Nancy Pelosi: A Modern Day Marie Antoinette
By Caroline Downey
Monday, August 31st, was a bad hair day for Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. After video footage leaked featuring a mask-less Pelosi receiving private service at a shut-down San Francisco beauty parlor, Madame Speaker found herself entangled in a scandal. In a Marie Antoinette moment now coined “Salongate”, Pelosi strutted through the hair salon without a face covering, contradicting her many reprimands to Americans to “listen to the science” and comply with COVID-19 restrictions. While Pelosi’s hypocritical haircut was a textbook example of “Do as I Say Not as I Do”, one thing’s for sure: the silent majority won’t let Nancy live this down.
Americans are far too familiar with political elitism. Former Democratic New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg famously boasts a robust security team, while the plebeians confront constant attacks on their second amendment rights. Just as Bloomberg lobbies for gun control while protected by armed guards, Pelosi pushes policies that keep small businesses closed while enjoying an exclusive, and technically illegal, appointment at a salon struggling to survive under the harsh regulations. While Nancy lectures from her ivory tower on Capitol Hill, demanding a stop to business activities, many Americans watch their employment and livelihoods disappear. This isn’t the first time Ms. Pelosi has sneered at the poor. Back in 2018, Pelosi dismissed the $1,000 bonuses that companies awarded to employees in response to the GOP tax cuts as mere “crumbs.” If you don’t happen to be residing in affluence in San Francisco, $1,000 goes a long way. But comprehending that would require being in touch with the American working class.
Pelosi has lambasted Trump in the past for not wearing a mask, yet she failed to practice her own preaching when she thought the public wasn’t watching. At the time of Nancy’s haircut, indoor salon service was also banned in San Francisco. While she claims ignorance and that she was “set up” by the salon, her refusal to accept responsibility reflects very poorly on her. Given that the salon is located in her home district and that she’s been steeped in the political swamp for 40 years, we all know she knew better. For all her tweets about how “no one is above the law,” Nancy, your privilege is showing.
Like the peasants who stormed the Versailles palace during the 1789 French revolution, disgruntled locals and salon customers took to the streets last Thursday and aired their grievances via a demonstration fit for a meme, today’s preferred social commentary medium. When Nancy Pelosi said “Let Them Eat Cake,” protesters congregated at her San Francisco home, stringing none other than blow dryers and hair curlers in the trees outside the residence. Back when Trump hosted a large audience at the Republican National Convention, Pelosi bemoaned that he “slapped science right in the face.” But it appears that Nancy’s neglected constituents felt a much more bitter, personal sting.
One participant at the anti-Pelosi event commented, “What she has done is slap the face of not just a salon owner but every woman, every man, every person who’s unemployed in the state of California who has lost their jobs and lost their livelihoods, many of whom are my friends.” Like France’s decadent former lady monarch, Pelosi exhibited a remarkable tone-deafness for the plight of the American worker.
Beyond Pelosi’s double standards, the incident also exposed the flawed logic behind the strict pandemic regulations on business operations. eSalon owner Erica Kious said, “It’s the fact she came in and didn’t have a mask on. If she is in there comfortably then why are we shut down?” Virtue signalers on the internet constantly remind us that the pandemic is not political and that we should stop trying to make it so. But Americans are fed up with protected classes receiving special treatment while the rest of the country suffers. When Nancy Pelosi can stomp on public health codes and local ordinances while America shuts down because of those very mandates, people take note. When Democratic politicians condone mob rioting in massive crowds but forbid people of faith from attending church and family members from visiting the hospital, people ask questions.
Fortunately for Nancy Pelosi, she’s unlikely to face the same grim fate that Marie Antoinette experienced. Understandably, the Americans who Nancy left out to dry will take their complaints to the ballot box... in person.
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