Boebert Incident Shows You're Always Under Surveillance
Boebert Incident Shows You're Always Under Surveillance
The top story last week was Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert misbehaving in a theater. In case you somehow haven’t heard, a Denver theater kicked her out of a live performance of Beetlejuice for singing too loudly, recording, vaping, and fooling around with her boyfriend.
Yes, that was the top story. Nothing else of importance was going on.
Unfortunately for Boebert, she committed the worst of all offenses: a woman having fun in public.
The surface of the Boebert story is pure tabloid fodder, but there is a real story lurking underneath the lurid surface: every move you make is being watched and recorded for future use.
Who among us has not gotten a little handsy in a dark theater? Well, say goodbye to that because the cover of darkness is no protection these days. Every moment of Boebert’s silly escapades has been caught on film for all eternity: taking a pull off her vape, her boyfriend touching her chest. We even have footage of the couple departing the theater.
It’s incredible how we have wall-to-wall footage of Boebert acting like a teenager in public and no footage of Jeffrey Epstein hanging himself in a federal prison. Or whoever left cocaine in the White House. And still no Nashville shooter manifesto. Or Stephen Paddock’s motive. Or Ghislaine Maxwell’s client list. I guess a handful of people still have some measure of privacy.
As for the rest of us, Boebert’s troubles are a stark reminder that we live in a panopticon in which there is no room for indiscretion, spontaneous fun, or foolishness. The very joy of experience has been drained from American life because we live in a surveillance state.
I’m just glad I’m not a teenage boy dating in this twisted era. No wonder movie theaters are struggling.
But of course, it’s not just theaters. Your smartphone constantly tracks your location—as many January 6th participants can attest. Your smart TV tracks every interaction—my old Roku TV phoned home once a second. Why do you think TVs seem to be the only thing getting cheaper? And now most public venues and spaces are filled with CCTV cameras, sometimes even with infrared capabilities.
Don’t let them use your virtue against you
Is Boebert’s behavior unbecoming of a congressional representative? The late Senator Ted Kennedy, dubbed by the press as “The Lion of the Senate,” all but murdered a woman. Retired Representative Barney Frank, nearly equally revered in the mainstream, had a bordello operating from his home.
Yet, somehow, these men are considered two of the most respected political leaders of the past five decades. Years after their scandals had passed, Bill Clinton said they were on “the right side of history.” Of course, President Clinton was no stranger to lurid political scandals, even in 1996. In terms of unstatesmanlike behavior, Boebert acting like she’s Forever 21 at a silly show seems relatively minor compared to taking advantage of an intern.
Conservatives have been quick to denounce Boebert for her behavior.
But why? What do they hope to accomplish?
Repentance? They might have forced a public apology, but in my experience, berating people for their bad behavior only makes them double down.
Publicly signaling how virtuous they are? To whom?
To distance themselves? Why, so people who already hate them might hate them slightly less?
Of course, the left has been having a ball with this entire situation, and it only makes it more fun when “conservatives” rip each other apart. I hate to break it to you, but everyone on the left clutching their pearls over Boebert is full of it. They’re taking advantage of your virtue and good nature to trick you into helping take down an irritating political foe.
Many of the same people on the left acting stunned by Boebert’s behavior also have defended:
Ted Kennedy. See above.
Harvey Milk having a relationship with a 17-year-old boy when he was 33. In fact, a California school board member is currently under investigation for noticing this fact.
Megan Barry, the liberal former mayor of Nashville, cheating on her husband with an employee… in a graveyard.
The people attacking Boebert aren’t doing so out of virtue or moral outrage, but because it weakens their enemies. Namely: you. If this were one of their own engaging in the same behavior, they’d call her “empowered,” say she’s “living her truth,” or “she’s living her best life.”
That said, I’m not here to condone Boebert’s behavior. But what should the proper Christian response be?
Fake outrage
If you’re religious, let me ask you a question: Why are you worried about her behavior when you should be focused on your behavior?
After all, our leaders are a reflection of who we are as a people. If we want a better class of leadership, we must first be a better class of people.
I was tempted to lambaste Boebert for her behavior. At first. But I’ve been captivated recently by a quote from the late Fr. Seraphim Rose:
“Don't criticize or judge other people—regard everyone else as an angel, justify their mistakes and weaknesses, and condemn only yourself as the worst sinner. This is step one of any kind of spiritual life.”
Before I called out Boebert, I took a minute to stop and consider my sins. I have fooled around in theaters many times. When I vaped, I certainly did so in places I wasn’t supposed to, like airplanes and hospitals. I’ve recorded bits of live shows. I am certainly guilty of being too loud and singing poorly.
When we inevitably stumble, our enemies are quick to use our hypocrisy against us. We can—and should—promote virtue in the public sphere, but that should start first by acknowledging that we are deeply flawed in our own ways.
Instead of heaping more coals on Boebert’s head, pray for her, her soon-to-be ex-husband, and her four children.
And God forbid you act at all out of step in public. Because it’s not just God watching you now.
 | A guest post by
|
Boebert Incident Shows You're Always Under Surveillance
Oh, come on. Lauren Boebert‘s behavior is not “a girl having fun in public”. Not unless she was raised by wolves. Ms. Boebert is addicted to attention through her outrageous behavior, or perhaps she was on something. Or possibly both. At any rate, unfortunately, she exemplifies what’s wrong with GOP politicians in the Trump era: infantile, silly, irrelevant, clueless. If Mr. Centers believes Lauren Boebert‘s behavior is OK, I wouldn’t want to sit next to him in a theater production. Does he not have the wherewithal to call out bad behavior for what it is?