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The Uninvited

Paul Jacob on a picnic, a pile-​on, and other p‑words.

There’s talk of proof that Iran now possesses a nuclear weapons capacity; Israel bombed the targets; war drums are beating — but for a short time yesterday, the news was all abuzz over the Trump Critic Snub.

The federal government’s official debt rushed to the $37 trillion mark — but Senator Rand Paul (R‑Ky.) took a few moments to shake his head over how he and his grandson were singled out by not being invited to the White House picnic.

“I just find it so incredibly petty,” Senator Paul said. “It’s really kind of sad that this is where we are.”

Politics is a petty business, too often, and this sure looked like one of those moments to upgrade the word with a capital P. Or with a T, for You-Know-Who.

Oddly, though, often it was the senator who was besmirched with the P word, not the prez!

“His complaint has sparked bipartisan mockery online,” explains Newsweek. “Vince Langman, a self-​described member of the MAGA movement, told his 381,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Rand Paul crying like a school girl because President Trump uninvited him from the White House picnic is the funniest thing I’ve seen on X in weeks.’”

I don’t know. Is it funnier than the Deep State admitting that it had been faking and fanning the flames of the UFO craze all along? 

Or blaming Senator Paul for noticing and not the White House for the actual snub?!?

The attack on Paul is dumb: the Kentucky senator has always been an equal opportunity critic.

Thankfully, Rand Paul and his grandson — and, presumably, Rep. Thomas Massie, another Big Beautiful Bill critic — are back on the picnic list.

Maybe they can hold a moment in silence, amidst the fun, as the debt hits $37 trillion.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.


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3 replies on “The Uninvited”

From the perspectives of the left, of traditionalists, and of right-​wing populists, libertarians and libertarian-​conservatives are the very most disagreeable people, because they are the true continuation of the liberal tradition. The left often wants to cosplay as liberal; and traditionalists and right-​wing populists want to cosplay as the defenders of the values that drove the American revolution; but the libertarians and the liber-​cons are the real deal.

So, yeah, the MAGA populists and the “progressives” are thrilled to have a seemingly plausible excuse to sneer at Rand Paul.

Isn’t Senator Paul a little petty himself? How many of his constituents have more important matters for him to deal with? Not going to the White House picnic is all he can think about?

The meta-​issue here is the insulation of the White House from dissent, and the issue over which dissent here is not being tolerated is the mushrooming of the Federal deficit. Neither the issue nor the meta-​issue are petty matters.

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