By Ray Cardello for September 20, 2025, Season 32 / Post 42

The three men I referenced in today’s title are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Democrats, or, more specifically, Progressives performing poorly in committee hearings. They prefer to project a false aura of competence. Still, they usually get eaten alive by a Republican who is testifying and surgically dismantling the Liberal panelist with the help of the facts. Facts are not the friends of the Progressive, for, regardless of the topic, the Republican will have the facts and the Progressive the feelings.

The one thing these Progressives have in common, and I will include Sandy Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib in the group, is that they are all looking for soundbites for their social media pages and campaign fundraising. Each of these politicians took on FBI Director Kash Patel this week, and it did not go well for any of them. Each interaction evolved into a shouting match, with Patel usually getting in the last word.

These hearings are supposed to be fact-finding, but they usually turn into personal attacks against the person testifying, sometimes even including requests for the resignation of the administration member. These interactions are unprofessional, childish, distracting, and in the case of Adam Schiff, downright hypocritical. Here is a senator passing judgment on an individual while he should be answering questions about his own actions, which, in the case of Schiff, are illegal or at least violations of Congress’s ethics.

The tone and content of each argument is that the witness is incompetent and the pawn of an autocratic, dictator, wannabe king, and, of course, a Fascist. The words are being so overused that they have no meaning any longer, and the sole purpose of using them is to trigger the Democrat base. Unfortunately, the triggering sometimes leads to violence, as in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

The use of these slurs extends beyond politicians, as seen this week with the release of a new book written by Randi Weingarten, president of the nation’s largest teachers’ union. The title is ‘Why Fascists Fear Teachers,’
and the former member of the DNC lays out her case on why the Republicans are attacking the education process, which she claims is an essential ingredient in our democracy.

Hillary Clinton was quick to jump on the Weingarten bandwagon and quickly endorsed the book as a must-read. “Congratulations to my friend [Weingarten] on ‘Why Fascists Fear Teachers.’ From banning books to controlling curriculum, authoritarians go after public education because it’s a cornerstone of democracy,” Clinton posted on Wednesday, along with a picture of Weingarten holding the book. 

Trump gave these Democrats a perfect backdrop to their charades as he was in England on his historic second state visit with the Royal Family. Trump was treated like a king, and the level of pomp and circumstance was unparalleled, including a lavish state dinner for over 150 guests. It would be a much better and more unified country if the Democrats gave Trump half as much respect as he is currently receiving from leaders around the globe.