Natty Old Nancy's Blowout Could Lead to a Blowout Election | Opinion

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given us a unique opportunity to 
perfectly understand the modern Democrats' belief in 
aristocratic superiority.

Her recent hypocrisy in going to her hair salon, which was 
supposed to be shut down due to San Francisco's stringent (and 
Pelosi-supported) COVID-19 rules, is just one more example of 
Democratic members of the political aristocracy believing they 
are superior to citizens (the opposite of the Founding premise 
of America).

The American people have long resented the hypocrisy and 
arrogance by which a political aristocracy believes one set of 
rules applies to the public and a totally different set of rules 
applies to its interests and its family members.

We knew that this double standard deeply offended most Americans 
in 1994, and that is why the first commitment of the Contract 
with America was to "require all laws that apply to the rest of 
the country also apply equally to the Congress."

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In a year when the political aristocrats have been imposing 
ruthless rules on the rest of us, there have been numerous 
examples of these same politicians breaking the rules—or 
allowing their family members to break them.

Speaker Pelosi's hair salon visit may be one of those rare 
sparks that sets off a huge fire.

The outrage that the salon owner, Erica Kious, felt at being 
closed for months and then having Pelosi blatantly break the 
rules led to a video ambush that will become one of the major 
events of 2020.

Of course, Pelosi is trying to deflect the focus from her 
hypocrisy by claiming that she was "set up." Now—in addition to 
struggling to keep her business open due to the 
restrictions—Kious has been receiving death threats from 
Pelosi's radical mob. Even CNN's Don Lemon has called out Pelosi 
for her "set up" claim.

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The arrogance of Pelosi's rule-breaking is understandable to 
every person who gets a haircut—and every small business owner 
who is facing bankruptcy because of cumbersome, overbearing 
rules imposed by the political class.

This same arrogance is being exercised across the country by 
other political elites.

In addition to Pelosi, we've seen other Democratic leaders 
ignore or exempt themselves from onerous pandemic rules.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered 19 Central 
Valley counties to disallow indoor operations at restaurants, 
wineries and a host of other businesses. Curiously, he did not 
include Madera County, where he and his wife own stock in a 
winery consortium, despite it bordering several other counties 
on the list. His winery only closed after Newsom's hypocrisy and 
arrogance were called out.

As most of his constituents in Arizona were quarantined and 
advised to stay home—and after Democrats pushed to allow remote 
voting in Congress because they said travel was too 
dangerous—Congressman Greg Stanton traveled with his family to 
Utah to vacation. He even called into a House Transportation 
Committee hearing while he was on a boat. The message was clear: 
Regular Americans are supposed to remain locked down in their 
homes, but members of Congress get to go on vacation.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney disallowed indoor dining in the 
city he runs, but he was fine traveling to Maryland to have a 
meal inside. Americans stay home. Aristocrats dine out.

As millions of Americans have been forced to forego traditional, 
in-person funerals for their loved ones, more than 50 members of 
the political elite (including Pelosi, numerous members of 
Congress and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser) attended the 
large indoor funeral for the late Rep. John Lewis of Georgia—and 
Bowser exempted attendees from D.C.'s quarantine travel rules 
afterward. Again, normal Americans have to limit their grieving 
rites. The political elite do not.

Normal New Yorkers are told they must limit social interactions 
and public activities, while Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio 
goes to the gym.

After lecturing Virginians to wear masks everywhere they go, 
Gov. Ralph Northam strolls the Virginia Beach boardwalk taking 
unmasked selfies with his supporters. Again, do as we say—not as 
we do.

But this hypocrisy goes beyond coronavirus rules.

As violence, looting and riots pour through Chicago, Mayor Lori 
Lightfoot ordered a police detail to her neighborhood to protect 
her home and her family. In addition to this, she banned 
protests outside her home. Everyday Chicagoans have to cope with 
violence and a gutted police department. Lightfoot does not.

Similarly, Minneapolis Councilmembers Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe 
Cunningham and Alondra Cano all started receiving taxpayer-
funded private security ($63,000-worth) after violence broke out 
in their city. They all support defunding the city's police 
department. The same goes for anti-police Los Angeles City 
Council President Nury Martinez. She had two L.A. police 
officers as personal security for herself and her home for two 
months, while at the same time calling to defund the department.

So, the political class deserves security, while normal citizens 
do not.

Finally, a host of members of the political aristocracy oppose 
school choice for normal Americans but send their own children 
to expensive private schools.

Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and many other Senate 
Democrats derided and mocked U.S. Education Secretary Betsy 
DeVos for supporting school choice programs during her 
confirmation hearings. Meanwhile, Whitehouse himself and his 
children attended elite private boarding schools. In his own 
words, Whitehouse chose to send his kids to private schools to 
offer "the best education that I can for them, and I felt that, 
in their circumstances, the places that I chose to send them 
were the best schools for them." Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) also 
opposed DeVos and school choice, yet sent his children to elite 
private schools.

These examples of aristocratic arrogance are exactly what 
President Donald Trump was referencing during his nomination 
speech at the Republican National Convention:

"[Biden] takes his marching orders from liberal hypocrites who 
drive their cities into the ground while fleeing far from the 
scene of the wreckage. These same liberals want to eliminate 
school choice while they enroll their children in the finest 
private schools in the land. They want to open our borders while 
living in walled-off compounds and communities in the best 
neighborhoods in the world. They want to defund the police while 
they have armed guards for themselves."

These double standards should form the basis for a privileged 
resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives. It should state 
that Pelosi's breaking the rules brought dishonor on the U.S. 
House.

Vice President Joe Biden should be challenged to condemn 
Pelosi's violation (by the way, his children went to a private 
school while he also opposes choice for the rest of us). And 
every Democratic House and Senate candidate should be challenged 
on whether they approve of Pelosi and others' aristocratic rule-
breaking and arrogance.

This could have a profound impact on federal, state and local 
elections across the country this November. It can also force 
governments in Democratic-run states to realign and return to 
working for the People, not the political class.

To read, hear and watch more of Newt's commentary, visit 
Gingrich360.com.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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