I was going to hold off writing about politicians, I swore to myself, to give them some benefit of the doubt. Maybe we expect too much of them?
But then, Lauren Boebert, Colorado’s 3rd congressional district representative, was quoted in several media, saying:
My pronoun is patriot.
And my — goodness! — with that, I fell off the wagon, so to speak. My typing fingers were quivering. I broke out in a sweat. I had to write something!
Maybe with the crush of work on Capitol Hill, it slipped her mind that ‘patriot’ is a noun? Pronouns, according to Merriam-Webster and other dictionaries, are “substitutes for nouns or noun phrases.”
But — benefit of the doubt — pronoun and noun do sound a bit similar, and Rep. Boebert must be juggling so much in her new role, representing Coloradans in the state’s 3rd district.
So, let’s see. What’s been on her plate, lately?
Just last month, she took time to brand Joe Biden as a “tyrant,” according to MSN. ‘Tyrant’ is a noun, by the way.
Also last month, she spent time spreading what appeared to be a “mylar sheet over her lap,” and tweeting “more than 25 times,” during President Biden’s speech to Congress, according to Business Insider.
Trying to get the rules changed, so she can pack a gun in the halls of Congress, she seems to be spending time on that, too.
Search as I may, unless I’m missing something, that seems be about all I could find about Rep. Boebert’s political initiatives. But we must keep the faith! It’s still early days. We’ve got to allow politicians a little time to get their feet wet.
That’s an idiom, by the way, ‘getting one’s feet wet.’ Not a noun or a pronoun.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.