Time to Log Off is a weekly series documenting the many ways our political figures show their whole asses online.
Stop whatever it is you’re doing, and be silent. Just sit, and listen. Carefully, quietly ...
Did you hear it? That whisper on the wind? The three words on everyone’s lips this season. Say it with me now: “ ... supply chain issues ... ”
Yes, there’s a pandemic raging, and sure, there are violent political shenanigans afoot, but it’s the ongoing slowdown of the global shipping industry that’s got some conservatives all hot and bothered these days. Which, in transparent fairness, is a legitimate issue to raise: Stores with empty shelves and ports overcrowded with container ships unable to offload their wares are, indeed, a big problem as the country heads into the autumnal rush of holiday shopping.
What’s not so legitimate is blaming the Biden administration — and in particular, its “Build Back Better” spending agenda — as the lynchpin of this unimaginably complex network of private commercial businesses stuck desperately trying to shove as much stuff onto, and then off of, boats, trains, trucks, and planes, all of which are owned by other private businesses. Ultimately, there’s only so much the White House can do about the supply chain logjam. And, wouldn’t you know it, it’s already begun doing it!
Still, since when have conservatives in America let the constraints of reality dictate their talking points? For example, look no further than former Republican congressional nominee-turned-commentator and political strategist Kimberly Klacik, who leapt at the opportunity to stick it to mean ol’ Joe Biden for absolutely, definitely, unambiguously, causing the supply chain crisis all by himself.
Can you see the problem here?
How about now?
Last I checked, the United States still used American dollars for things like “perfectly blended” meat and veg. And oopsie, this pic of Biden’s apparently disastrous “Build Back Better” agenda actually came from the U.K. and was taken in March 2020. No wonder Klacik deleted the picture shortly after people began pointing out her goof. But that wasn’t the end of things, because wouldn’t you know it, when asked by PolitiFact about the tweet, she answered simply “Build Back Better is used in the U.K.” While technically correct, Klacik neglected to explain why she would use a picture from the last year of the Trump administration to criticize a British policy instituted nearly a year after the picture was taken. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Ultimately, of course Biden’s Build Back Better plan deserves scrutiny, and yes, the supply chain breakdown is a very real, very frustrating problem. But if the best you can do is reheat a year-and-a-half-old picture from across ye olde pond to make your point, then perhaps you should sit back, log off, and let more serious, thoughtful people take a swing at things. Besides, it sounds like Kim’s got other problems to worry about, anyway.
