The line emerged on Friday as Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) attempted to defend the cuts before angry constituents during a contentious town hall. It was delivered with a smirk, and then, apparent impatience. “For heaven’s sakes, folks,” she said as the audience gasped.
It is true: Every one of us will indeed perish. But implicit in Ernst’s cavalier response on Friday is that the inevitability of death neutralizes how death comes for us. Jeopardizing health care for the most vulnerable? Why the hell not. Speeding up death for the oldest Americans by making them sicker? Well, we all are going to die.
I think that’s what’s known as a Kinsley Gaffe — when a politician accidentally says what they really believe. That attitude is typical among the MAGA types.
She’s not alone in the cruelty Olympics today:
I think Elon expressed it best:
The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy. The empathy exploit. They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.
I suspect the Stephen Miller types, the fully formed Nazi style fascists, actually believe that we need to cull the herd.
Joni Erst is actually a bit vulnerable in 2026. Let’s hope the Democrats there can make sure everyone sees this clip a thousand times.