America’s relationship with truth-telling has always been complicated. This past week served up two perfect examples that couldn’t be more different — one from Hollywood, the other from the halls of power in Washington.
Former talk show host Ricki Lake, now pushing 56, dropped a refreshingly honest bomb on Instagram about her cosmetic work. No sugar-coating, no PR spin — just straight talk about her deep plane lower face and neck lift from exactly a year ago. “Trust me, when I tell you, I still felt extra cute and loved myself regardless,” she wrote, serving up the kind of candor that’s about as rare these days as a flip phone.
Meanwhile, over in D.C., the Democratic National Committee is busy performing its own kind of cosmetic surgery. They’re calling it an “after-action review” of their 2024 electoral defeat — though calling it a review might be generous, considering how carefully they’re tiptoeing around the elephant (or should we say donkey?) in the room.
The contrast would be laughable if it weren’t so telling. Here’s Lake, sharing before-and-after photos and walking everyone through her decision-making process, while the DNC performs political gymnastics to avoid looking in the mirror. Nebraska Democratic chairwoman Jane Kleeb really took the cake with this gem: “We are not interested in second-guessing campaign tactics or decisions of campaign operatives.” Talk about missing the forest for the trees.
You’ve got to wonder — what exactly are they reviewing? The Democrats’ approach to self-examination looks suspiciously like someone demanding a physical while refusing to take off their coat. Their careful dance around whether Biden should’ve run for reelection or if Kamala Harris was the right choice feels about as authentic as a three-dollar bill.
Perhaps the most eyebrow-raising aspect of this whole situation is how they’ve managed to interview officials from all 50 states while somehow avoiding any meaningful conversations with senior campaign staff. That’s not just missing the point — that’s actively running away from it at Olympic-sprinter speed.
And then there’s Hunter Biden, bless his heart, diagnosing the party’s problems with all the self-awareness of a cat blaming the mirror for hissing back. His suggestion that Democrats lost “because we did not remain loyal” to his father sounds like something straight out of a political satire — except it’s not.
The irony gets thicker. While Lake openly discusses how aging and weight loss affected her appearance, the Democratic Party can’t seem to admit that running a historically unpopular ticket might have had something to do with their defeat. At least Lake’s surgeon, Dr. Allen Foulad, got to properly examine his patient before operating.
Remember when the Republicans lost in 2012? They actually produced a real post-mortem — a thorough 100-page “Growth and Opportunity Project” that dared to ask the tough questions. The current Democratic leadership seems more interested in perfecting their see-no-evil, hear-no-evil routine, with an extra helping of blame-no-friends on the side.
Maybe there’s a lesson here in Lake’s approach to transformation. “I share with all of you, as I am an open book and always will be,” she said. Genuine change, it turns out, starts with honest assessment — something the Democratic Party might want to consider before their next performance review. Because right now, they’re putting on a show that’s getting harder and harder to sell.
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