Thank you, Pete Buttigieg. And thank you, Democrats.
Regular readers of this column may find it odd that I’m personally thanking senile president Joe Biden’s Transportation secretary for anything. Ever since the mayor of a medium-sized midwestern city threw his hat into the ring to run for the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination, I’ve done nothing but criticize the political lightweight’s chances of obtaining such a lofty position with a resume that isn’t exactly heavy on experience.
Further, in examining the demographic qualities that might make Pete a star in voters’ eyes, there aren’t any. He’s as white as the first Indiana snowfall of the season, which isn’t a benefit in a party obsessed with skin color and overturning every possible rock that hints of ethnic connection. Heck, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren made a career out of telling anyone who would listen -- including employment application assessors -- that she’s a Native American.
But what about Pete Butt? He doesn’t claim to be a minority. And he isn’t particularly alluring -- at least not in the prototypical political realm. Pete’s kind of short (he says he’s 5’9”, but most sources list his height at 5’8”) and not well-built in an athletic sense. Buttigieg did serve in the military and he’s supposedly really, really smart (Harvard degree and a Rhodes scholarship), but Democrat voters couldn’t care less about one’s educational pedigree. If you don’t believe it, reexamine senile Joe Biden’s school history and the direct evidence of cheating and plagiarism.
Running out of descriptive terms, Buttigieg’s strategy for attracting attention was to pound his sexual orientation! That’s right! “Mayor Pete”, as he’s commonly referred to, has a husband! His hubby’s name is Chasten! They’re such a cute couple, aren’t they? How trendy does it get?
To the average Democrat, being liberal and gay is apparently sufficient to qualify one not only for high office, but to be the leader of the free world! As Democrat pollsters disposed of 2020 contenders during their primary vetting process (brainless privileged dolt “Beto” O’Rourke was one of the first to drop out, then there was Kamala Harris, who hung up her heels two months before the first vote was cast), Buttigieg not only survived, he prospered. Pete’s apex came at the Iowa caucuses, where he edged out Bernie Sanders (who was more than twice his age) to win the state.
Feigning to care about party unity, Pete Butt didn’t hang on past his shelf life (pardon the double meaning). Buttigieg bowed out and joined the others in getting behind senile Joe’s last-option candidacy. And the always loyal Biden rewarded Pete with a cabinet position -- head of the Department of Transportation. One of the reasons Buttigieg cited for being a good fit for the job was that he’s always liked trains (toy and otherwise).
Those trains aren’t running on schedule these days, which has led to a massive supply chain clog. The railroad tracks aren’t being used and neither are the dreaded, diesel-fuel burning and carbon dioxide belching semi-trucks, which means consumer goods aren’t moving to where they’re needed. And there are 100 cargo ships docked off of southern California shores.
This is the time when leadership is required to step-in, size-up the shortages and act.
Where was “Mayor Pete” when all this was going on? He’s been on paternity leave. Or is it maternity leave? You never can say for sure with all the gender confusion these days. Democrats can’t even specify. Absentee Buttigieg and spouse Chasten adopted twins a couple months ago. And Pete took generous advantage of a government employee’s paid federal family leave to help his guy soulmate care for the youngins, too.
Buttigieg thinks it’s a great policy. Susan Jones reported at CNS News the other day:
“Buttigieg is just getting back to work after two months of unannounced paternity leave, a time when supply chain bottlenecks worsened at the nation’s ports...
“... [Buttigieg elaborated] I view this as something, or I wish, at least, that this was something the Republicans could join Democrats in calling for. Look, paid family leave is important. It's important as a matter of family values. It's important to our economy.
“And one more thing that I think is maybe underappreciated. When somebody welcomes a new child into their family and goes on leave to take care of that child, that's not a vacation. It's work. It's joyful, wonderful, fulfilling work, but it is work. And it's time that our nation join pretty much every other country in the world and recognize that.”
