even though he marched with crowds larger than those filling that backyard.
These hypocrisies extend beyond the pandemic.
Los Angeles City Council members voted to defund the police, but enjoyed 24-hour protection at their homes from a police detail and prompt police response when protesters arrived at their homes.
The Minneapolis City Council voted to abolish the police, but hired taxpayer-funded security for themselves. Social workers apparently weren’t good enough for them.
Even in matters of death, government officials are willing to sidestep
A powerful Congressman, John Lewis, died and numerous elected officials attended his memorial service. Ordinary families across America, in contrast, were denied final farewells to their deceased loved ones. In March, the New York Times reported that Meri Dreyfuss, a San Francisco area tech worker whose sister died of complications from coronavirus, put off a funeral until the fall, saying “We can’t properly bury our dead because of the situation. … We can’t mourn together, we can’t share memories together, we can’t get together and hug each other.”
We might not have yet personally been exposed to the virus, but the existence of a two-tiered system of justice has been exposed.
Lesson Two: Power means never having to say you’re sorry
The American public can, with our own eyes, see powerful officials violating the very rules they enact and lecture us about.
When caught, the political playbook of the ruling elite is to refrain from admitting the truth: deflect, deny, deride is deployed.
This is nothing new, of course. The champion of this was President Bill Clinton, who engaged legal scholars in defining the meaning of “is.”
It’s been the go-to tactic of politicians called out for their hypocrisy during the pandemic. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio exercised at his gym while they remained closed to his subjects, lashing out at critics. “They can say what they want, but I think this is just a perverse reaction, honestly,” de Blasio said.
When caught, the Golden Rule is to survive and destroy the audacity of the powerless to dare to call you out. Point the finger at anyone other than yourself.
Former District of Columbia Mayor Marion Barry launched the original “it was a setup” defense now claimed by Pelosi. When caught in an undercover drug raid he blamed it as an inside job.
In 2020, Pelosi upped the ante, demanding that the San Francisco shopkeeper give her an apology. How dare a shopkeeper take on the nation’s most powerful woman!
Lesson Three: If you call out those in power, expect the horse’s head
“The Godfather” taught us how to punish your enemies, including delivering a severed horse’s head or, if that’s not available, unleashing the bureaucrats you dominate to issue every regulatory and labor violation potentially committed by that small business owner. Crush your opposition lest they embarrass you again.
It wasn’t long before Mean Girls Clubs kicked into action, deriding San Francisco salon owner Erica Kious, who, how dare she, forgot her place and had the audacity to blow a whistle against the most powerful woman in America.
Social media loyalists launched character assassinations, replete with threats of boycotts and even death. Media coverage focused heavily on the actions of Kious, not Pelosi. By sundown, Kious realized she was being run out of town and as the elites bashed her, GoFundMe accounts were opened by ordinary people across the country in her defense.
Lesson Four: When things get tough, close debate and just move on
When all else fails and public opinion still isn’t on your side, the powerful learn to just declare the issue closed and order us to “move on.” San Francisco’s “progressive” female mayor refused to stand with the small shop owner, tapped her watch and urged us to move on.
Los Angeles Times editorial writer Carla Hall wrote an op-ed titled “Can we leave Nancy Pelosi’s hair alone?” This is a pure deflection and strategic “look the other way” argument, as the outcry was never about Pelosi’s hair but about the double standards of what she did.
Former Bill Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart declared that no one would be influenced by “Salon-gate” in November. He doubled down in his dismissive of the incident using sexist language in demeaning women who challenged Pelosi’s double standard, demeaning them as presumably ignorant, fake “bleached blondes.”Nothing to see here — get over it. Move on, they commanded. The sound of silence emanated from women’s organizations, including Democratic colleagues. The Sisterhood was clear it sided with those who rule, not ordinary women.
There are more lessons for the little people when thinking about the rights of rulers. But let us not also forget that history is replete with stories of aristocrats and powerful politicians having been toppled by the people that class is supposed to serve. Goliaths meet their Davids. That is an important lesson none should ever forget.
Gloria Romero previously served as Democratic majority leader in the California Senate.
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