Ingraham: Dems' getaway from governing
Democratic lawmakers travel to Puerto Rico amid shutdown to go to the beach, watch 'Hamilton.'
While the president remained in Washington over the weekend, ready and willing to do a deal with Democrats to reopen the government, Nancy Pelosi and her crew left town. Oh, they talked a good game.
As I always say, forget what they say, look at what they do. As Democratic leaders adjourned the House on Friday, more than 30 Democratic members and their families needed to catch a chartered flight bound for the sunny shores of Puerto Rico. While 800,000 government workers remain on furlough, these very "concerned Democrats" were living the high life at a beach resort in San Juan.
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Very nice.The trip came courtesy of 109 lobbyists from companies Facebook, Amazon, various unions, and Microsoft — you know, the little people. It was part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Bold PAC retreat. The Democrats were purportedly there to survey the damage of Hurricane Maria and talk with union groups (remember that tidbit).
Senator Robert Menendez took a personal interest in the local recovery efforts as he soaked up sun on the beach. It looks like instead of helping the hurricane victims, he's helping himself to a hurricane on the rocks.
Let’s face it, this is a liberal PAC junket, paid for by lobbyists so that congressmen and senators can frolic in the tropics with celebrities. Yes, the big congressional getaway fell on the same weekend as Lin Manuel Miranda - Broadway megastar Lin Manuel Miranda - brought his Tony Award-Winning musical "Hamilton" to the Island with the original cast. Imagine the luck.
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The media has been tripping over themselves praising Miranda for his tireless efforts to bring Hamilton to Puerto Rico as a fundraiser to support the arts on the island. The plan was to perform the musical for three weeks at Universidad de Puerto Rico theater - the Theater at the University of Puerto Rico. There's an interesting backstory here that got lost in the coverage. It's the alma mater of Lin Manuel’s father. The Miranda family charity raised a million dollars to restore and upgrade the storm-ravaged theater.
However, this led to a shutdown of a different sort. It turns out the University of Puerto Rico is roiled by union protests. One of those unions sent a letter to Miranda’s father that said there are real problems at the University of Puerto Rico and warned that "bad things" and protests can happen around the three-week production of "Hamilton."
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Now, Lin Manuel Miranda has been all for protests. He and his family have long supported leftwing causes, and he has even mined his Hamilton score for protest songs. The New York Times quoted some students at the University of Puerto Rico who were less than thrilled that Hamilton would be coming to campus. One said, "The only artists and people that benefit from ‘Hamilton’ are the elite, white North American settlers, the rich bourgeoise and those who actively participate and aspire to become oppressors….As a Latin person, he should be more conscious of who Hamilton was - he’s glorifying a person that represents oppression. He could have made a show about Harriet Tubman."
Let’s face it, this is a liberal PAC junket, paid for by lobbyists so that congressmen and senators can frolic in the tropics with celebrities. Yes, the big congressional getaway fell on the same weekend as Lin Manuel Miranda - Broadway megastar Lin Manuel Miranda - brought his Tony Award-Winning musical "Hamilton" to the Island with the original cast. Imagine the luck.
Well, In addition to the union groups, students were also threatening to protest the production on campus. So how did Mister "They Are Not Taking Away My Shot" react in the face of the leftist threats? He caved to the pressure and moved the production to an arts center — off campus.
Miranda gave into mob rule. He also missed a huge opportunity — with the world press looking on -- to challenge and educate the illiberal forces undermining free speech on campus. If these college nuts are emboldened enough to go after their favorite son who just gave them a million bucks to rebuild their theater, what can other performers expect? And Lin, what would Hamilton have done?
Miranda never looked back. The whole controversy — and the entire episode and capitulation to these leftist kooks — was lost in a swirl of celebrity and glamour, just the way the left likes it.
Oh, and some of those 30-plus visiting Democrats were right there applauding along Sunday night. The poor babies had to buy their own "Hamilton" tickets, according to reports. But don't worry, they got to attend an after party with the cast for free, courtesy of the Latino Victory, a liberal PAC.
The elites always stick together. I’ll bet they thought they were in the "Room Where It Happened"...even if they weren’t.
Adapted from Laura Ingraham's monologue from "The Ingraham Angle" on January 14, 2019.
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