In defense of Lauren Boebert

That’s an enormously slippery slope. If Lauren Boebert can be punished by Democrats for trafficking “in anti-Muslim and racist tropes that make all Muslims across the country less safe,” then what ideas and language will Republicans decide to punish when they are in the majority again? Will the entire Democratic caucus be stripped of their committee assignments because they are “advocating genocide and the murder of unborn babies?” I want to say the answer is “no,” but I honestly can’t be sure. However I am sure that once the boot is on the other foot, Republicans will find some excuse to use that boot to kick several Democrats off their own committees.

I want to be absolutely clear: Lauren Boebert is an idiot. That she was elected to Congress is a national embarrassment. But the fact remains that she was elected to Congress and punishing her for her political views, no matter how noxious, has serious implications for American democracy.

The check on a congressional member’s political ideas, even if they are “encouraging bigotry and hatred” is the ballot box, not the moral outrage of the majority. If those views aren’t representative of their constituents’ views, then the offender will lose her seat. (Kevin McCarthy might have taken away Republican and white nationalist Steve King’s committee assignments, but it was Iowa voters who sent him packing.)