My December to Remember 3: Day Fourteen
News: House formalizes impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden.
Boston Mayor under fire for “Elected of Colors” Christmas party.
Jill Biden’s holiday White House video roasted for how weird it was.
Somebody stop me, please. I am a Karen of the most obnoxious capacity. But I can’t help it. These NYC politicians need to know how I feel. I pay their salary after all.
It all started with a little scrolling here and there on Twitter. One of the few Republican New York City Councilmembers called out the Finance Chair for cutting her off during a hearing, while cracking a joke as she tried to outline things that could actually balance the budget around here. I have no idea if what she’s suggesting would work, but it’s worth hearing out your colleague, even if they’re on the other side of the political aisle. Either way, she wrote out this long post on X, to which he responded to her with that meme that’s like, “I ain’t readin’ all that.” Now, the reason this ticked me off so much is that he used his official gray-check government account to go after his fellow Councilmember. I was absolutely stunned at the lack of candor and decency with what’s supposed to be an account for official government business. So what did I do? You guessed it. Played Karen and called his office right up.
“Yes, hello, I’m calling to complain about how the Councilman uses his official government X account.”
The woman on the other end sitting in his office was a little stymied by just what the hell she was listening to. “I’m sorry?”
I proceeded to tell her what I observed online and how unbecoming I found this behavior. “That grey-check account is for official government business. If he wants to be a jerk online, he can do it with his personal account. Why is he acting like this?” Like I was going to get an actual answer to that question. “I’d have to ask the Councilman,” was all she could say.
In her defense she was very nice and heard me out, and didn’t treat me like the nutso that I am. She said she’d talk to him and I could call back to ask how it went. “Well, if he laughs in your face, you’ll know where he stands.”
And that was the end of it. I have no plans to call back, and who knows if she’ll even bring it up to him. I ain’t gotta clue how any of that works. But if a guy like that is supposed to represent me, a New Yorker, do I not get a say in how he handles himself as a public office holder? If there’s no standards for those in charge, how can one feasibly expect a healthy society to follow?
I know how this looks. I know how solipsistic I can come off sometimes, thinking my ways are the only ways that make sense for everyone else. All I can tell you is there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. And I’m tired of the stunning hypocrisy from the crowd demanding decorum while not practicing it themselves.
There’s a certain kind of elegance I think that comes with the echelon of public service. You’re a living representation of those who elected you to be there. Why settle for such shoddy standards, putting everyone’s reputation at risk? The city is dirty, it’s completely broke, and highly unsafe. Yet we keep electing these people who in no way have made things better for all New Yorkers. Why even risk being known for failures instead of success stories? What’s it gonna take for a little recalibration around here, so we’re not constantly seen as one laughingstock after another?
All this nonsense I see just strengthens my own resolve to run for public office one day. Not to be in it for myself, but to actually see if I can bring about positive changes for my community. I can endure a lot of crap, but I don’t know how much lower our standards can sink. We’re being bought out and no one cares. They bilk us out of our taxpayer dollars just to give it to lame, pointless projects and illegal migrants. Someone has to stick a standards flag in the sand once again and say “no more.” Consider this my unofficial announcement that I’m running for a City Council seat in 2025. My catchphrase? Make New York Have Standards Again.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to watching Veep to see what not to do.
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