Last year, I had the opportunity to hear Vivek Ramaswamy give a speech about ESG. No one knows the subject better, and he did a yeoman's job of tying together all of the various threads to illustrate just how diabolical ESG is and how it benefits America's elites and enemies alike.
He was knowledgeable and personable. He took the time to engage in a Q&A with the audience, and I even got the chance to exchange a few comments with him after the event. So I was mildly optimistic when he announced his presidential run. He is a young man with fresh ideas who understands business. Granted, I find his stance on Taiwan disturbing, but that's why we have debates — to explore ideas, even those we might consider sketchy.
Of course, as time went on, Ramaswamy became less appealing to many in the electorate. He has often come off as brash, obnoxious, and thoughtless. And he has had no compunctions about expressing his feelings about Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Ronna McDaniel, or the mainstream media. And he apparently has no idea how to turn off a wireless mic during, shall we say, private moments.
His demeanor has earned him a fairly large number of detractors. But whatever you may think of him, Ramaswamy is willing to tackle the things that are in the back or even in the front of the minds of many Americans. He's not afraid to "go there," and there is no doubt that our government engages in activities that would have been a surprise to many just ten years ago.
During his current swing through Iowa, Ramaswamy recently locked horns with CNN's Abby Phillip. Phillip has made a career for herself as a leftwing journalist, which was made abundantly clear in the exchange below.
Throughout the entire sorry episode, which lasted for just over five minutes, I kept muttering, "For God's sake, will you let the man finish a sentence?" That complaint alternated with, "Phillip, be a reporter for once. For just once, try to get to the heart of what someone is saying." That, of course, was a fool's hope.
Phillip has no interest in other ideas, or for that matter, the truth. Well, she is interested in her truth or whatever truth she has been told to peddle. But the notion of exploring or even merely entertaining an idea that might run contrary to the approved narrative is heresy and anathema for Phillip and those like her. Perhaps she is under a strict directive from the network to reinforce leftist ideas to the point that she details an entire conversation. It's possible, I suppose.
But commensurate with that, she is also likely aware that doubling down on rhetoric could be a means to a more lucrative career in the future. Phillip likely believes what she is saying either because the various doctrines of the state have been drummed into her head since high school or because one must be a true believer if one is to succeed in the newly emerging state of Oceania.
The ability to question authority, a narrative, or even a belief is central not just to a successful republic but to human flourishing. Phillip's desperate attempt to talk over Ramaswamy in order to conquer him with a flood of words and boost a viewpoint is depressing, even after such tactics have come to be accepted as a standard operating procedure of the media. And one can even muster a shred of pity for Phillip, who can no longer call herself a journalist if indeed she ever was one. She has every right to be skeptical of Ramaswamy's claims, but she cannot summon enough integrity to question those of her own party.
Even if one would like to believe that the fingerprints of the deep state are all over J6 or the Whitmer kidnapping case, there is enough smoke to indicate that there is a fire somewhere. And even if one does not believe that Ramaswamy is presidential timber, we still need people like him to ask the uncomfortable questions and to "go there."
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