And now, presenting Congress member Judy Chu
Democrat Judy Chu is the US House member from California’s 28th District. The other day she was quizzing Bessent and an exchange ensued about whether Trump cares about the American economy as opposed to the Iran War. As part of the back-and-forth, Bessent was making a reference to Woodrow Wilson’s entering WWI, and asked her the following question and got the following answer:
Cultural illiteracy.
Not knowing anything about Chu other than what I said above, I assumed that perhaps she hadn’t been educated in the US, which might account for the lacuna in her knowledge of history. But I discovered that she was born, raise, and educated in this country, and that her father was a WWII veteran:
Chu was born in Los Angeles as the second of four children to May Lin and Judson Chu. Judson was born in Chico, California, to Chinese parents from Jiangmen, Guangdong and served during World War II in the 10th Army Corps in Okinawa. He brought over his wife May from his ancestral home in Xinhui County as a war bride in 1948.
Chu grew up in South Los Angeles, near 62nd Street and Normandie Avenue, until her early teen years, when the family moved to the Bay Area. She graduated Buchser High School in Santa Clara, California in 1970.
In 1974, Chu earned a B.A. degree in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1979, she earned a Ph.D. degree in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant International University’s Los Angeles campus.
She’s been in Congress since 2009. And since Chu is 72 years old, she also doesn’t have the excuse of having been educated recently, when history has mostly been jettisoned in favor of wokeness. And yet there is that abysmal ignorance.
Nor does Chu say something like, “I know, it’s on the tip of my tongue but I forgot for the moment.” That would be more acceptable. But no; she merely says “I don’t know” and proceeds with her prepared talking points.
I’ve grown increasingly dismayed by what a bunch of empty suits our congressional members seem to be. Especially with the Dems, they appear to be mere figureheads for agendas and decisions made elsewhere. Democratic representation? Democrats could care less.
I had a brief off-hand discussion with a friend not long ago, and suggested that congresspersons were literally phoning in votes or having proxies vote for them, rather than appearing in person to vote. Not having researched the issue, I let it drop when I got pushback. Thankfully, it was short-lived, but I was correct.
The author of this tome:
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https://www.academia.edu/124331680/The_Politics_of_Diversity_Immigration_Resistance_and_Change_in_Monterey_Park_California_American_Dreaming_Immigrant_Life_on_the_Margins_Multiculturalism_from_the_Margins_Non_Dominant_Voices_on_Difference_and_Diversity
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had an affectionate regard for her. Pretty amusing she switched from psychology to politics ca. 1986 but lacked minimal historical knowlege.
Random recollection alert:
For a few years, before I got bored, I would watch CSPAN which sometimes aired congressional hearings. One such viewing was of a Senate hearing about union dues and coffers and the uses of these funds.
Ted Kennedy had a Q&A period and he inquired about the total amount the annual dues would generate in a large union or large group of unions. This rapidly degenerated into heated exchange as to the correct ballpark number. It amused me as a younger physics professor as they had the dues amount, $500 IIRC, and the total number of members, probably in the millions. Just multiply it! You know… scientific notation, mantissa and exponent.
Ted did the quick multiplication and came up with a number that was off by 100 or 1,000. OK, he was elderly, but not nearly as bad mentally as we’ve seen some politicians in recent years.
The most astonishing thing was that Ted proceeded to berate the person testifying at great length, because the witness’ correct number didn’t match Ted’s grossly incorrect number. While Ted continued his lengthy harangue, you could see other senators shift uncomfortably in their chairs as they had no doubt understood which number was the correct one, but none were willing or able to cut it short.
Look who cares who was President over a hundred years ago? What’s that have to do with right now? What difference at this point does it make?
Good Lord these people are Year Zero with everything.