News flash, Pete: Anyone with a brain and experience with babies and children understands that it’s hard work to raise them. Where rational people diverge is whether the federal government should subsidize time off to change diapers and bottle feed (breast feeding wouldn’t apply to Buttigieg, would it?). You nap when the little one sleeps. Take a drive to get him or her to sleep, then outlaw loud noises in your household. It’s a tough task, but it’s not rocket science. Little babies sleep a lot.
So why am I thanking Pete then? Inadvertently he’s exposed the fallacy of and undermined the Democrats’ welfare myth, which prominently includes “family leave”. It must be a focus-group approved term which essentially constitutes a mandate on employers to pay moms and dads while the latter chills at home, pitches in with the baby (or babies, in Pete’s case) and watches a lot of daytime TV in a sleep deprived state.
Or to work from home, as was my family’s case. My wife was between jobs when our third child was born. Eight days after she gave birth she interviewed for a new job. Three weeks to the day after laboring was her first with her new employer. Paid family leave? Heck no. She didn’t have a job to qualify for it. And I took care of the newborn and our other two school-aged kids in her absence. And worked on my assignments. It was very, very, hard. But we did it.
The message? Get married. Two parents are better than one. Don’t let feminists and liberals insist otherwise.
As a side note, it was arduous -- and unsuccessful -- to get employers’ serious consideration when my wife interviewed late in her pregnancy. It’s no coincidence why she had much better success when the outward signs of pregnancy were no longer visible. That’s a story for another time, but we would never want the government to require employers to be compelled to do anything, much less ignore pregnancy in a hiring decision.
At any rate, one can only imagine what the conversation was like when Pete called Joe to let the boss know that his Transportation Secretary wasn’t going to be around for a couple months.
Buttigieg: “Hey, Joe, it’s me, Pete Butt. Me ‘n my homey Chasten just qualified for a couple babies to adopt, so I’m going to be taking my federal paid leave to take care of the family stuff and I’ll check in periodically to see how things are going with you and the Trans department. Got any problem with it? If you do, I’m gonna tell Congress on you!”
Biden: “Awesome, bro! If you haven’t named ‘em already, how about calling him, her or xe, Hunter? It worked out great for me n’ Jill! Oh wait, I was married before Jill. Scratch that. Anyway, congrats on the kids and don’t worry ‘bout the job. Everything’s humming these days in my economy and we never have to worry about people not working or Afghanistan or inflation or labor shortages or workforce participation or any of that numbers-filled garbage economists talk about. In Joe Biden’s America, we just want to pay for everything on the taxpayers’ dime.
“So, I’m curious -- who’s the mommy and who’s the daddy in your family? Chasten? Kind of sounds feminine to me. Oh well, doesn’t matter. See ya when ya get back! Give a kiss to your husband for me!”
Unfortunately, Pete Buttigieg’s dereliction of duty isn’t a laughing matter for the American public. There aren’t a whole lot of constitutionally enumerated “essential” functions for the federal government, but regulating commerce between the states and foreign nations is one of them. It’s hard to do that when your official Transportation leader is hanging out at his pad negotiating with his same-sex husband to determine which one takes the babies’ overnight feeding session.
Dozens of container ships are anchored offshore outside of America’s major ports and Pete Butt thinks it’s a great thing he wasn’t around to see that his employment obligations were fulfilled. Pete credited his deputy secretary (Polly Trottenberg) with filling in for him during his time off, and said she did a “phenomenal” job in doing so! Americans staring at empty store shelves might disagree.
For well over four centuries, American couples and families have taken care of their own -- and this includes non-traditional families -- without the government paying them a dime. People manage their own lives and make sacrifices, which brings satisfaction and a sense of responsibility in the doing. Community, too. In my family’s particular case, church members pitched in to help with supplying additional necessities and emotional support.
Pete Buttigieg’s “family leave” exposes the utter ridiculous nature of universal welfare, which certainly includes paid time off for “husbands” to care for newborn babies. The Democrats’ $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” bill is packed full of waste of this type. Thanks to the Transportation secretary, however, the issue has reached the forefront.
Pete Buttigieg
Paid Federal Leave
Family leave
Department of Transportation
Empty store shelves
Los Angeles harbor
gas prices
climate change
Joe Biden administration
Donald Trump