A great line, attributed to Paul Begala, is that “Politics is Hollywood for ugly people.”

It captures something profound about the essence of politics: self-absorbed people grubbing for money, power, and prestige while pretending to be paragons of virtue. Clout-chasing narcissists who deserve whatever humiliation that we can dish out to them.

Aside from the fact that politicians have far more power to destroy, the parallels are dramatic.

Hollywood has the virtue of providing entertainment value. Washington, unfortunately, does not.

At least that is true until Senator John Kennedy sits down in a hearing room. He is my new favorite Washington politician. He is fun to watch.

I’ve been watching Kennedy for a while now, but only peripherally. It’s not like I care deeply about random Senators, and I never expected that a Senator from Louisiana would provide sanity checks and entertainment value.

But the world is weird, and Kennedy is both a hoot and a breath of fresh air. He is a cleaner and smarter Ricky Gervais of the Senate. He dares to pop the inflated egos of the people who deserve it most. People who come before him in the Senate walk in looking very big indeed; when he is done with them what is left is a bit of deflated latex, shriveled and pathetic.

Sen. John Kennedy: “Judge, tell me what article V of the Constitution does?”

Biden Judicial nominee: “Article V is not coming to mind at the moment.”

Sen. John Kennedy: “How about article II?”

Biden Judicial Nominee: “Neither is Article II." pic.twitter.com/xR88LDhSPs

— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) January 26, 2023

Kennedy has been popping the egos of Biden’s judicial picks, revealing their utter ignorance of the law. Scary as that is, even those clips don’t compare to this one, in which Kennedy absolutely destroys the Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk.

Turk, if he had any shame or integrity, would have melted into a puddle of drool given how savage the questioning he endured.

Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk gives Senator John Kennedy the run around when he was asked specific questions that he should already know the answers to: “…Give me your best estimate… how soon do you think the United States of America would be carbon neutral?…you don’t… pic.twitter.com/lidgFn7X1i

— ꪻꫝể ꪻꫝể (@TheThe1776) May 4, 2023

Turk was testifying about the fierce urgency of now or some similar platitude regarding climate change, defending the Administration’s energy policies. It was all the normal, fluffy, insubstantial rhetoric about how doom is upon us but if we spend trillions on unicorn farts we will become richer, nicer, queerer, and live in a world that is perpetually 72 and sunny.

Kennedy, in just 5 minutes, showed what an idiot he is. He literally knows nothing about that which he speaks.

Not one damn thing.

What is so refreshing about Kennedy is that he doesn’t use his time to pontificate, and refuses to let the morons he confronts pontificate either.

Pontificating obscures. It is rhetoric unmarried to any reality. We hear about “climate crises,” “fundamentally reshaping our energy infrastructure,” and “arcs of history bending toward justice.”

Blah blah blah.

“What will it cost?” “What, precisely, are we buying?” “Have you a single clue about anything?”

Pretty words, scary words, or empty words are evanescent bits of vibrating air. Let’s get down to brass tacks, Kennedy insists.

Leftists rarely engage in anything as grubby as dealing with facts. The only facts they care about are how much money they can take from you and how much tyranny they can impose on you. Facts, legalities, freedoms…these are distractions from their mission to enrich themselves and ruin their enemies.

Some Leftists care more about money, others about power. Neither set cares about you.

Senator John Kennedy exposes that another Biden nominee for federal judge is an idiot. pic.twitter.com/JFbPLPxLBb

— D. Scott @eclipsethis2003 (@eclipsethis2003) March 23, 2023

Kennedy has a way of using his southern drawl to mesmerize his adversaries, who routinely underestimate the man. That is a mistake.

Kennedy graduated magna cum laude in political science, philosophy, and economics from Vanderbilt University, and is a lawyer. He clearly knows his business and is orders of magnitude smarter than the witnesses he eviscerates.

It is a thing of beauty to watch. He can, in 5 minutes or less, humiliate someone who needs to be humiliated.

Unfortunately, in politics, as in Hollywood, being revealed to be an utter clown and agent of evil is no barrier to advancement. In fact, it is a sure path to power and glory.

Meaning that for all the pleasure I get from watching Kennedy at work, the bad guys still win most of the time.