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Far-left bullies resort to harassing, shaming Kyrsten Sinema — it won’t work

by Joe Concha, Opinion Contributor - 10/05/21 9:30 AM ET
by Joe Concha, Opinion Contributor - 10/05/21 9:30 AM ET
Sen. Kirsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) arrives to the Senate Chamber for a vote regarding a nomination on Wednesday, September 29, 2021.
Greg Nash

She’s a 2021 version of an Arizona maverick. But this version isn’t receiving the media love that the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) did when he bucked his own party.  

In fact, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is receiving the opposite kind of coverage, all for having the audacity to be one of two Democratic senators to object to the far-left elements of their party in opposing its $3.5 trillion spending bill (really, $5.5 trillion, after stripping away the budget-accounting gimmicks) that would result in the largest expansion of U.S. government in history.

This includes $79 billion (with a B) for the IRS to expand tax enforcement, $3 billion for a tree-planting program that increases “tree equity,” a billion for an “electric vehicle charging equity program,” $7.5 billion for the launch of the “Civilian Climate Corps,” $7 billion to the Postal Service to convert all vehicles to electric power, billions upon billions more for free community college, Medicare expansion, universal pre-kindergarten and free family leave.  

It’s the Porky Pig of spending bills, which some Democratic leaders insist will cost almost all individual taxpayers “zero dollars.” The Washington Post called that claim “mythical” and “misleading.”

 

Sinema, along with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), promised to vote against the bill if it was passed by the House of Representatives. That never happened, of course, and now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has set a fourth deadline for a House vote to happen, this time on Halloween. (Note: The civil war between “the Squad” wing of the Democratic Party and moderates is very real. But when watching most of the news coverage, one would think Sinema was a one-woman wrecking crew thwarting the bill while destroying her party’s chances in 2022 to maintain its present razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate.) 

The Washington Post, for example, turned to the deep political mind that is singer-songwriter John Legend to weigh in on the troublesome senators: 

 

Bloomberg News and other outlets thought it was a great idea to share a video of Sinema being harassed while trying to use a bathroom on the campus of Arizona State University, where she teaches a course. Filming someone in a bathroom in Arizona is a Class 5 felony, but check out the passive framing below: 

  

Just imagine what the coverage would look and sound like if, say, pro-life activists followed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) into a bathroom at New York University and harassed her. Without doubt, we would be hearing about emotional scarring thanks to the crazies and the threat to our lawmakers being a crisis that needed to be addressed immediately. 

In contrast, nothing will happen in Sinema’s case, of course. In fact, the person who filmed Sinema illegally went to Facebook to brag about it, which may encourage others to do the same or possibly worse every time Sinema appears in public. Facebook, which would have pulled down this post in about 3 seconds if a progressive member of Congress had been harassed in the same manner, is allowing the video to stay up, as is Twitter. Talk about comically selective “enforcement” of their own rules.

So, will this strategy work?  

If recent history tells us anything, the answer is “No.” If anything, it forces those being harassed to dig in more. In several not-so-distant instances, “protesters,” as they’re politely referred to, were calling for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to be abolished. At last check, ICE is still very much alive: 

 

And from the looks of things, Sinema is hardening her position against additional mass spending.  

In a scathing statement over the weekend, Sinema slammed Pelosi’s decision to delay a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill she supports, referring to it as an “ineffective stunt to gain leverage over a separate proposal.”

No matter. The pressure will continue from activists and some quarters of the media. 

Yup: Getting lampooned on “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) will certainly change hearts and minds. (In a related story, ratings for the “SNL” premiere last Saturday were down 35 percent in total viewers from last year’s opener, and down 53 percent among young adults.)

 

Kyrsten Sinema is the Tonya Harding of the political scene, according to those to her left. But all the threats and bullying and gimmicks in the world aren’t likely to change her position. 

The president, vice president and House speaker should be condemning the actions of those trying to change her mind through such intimidation. But, so far, little to no public defense has been offered to Sinema. 

“I don’t think they’re appropriate tactics, but it happens to everybody,” President Biden said matter-of-factly on Monday in answering a reporter’s question about the harassment. “The only people it doesn’t happen to are the people who have Secret Service standing around them… So, it’s part of the process.” 

Chasing a lawmaker into the ladies’ room with a camera and recording it is not “part of the process.” The president had an opportunity to bring down the temperature, to unify, and once again he found a way to show that what he campaigned on was just words. 

It wasn’t that long ago that bucking your party meant being given icon status, as witnessed by the media’s treatment of John McCain (when he wasn’t running against Barack Obama). 

Kyrsten Sinema is doing the same, but against what the left deems as the wrong team. And for not conforming, she’s going to hear about it — from the Squad, many in political media and late-night “comedians.” 

Joe Concha is a media and politics columnist for The Hill.

Tags $3.5 trillion Democratic spending package Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Barack Obama bipartisan infrastrcure framework Joe Biden Joe Manchin John McCain Kirstjen Nielsen Kyrsten Sinema Mitch McConnell Nancy Pelosi Stephen Miller the squad

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