ĢƵ

close

Lauren BoebertĢƵ roaming hands

4 min read
article image -

Lauren Opal Boebert is a Republican firebrand with a never-ending appetite for attention.

She represents ColoradoĢƵ 3rd Congressional District, with no shortage of provocative political views.

Last February, Boebert, and her fellow troubled congressman, George Santos of New York, were among the chief co-sponsors of a bill that would’ve designated the AR-15 style rifle “The National Gun of the United States.”

I suspect I may know what you’re thinking: “We don’t have a ‘National Gun of the United States.'”

You’re right.

There won’t be one either. Boebert and companyĢƵ “National Gun of the United States” bill went nowhere.

Co-sponsoring a dead-on-arrival gun-related bill is still a good Republican resume-builder.

Boebert also engages in the latest Republican deceit: taking credit for stuff she’d voted against.

She once submitted a press release that alerted her constituents that she’d been behind a $5 million grant for a rural health center that was part of a spending package that (here goes) she’d voted against.

If she’d restrict her inconsistencies to press releases, hardly anybody outside of her Colorado congressional district would know who Lauren Boebert is.

She’d never do that.

Hers are the kinds of whiplash-causing spectacles that raise her national profile, and, simultaneously, derision.

That brings me to the evening of Sept. 10, when the folks at the Buell Theatre in Denver saw two shows.

They got the chance to see the national touring company of the musical “Beetlejuice.”

And they were treated to the show that took place in the theater seats – starring Boebert and her date, Quinn Gallagher.

Ticket-buyers for the onstage production were given the following advisory: “Contains strong language, mature reference, and a lot of the crazy, inappropriate stuff you would expect from a deranged demon.”

It turns out, that advisory also applied to the performance Boebert and Gallagher put on in the seats – and beyond.

WARNING: If you’re in the public eye – beware! There are cameras everywhere these days that can capture your every indiscretion. And thereĢƵ no shortage of television networks willing to broadcast those indiscretions.

The Buell Theatre cameras caught Boebert and her date vamping, vaping, and engaging in some rather unseemly conduct in full view of the other members of the audience.

The cameras also showed a member of the theater staff asking Boebert to tone down her behavior – then, asking her and her date to leave.

It was also reported that on her way out of the theatre, Boebert asked that most petty of rookie celebrity questions, “Do you know who I am?”

She had no idea that her words and actions that night would haunt her.

When she was informed that her expulsion from the theater had been made public, she took to social media to explain that she was “guilty to laughing and singing too loud!”

Most people don’t usually get kicked out of public places for “laughing and singing too loud.”

Unless their laughter and singing are mighty disruptive.

Hers was.

Next, she had to make a course correction on that explanation after an extensive surveillance video was revealed.

Boebert subsequently apologized. She claimed that her actions fell “short of her values.”

Her Republican colleagues have been noticeably quiet about BoebertĢƵ Denver theater exploits.

They know that with a razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House (221 Republicans, 212 Democrats), itĢƵ best to avoid any further complications.

But there is one more complication.

BoebertĢƵ date had something of a past. Quinn Gallagher is the co-owner of a bar in Aspen, Colorado.

Boebert didn’t know much about him before she went on that first date with him.

GallagherĢƵ bar – the Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar – is known as a place where they’ve staged Burlesque and drag shows, which is among the activities that Boebert firmly disagrees with.

ThereĢƵ more.

Boebert didn’t know Gallagher was a Democrat.

When she found that out, she announced, “All future date nights have been canceled and I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date.”

ItĢƵ too late now.

Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $4.79/week.